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Indian Institute of Management Indore (IIM Indore) celebrated the Hindi Diwas on September 14, 2022. Prof. Himanshu Rai, Director, IIM Indore, inaugurated the event. Mr. N.K. Singh, Senior Journalist, and Founding Secretary General, Broadcaster Editors’ Association, was the Chief Guest on occasion.
Prof. Himanshu Rai, in his address, spoke about the condition, direction, and vision of the Hindi language. Sharing insights about the difference between a country and a nation, he said that a country has a geographical land mass, people, and sovereignty. In contrast, the nation has a fourth element added to it –culture. This is the foundation on which we should generate a new, just, and vibrant world, and language is the underpinning for the culture. ‘It’s time we start focusing on the nation and pay attention to the state of the Hindi language. We have changed, and so has our culture. We, as human beings, have personal ethics and values, but we are oblivious to social ethics. Love and respect exist in society, but we hardly express them. We are ready to struggle and have the power to overcome challenges, but we don’t have a direction to find solutions. We don’t want to solve problems; we want to break everything against us. We must gain moral and social values. This is possible only when we stay connected to our roots, and Hindi plays a significant role in this’, he explained. He noted that all our epics are in Hindi and Sanskrit and echo the rich culture full of morals, principles, ethics, and values that hold our nation together. ‘Acknowledging the state of our Hindi language will enable us to use our power in the right direction, thereby giving our lives a purpose’, he said. Speaking about the significance of Hindi in educational institutions, he said that it’s essential to understand the difference between being literate and educated. ‘A person may not be literate and might not even know English, but he may be efficient in leadership, decision-making, risk management and even have a solution-oriented thought process, only if given a chance’, he said. He encouraged the IIM Indore community to respect not only Hindi but all the Indian languages.
Mr. N.K. Singh threw light on the significance of Hindi as a language and its effect on various domains at the international level. We often create a set of norms that decides who our icons are and, thus, also generate a process to identify these icons. ‘Hindi Diwas reminds us that there’s a very palpable differentiation in the society’s economic, political, and social existence, and languages here play a vital role’, he said. Even though 75 percent of people speak Hindi in the nation, it hasn’t attained the respect and position that permits us to express our love for the language. We need to equalize the system that discriminates between rural and urban, rich and poor, educated and uneducated based on their language. ‘We can find a rich talent pool even in rural India, only if the youth there are allowed to take the lead. However, society today has a mindset that forces people to believe in the dominance of the English language, he said. Mentioning how the market forces hinder our thought process and don’t allow us to contemplate rationally, he emphasized the urgency of establishing a just and fair system that helps us identify our icons in an entirely new way – through their actions – and not by the words they speak. It’s time we encourage dynamic thinking, open our minds to all the Indian languages, and accept virtuous people, for knowledge and competency don’t depend upon the language a person speaks, but his reflexes and ability, he said.
The 2022 edition of IIM Indore’s Annual Hindi Magazine – Gyaan Shikhar, was also released on this occasion. The contributors who presented the best articles were also felicitated by the Director and the Chief Guest.