2018-09-14 Fri

Among 22 scheduled languages and numerous dialects, one language was declared to be the Official Language of the nation. On 14th September 1949 the Constituent Assembly of India adopted Hindi written in Devanagari script as the official language of the Republic of India.

Originally evolved for Sanskrit, Hindi accommodated several Persian and Arabic words during the Islamic rule. Hindi as a language has travelled across the globe and is spoken not only in India, but also in countries like Mauritius, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa and New Zealand. In India itself the language is spoken differently at different places.

Hindi takes pride in being the mother tongue of 180 million people and the second language of 300 million people. Mahatma Gandhi used Hindi to unite India and hence the language is also known as the “Language of Unity”.

Though the decision of Hindi making national language was initially opposed by the South Indian states, it is being gradually accepted nationwide. Hindi, as an official language, appears on all the legal documents. Hence, 14th September is now recognized as Hindi Diwas and is celebrated every year.

Even before the declaration, Hindi appears on the legal tenders of the nation. A 60 paise stamp was issued in the year 1988 to commemorate 40th Hindi Divas. The stamp depicts a lotus blossomed out of India’s map with “Hindi” in centre surrounded by other chiefly spoken languages of India.

Besides, Hindi is featured on a stamp issued by Belgium post. The script that represents India is Devnagari. It shows bright red words “Ek dusre ko likhen” (Write to each other) in Hindi against a plain yellow background. Click here to read more.