THELIGHTOFANDAMANS: The Superficial Pakhwadas...

Sunday, September 11, 2011

The Superficial Pakhwadas...

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | ISSUE 10-11 | 09 SEPTEMBER 2011

The Superficial Pakhwadas...

By Zubair Ahmed

There is no dearth of official days, weeks and fortnights in our country. There is Vanamahotsava Saptah, Vanyaprani Saptah, Women's Week, Anti-corruption Week and Hindi Pakhwara etc. etc. The less said about the intent, purpose and utility of these official functions the better. But on many an occasion some of these programmes prove a windfall as it gives an opportunity to really take a look into the intent of such extravaganzas.

I still don't understand why banners are hung in front of all government offices, when the insiders are supposed to use the language in their daily chores. And, it's truly a scare to approach offices where everything happens in Hindi, in its most intricate form. Once, my friend had to apply for a loan and he had cited circumcision of his brother. Unluckily, it was Hindi Pakhwara and he could not find a suitable Hindi term for circumcision. And, finally someone came for rescue and reframed the sentence which said - Mere bhai ki musalmani ke liye….

Our Islands have developed its own dialect of Hindi - a mix of Urdu and Hindi sans grammatical complications, which is popular and acceptable to all irrespective of their native states. A Telugu find it easy to communicate with a Malayali, however, for both the pristine Hindi is an alien language. A farmer in Diglipur has no need to feel "oneness" with a carpenter in Campbell Bay through uniformity of language, but I'm sure if these two meet by circumstance, they will be civil enough towards each other. With or without language, their realities are fairly different from one another, and with or without language; their differences are what will make each interesting to the other. We need to respect the plurality of our nation and be proud of it.

It's natural that even after fifty-five years Hindi has not achieved the pride of place of the official language of the country. Infact, the protagonists of Hindi themselves are standing in the way of Hindi becoming first, the popular language and then the official language. There are two hurdles in the way of its becoming a common man's language, its grammar and the attempt to maintain its purity. Hindi will have to come down from its high pedestal by admitting as many words and phrases from other languages as the users like to introduce. Secondly, allowing the officials to use the common, simple Hindi in office notes and drafts. In course of time, the users will get polished and the quality of language will automatically improve. Somewhere, somebody has to make a beginning. In view of the present level of our official English - the sooner the better.

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About The Light of Andamans

The Light of Andamans’ was born out of the zeal and determination to fight against the suffocating Kafkaesque atmosphere on the society that existed even after 30 years of Independence under bureaucratic rule. It was a hangover of the ‘Raj’that extended much too long in the Islands.

The Light of Andamans’ was started in 1975. The paper had always been a crusader, taking up the causes that no other newspaper would touch. In doing so, it very often stepped on the toes of the authorities and had to face persecution in the form of denial of advertisements and numerous court cases against it. For a small stint, the publication came to a halt in 2003.

Gezira Publications Private Limited took over the paper in the year 2005 and transferred the title in a bid to revive the second oldest newsmagazine from extinction and also to carry forward the mission.

The Newsmagazine, under the new management, has undergone a sea change both in form and content. It turned into a full-fledged tabloid with 10 pages with plenty of photographs making both pleasing to the eyes and soothing for the mind. “It has acquired a position where it influences the policies in vital matters concerning the development of the islands, protection of aboriginal tribes and addressing the problems of the disadvantaged groups. The newsmagazine is known and appreciated for its bold, free, fair and balanced reporting.”

Late Govinda Raju and his team worked very hard to rebuild the reputation, goodwill and a healthy new image of the newsmagazine brick by brick. After the demise of Mr Raju in 2010, the magazine is now being edited by Zubair Ahmed and published by Basudev Dass. The newsmagazine continues its mission of highlighting policy issues pertaining to the Islands.