• A chat with a Tamilian trinket seller at the Shore Temple Beach in Mahabalipuram on why she learnt Hindi.

I stayed in Chennai for about two months in 1987. The Tamil words I learnt then were Vanakaam, Nandri (thank you) and Parrys Po (because our office was in Parrys Corner).

In 2016, I did a 19 day yatra to photograph Tamil Nadu’s temples. Albums can be viewed Here

On day two, I visited the Shore Temple Mahabalipuram. As I entered the beach, a lady shouted ‘Saab trinklet lee loo. Aapki wife love karegi more’. Given numerous politicians harping on anti-Hindi sentiment, was taken aback. I told driver Velu that wished to speak with her, was it ok to do so. He said, go ahead. 

I asked the lady why she learnt Hindi. Her reply, ‘Sir, I am businesswomen. There are so many tourists from the North coming to Mahabalipuram now days. If I wish to sell trinkets to them I must speak their language or how will I sell’. 

Must say was truly impressed with her clarity of thought and business approach. Very practical. I smiled and bought a trinket.

Once when I visited Chennai and got into an argument with an auto-driver, he switched from Tamil to Hindi when he realized that I did not understand his argument in Tamil where he wanted a higher auto fare than discussed. Around 1995, when I took my Chennai Finance Team out for lunch was surprised to see them order Paneer dishes (associated then with North) while I ordered Dosa and Bisi bele bath.

All languages can co-exist.

Take my own case – my mother tongue is Punjabi. Because I grew up in Maharashtra I speak Marathi well, actually better than Punjabi. If I were born in Tamil Nadu would have learnt Tamil instead. Our home language with parents and siblings was a combination of English, Hindi and Marathi.

Can politicians stop making such a big issue and focus on making India build Comprehensive National Power?

To me it is important to know language of the state you live in, your mother tongue and English. 

The language that is commonly called Hindi is actually Hindustani i.e. a combination of Hindi and Urdu (of which app 70% are Persian and Arabic words). For e.g. we say AAP in Hindi – there is no corresponding word in Marathi or Gujarati. In Marathi we say Tum never aap. 

When politicians in some states of South India say they oppose Hindi they are actually opposing Hindustani. If they knew about the origins of Hindustani, these secular politicians might sing a different tune.

Also read

1. History of Hindi

2. History of Urdu

3. How a Bihari lost his Mother Tongue to Hindi

4. The case for making Sanskrit India’s National Language

5. Sanskrit and Indonesian language Bhasha