Hindi as link language

— Ajoyendranath Trivedi
India could withstand the ravages of time. This was possible only because of her pluralistic composition of ethnicity, multi- lingual society and above all her firm faith in the theory that the truth is one but is manifested differently. The unity in diversity could be possible in India not only because the untiring efforts of our saints, reformers, noble emperors and kings, but mainly because of the underlying nature of the people of India that appreciated the idea of plurality.

In a pluralistic society, languages have a great role to play. Language is at the same time a unifying and dividing force. There have been bitterness in the name of language and a wonderful synthesis has also been possible only because the language issue. As far as India is concerned, in every age and period there evolved a language that could give expression to the collective will of Indian people. During ancient times, Sanskrit could serve the purpose, in the later ages, Pali and Prakrit came forward to accept the challenge. After Prakrit in the numerous Apabhramnsha, throughout the length and the breath of India (except some parts of remote south and the northeast) came up. They served the purpose of linking linguistically diverse people of the culturally united India.

Hindi emerged on the centre stage in the 10th century AD. This language has a fine blend of Sanskritised lexicon and Arabic-Persian syntax. It is written in Devanagari script. Devanagari script is developed from Brahmi script. It has a close resemblance with most of the north India scripts. Hindi, which we use today as a major link language of our country, was developed in a specific context. Prakrit language disintegrated into numerous Apabhransha. Apabhransha, in turn gave birth to major languages that India speaks today, including Hindi. Saurseni Apabhransha derives its name from the name of an ancient region, Saursen.

During initial days of its development, Hindi was known as Hindavi. Amir Khusro termed his language as Hindavi (a novel experiment in Indian linguistic style with sprinkles of Persian expressions). At a later stage, modern day Hindi was called Hindusthani, thereafter it was known as Khariboli and finally Hindi.

As Hindavi this language made a bridge between traditional Indian and newly introduced Islamic thought to India. As has been mentioned earlier, Amir khusaro was the pioneer in this field. His writings popularly known as Masnavi, and Mukaris are jewels of medieval Indian poetry. Khusaro has the credit of popularizing Hindavi as a link language for traders, rulers, travelers and pilgrims. Hindavi, at that point of time came forward to serve as a viable link language for the country.

India has been a multilingual country. Hindi has a privilege to play a humble role in providing an alternative channel for pan-Indian communication. After the Turkish rule established its firm roots in India, troupes had to move far and wide, administrative machinery had to establish their connections and for this propose a language was badly needed. Hindavi that was prevalent in and around the seat of power, Delhi had an advantage. Hindavi did not aspire for royal patronage. It simply identified with the subjects. The royal servants had no option but to use this language for wider communication. Hindavi was then a mixture of Indo-Persian words. Gradually, the language developed its own and assimilated fine nuances from almost all the languages had an opportunity to interact. The rich vocabulary of Hindi is a byproduct of the said assimilation.

Hindi roused public opinion during the freedom movement. Great Indian reformers like Swami Dayanand Saraswati realized the power of Hindi for all India communication. For Mahatma Gandhi propagation of Hindi was one of the main points on the agenda of the national movement. Subrahamanyama Bharati, stressed the need for a link language for India and recommended the case of Hindi. Keshab Chandra Sen in Bengal and Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi in Assam were some of the stalwarts who made a strong case for Hindi in their respective States.

Hindi in the present form is the third, if not the second widely spoken language on the globe. In Indian subcontinent, it is the most favourite language of the entertainment industry. As far as literary merit is concerned, there are many Indian languages richer than Hindi. The only Nobel Prize for Literature India could secure so far, is not Hindi, it is Bengali. The most ancient Modern Indian language is Tamil and the language in which we enjoy Gazals is Urdu. The best dramas in Indian languages are written in Marathi and one of the languages known for her melodious songs is Maithili. But for all India communication only Hindi is there to serve.

When our constitution came into force, in 1950 Hindi got a new responsibility. It became the Official Language of the Union. This was a new responsibility entrusted to it. In this front too, Hindi proved its mettle. Journals on social sciences and finance in Hindi have touched wonderful highs of popularity. The most widely circulated daily in India is published in Hindi. In every region of India there is one or the other Hindi daily present. It is heartening that in different linguistic regions of the country these dailies work in harmony with their regional counterpart and have proved themselves as complementary to each other. Assam is no exception. source: assam tribune