Linguistic Conversion: Why I moved to English from Hindi

Being born in the Hindi belt of India, I knew Hindi or Hindustani as the means of communication. Bhojpuri although was the main spoken language but since it does not have any literature of repute, it was not a language that was taught in schools neither could you expect the text books, newspapers etc. in Bhojpuri.

Although, songs in Bhojpuri and Bhojpuri Cinema was on the rise. Some persons have tried to write prose and poetry in Bhojpuri, but the no. is very few.

The school I joined was a Hindi medium school or rather a saraswati shishu mandir where it was mandatory to recite the following Bhojan Mantra  भोजन मंत्र :

ॐ सह नाववतु ।

सह नौ भुनक्तु ।

सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।

तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै ।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Om Saha Nau-Avatu |

Saha Nau Bhunaktu |

Saha Viiryam Karavaavahai |

Tejasvi Nau-Adhiitam-Astu Maa Vidvissaavahai |

Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

Meaning:

1: Om, May God Protect us Both (the Teacher and the Student),

2: May God Nourish us Both,

3: May we Work Together with Energy and Vigour,

4: May our Study be Enlightening and not give rise to Hostility,

5: Om, Peace, Peace, Peace.

Although belonging to a Muslim family, I recited the mantra in all my sincerity like other students. I used to go to Madrasa to learn the basic Arabic and Urdu language. 

After the primary education, When I moved to Government Inter College this routine was discontinued. As the third language, I studied the Urdu language from class 6 to 8th and developed some liking for Urdu Poetry and Urdu Stories. Since Hindi & English was always a part of the course, I studied the literature of both Hindi and English (Prose and Poetry).

In Class 9th, I choose Commerce as the 6th Subject and not Urdu simply because of the scope of commerce, a little parental pressure and inadequate resources and faculty for Urdu language. At the time, I thought it was tough to read Urdu than Commerce.

Being a science student in matriculation and intermediate (10+2) in Hindi medium, I studied Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics all in Hindi Medium. 

Then comes the graduation where the actual Hindi or any other language  and English divide starts happening.

When I entered the graduation college, the medium of instruction was in English and I had a hard time understanding the same Mathematics and Physics in English language in which I was a good Hindi medium student.

To cope up the pressure and learn the language, I started reading the English Newspapers and Magazines, notably The Hindu and Front-line. It opened a new world for me in terms of varied topics and interest areas which were hitherto not available in Hindi newspapers and magazines. 

To substantiate my learning, started reading things online and since the language of the web was English, it was obligatory upon me to gain more proficiency in the English Language.  

Then came the question of choosing a career. I applied for NDA (National Defence Academy) Exam and fortunately cleared the prelims and was asked to present myself for the interview at one of the SSB Boards. I sought help from some people, as to what this thing SSB interview was. I learned that there will be a group discussion in English language and a personal interview, that too in English. 

 

I cursed myself for not being able to join the English medium schools and my inadequacy in the spoken English. Nonetheless, I started reading English Novels, good books in English language and started practicing the spoken English. Mind you, until then I never thought spoken English will be a necessity to get a job in Free India with Hindi as its official language. 

I could not clear the SSB Interview for my own good. I realized that all this Hindi superiority notion was false in the growing India and to get a coveted job, you must have a good command over the colonial language. My love for the language (English) started building up and more I read the stuff in English, I felt I was growing wiser. But even then I never stopped reading the Hindi literature which was always a moral booster and gave learning's of life. Since, my Urdu was very poor, I started reading translated Urdu Literature in Hindi starting from Sa'adat Hasan Manto, Ismat Chugtai to Qurratul-en-Haider.

I have now made up the mind, that Hindi and Urdu for a science student were only good for reading as a hobby and not for any other purposes.But I still considered myself a Hindi medium student for my school education was in that Language.

I opted to study management to get a job as was the latest fashion at that time among the fresh college pass-outs. In Management, of course the language of instruction was English and the Hindi was now thrown at some corner in my life. 

Now, today when I have cleared the Civil Services Exam with English Medium (not language) and when I see a hullabaloo about the CSAT exam, I am asking myself a few questions.

1. Am I still a Hindi medium student because I did my schooling in the language, or I am an English Medium student because I opted for that in the CSE Exam and for all practical purposes they are considering me an English Medium student?
2. How many are there in this exam like me who studied in Hindi or any other medium of instruction in schools and later on opted for English medium in the CSE Exam?
3. Does the logic that only 26 from Hindi medium and some 57 (correct me if i am wrong with the numbers) from other vernacular languages have been selected, holds its ground?
4. Apart from the Humanities students or Language graduates, no other student will opt for Hindi or a vernacular medium at CSE Exam, then why it is being said that CSE Exam favours the English Medium Students or Engineering and Management Students?
5. Even these Management and Engineering students (even doctors) have opted for humanities optional in the exam (including me) and fetched better marks than the so called humanities student from the Hindi Medium students. So, can we not say that according to the empathy and social reasoning logic, these guys or girls are better equipped than the Hindi or vernacular Humanities students?

I converted to English Language as a medium because I can find good resources in English Language, starting from newspapers to books and magazines. 

The TV debate i watch in English are more informative, and the global news is always in English. All the web resources are in English. English is the only language, in which I can study the translated or original texts like Quran, Bible, Geeta, Philosophy, Geography, History, Economics and any other subject. English is resource rich and the reading of English resources help me write better answers, develop a global perspective. Almost everything has been translated in English and most of the original writing in all the domains is happening in English language only.

Hindi on the other hand has become a language of translation with no originality left. There is no point to read except for the recreational purposes. 

Until and unless the day comes when we see original writing of standard coming out of the language and gross integration with other languages in terms of translation of global works in Hindi or vernacular languages, nobody will take it as a medium (even those who studied it as a medium in the school) at a competitive level.