Ayushmann Khurrana Teaches A Lesson In Diversity To ‘Hindi Obsessed’ People In India

Ayushmann Khurrana has become a voice of reason which represents the millennials. At times, this voice turns inwards to balance things out. The talented actor has taken it upon himself to express his shock and expectations from people in the light of increasing intolerance towards languages other than Hindi.

In a column written in DNA, Ayushmann Khurrana has tried to reach out to people who have been promoting imposing of Hindi language in non-Hindi speaking states. The situation has escalated to the level that #StopHindiChauvinism started trending on Twitter. Khurrana’s thought provoking segment comes at a very opportune moment when people are discussing the issue on a national level.

Past midnight and #StopHindiChauvinism is still trending. This is a sample of what we non-Hindi speakers feel. We feel betrayed pic.twitter.com/TqEqf060Bv

— Liberator Furiosa (@MissFurioso) April 3, 2017

On the obsession with Hindi

Ayushmann admits his eternal love for Hindi and tries to explain to people that non-Hindi speakers feel the same love for their own language. Therefore, it is insensitive and impractical to impose sudden change on people. He writes,

My love for Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu is immense. And because of this love, I empathize with the people of different states and their various languages. Let them love their mother tongue and let them prosper.

Yes, Hindi cinema and songs have a wider reach and that’s the Wren and Martin of non-Hindi speakers, but the expectation from people residing in all parts of the country to alter their language of thought overnight would be a big mistake in a pluralistic nation like India.

When you impose Hindi on south India. There's no need to impose any language over the native tongue. Regional languages plus English as the common language. Though Hindi would always be the lingua Franca by default. Sigh hope we use it correctly (simplified for the naysayers). Read my latest column — http://ift.tt/2ufw1IU

A post shared by Ayushmann Khurrana (@ayushmannk) on Jun 26, 2017 at 3:26am PDT

The nationwide pro and anti-Hindi dialogues tend to get ugly and pose danger to our internal unity. The same “unity” we feel proud of while singing songs of praises for India.

Loving your language is one thing, placing your language over a global one is also fine, but getting too obsessive about it with a sense of superiority is deplorable. How can we force Hindi on the south and north-east India? They hardly speak the language.

@uavasanthrao If I travel in Delhi metro will they serve me #Kannada? If not, then why Hindi here? All lang are equal #NammaMetroHindiBeda

— ಅಜ್ಜು (@ajjublr) June 20, 2017

On patriotism and English

Yes, there is a need to draw a line between real patriotism and forced patriotism. The wave of Hindu nationalism has created a sense of false patriotism on the basis of conveniently rigged history and facts. This narrative disregards the original pillars which provided unity to our country despite 23 official languages.

Patriotism is not merely in a language or in supporting a cricket team. It is a strong internal emotion. All the patriotic Hindi chest-thumpers should realize that Hindi has been influenced by Persian and Arabic.

English has been a part of our culture, too. We can’t erase the British Raj from our history.

A picture of Saffronist.Independent

On democracy and languages

Ayushmann Khurrana concludes by reminding us of our democratic status as a nation which provides freedom to speak all the official languages and vernaculars.

 We are a democracy and we have to give respect to each and every language and culture of our nation. And to be fair, let’s make English the common link.

SOCIAL MEDIA OUTRAGE OVER ODIA MISSING FROM MILESTONES ON NH IN ODISHA. There has been stiff opposition on social media over Odia being replaced with Hindi on milestones along national highways in Odisha, which is viewed as an attempt to impose the national language on non-Hindi speaking people of the country. Twitterati have been tweeting to register their protest with #StopHindiChauvinism and #stopHindiImposition and urging for corrective measures. The netigens have posted photographs of milestones that had markings in Hindi and English along NH-316, triggering outrage among them. Notably, the state was carved out on the basis of language in 1936 and Odia got classical tag in 2014. On the other hand, an online petition campaign has been launched by www.change.org for all milestones on National Highways in Odisha to be written in Odia. “We urge the Union Minister for Road Transport, Shri Nitin Gadkari, Union Ministers of State, Road Transport, Shri P Radhakrishnan and Shri Mansukh Mandaviya and the Chairman, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) Shri Yudhvir Singh Malik to take necessary steps on a priority basis, to ensure that the milestones on NHAI in Odisha are all written in Odia,” it said. IMAGE CREDIT-GOOGLE. MY BHUBANESWAR- Share the update with your friends and family and shoot in some comments regarding the same – we would like to hear some more from you all. #MYBhubaneswar – Share and Comment

A post shared by MY Bhubaneswar (@mybhubaneswar) on Apr 22, 2017 at 4:05am PDT

Well said, Ayushmann Khurrana. You might just change the course of the youth going astray.