India is one of the most diverse countries in the world comprising numerous religions, customs, traditions, cuisines, and languages. Hindi is one of the most prominent languages of India and as of 2001, there were approximately 26 crore native speakers of the language, which makes it one of the most widely spoken languages in the country.
Hindi got an exalted status in India when on September 14, 1949, it was adopted as the official language of the country. September 14 is also celebrated as Hindi Diwas. Today, Hindi enjoys the status of Rashtra Bhasha.
Hindi Diwas is celebrated with great enthusiasm in educational institutes, and government offices. In today’s highly commercialized environment where people are forgetting their roots, Hindi Diwas plays a significant role. It not encourages people to stay in touch with their roots but also propagates as well as promotes Hindi. Sadly, there are many people, who feel ashamed to speak in their mother tongue. Hindi Diwas plays a significant role in making us realize that Hindi is one of the oldest and most influential languages in the world and as such we should take pride in speaking in our mother tongue.
Hindi is the language of the learned and many literary works have been composed in this language. Ramcharitmanas is one of the greatest literary works in Hindi. Composed by Goswami Tulsidas in the 16th century, it depicts the story of Rama. Some other works in Hindi are Madhushala by Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Nirmala by Munshi Premchand, Chandrakanta by Devaki Nandan Khatri, etc.
Hindi is one of the oldest languages and is a descendant of Sanskrit. Hindi belongs to the branch of the modern Indo-Aryan languages. However, Hindi has in the past many centuries undergone many changes and finally evolved in its present form. Hindavi, Hindustani and Khari-boli were the earliest forms of Hindi. They were in use during the 10th century AD. The literary history of Hindi dates back to the 12th century. Meanwhile, the modern incarnation of Hindi, which is mostly in use in the present age, dates back to some 300 years.
In fact, Hindi was chosen as the official language of the nation, along with English, as it was the only language which could unify the entire nation. In fact, way back in 1917, Mahatma Gandhi had underlined the importance of Hindi at a speech he presented at the Gujarat Education Conference in Bharuch. At that particular conference, Gandhiji stated that since Hindi is spoken by the majority of Indians, it can be adopted as the national language. He further underlined the importance of the language by stating that it could be used as a religious, political and economic communication link.
So, on September 14, 2019 we will be celebrating Hindi Diwas with a lot of pride in our hearts. It is our national language and has given us our unique identity. We will always feel proud when talking in Hindi.
Happy Hindi Diwas!
Related Link:
14th September 1949: Hindi is adopted as the Official Language of India
