E-Paper
Hindi conclave in Bhopal: Indian youngsters’ lack of passion for Hindi writers leaves Armenian researcher surprised
Twenty five-year-old Armenia citizen Mane Mkrtchyan, who is in Bhopal to attend international Hindi conclave, was drawn to the international Hindi conclave due to her sheer love for the language.
Twenty five-year-old Armenia citizen Mane Mkrtchyan, who is in Bhopal to attend international Hindi conclave, was drawn to the international Hindi conclave due to her sheer love for the language.
Passionate about Hindi writer Nirmal Verma, on whose works she recently completed her M Phil, Mkrtchyan, however, was left surprised on finding that not many Indian youngsters share her love for Verma or other eminent Hindi writers.
“Writers like Nirmal Verma or Agney should have been national heroes here. But most of the youngsters are attracted to Western writers. I have been studying Hindi for last six years in India and I am still mesmerized by the richness of Hindi literature and the amazing writers it has produced. But the youth of this country is not interested in Hindi literature. Many who have opted for Hindi, lack conviction and passion,” she says.
Mkrtchyan, who has enrolled for PhD at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), feels that to a language can only survive when the youth love it and pursue it with conviction. “Achieving this goal should be the prime concern of Hindi lovers and government.”
The researcher says that she was pained that not many cared about the purity of the language. “Despite Hindi being the mother tongue of so many Indians, I often come across mistakes in spoken and written Hindi…Borrowing words from other languages makes a language rich, but it should not be done at the cost of the original language. Hindi already has a rich vocabulary,” she says.
Like Mkrtchyan,Tatiana Oranskaia, a Hindi scholar from Russia who is teaching the subject in Germany, said she was drawn to Hindi while reading the translations of Ramayana and Mahabharata. “My father was an expert on Iranian languages. It was he who encouraged me to study Indology and Hindi, because he understood the depth of India’s civilizational ethos,” she says.
Young Russian, Kamila Tursunbekova, who is learning Hindi at Central Institute of Hindi, Delhi, for last few weeks, told HT that it was mysteriousness of India’s culture and traditions that inspired her to learn Hindi. “I have already studied Hindi for three years in St Petersburg and with one year here as a practical learning, I will complete my graduation in Hindi. I am excited to be part of the rich world of Hindi,” she says.
