Hindi Divas, also known as Hindi Day is observed every 14th of September to celebrate one of the two official languages of India —Hindi. (The other one is English.)
Hindi Day signifies the adoption of Hindi as an official language of the country. Hindi is the most popular and commonly spoken language in India which is written in the Devnagari script.
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About Hindi Day
Hindi Day aims to make the lost place in the hearts of people belonging to the Hindi language in any way or means. The day only connects those who have Hindi as their mother tongue, but also to those who might emerge as potential Hindi users.
Government or officials, professionals or family members, all the Hindi-speaking and -knowing people come together to celebrate this beautiful language and the treasures inscribed in it.
Date of Hindi Day Observance
14th of September.
History of Hindi Day
The Foundation by Gandhi Ji
In 1918, Gandhi Ji suggested in "Hindi Sahitya Sammelan" (Hindi Literature Conference) to make Hindi a national language. He addressed Hindi as "Janmanas ki Bhasha", that is, the most popular and commonly used language among people in India.
Tribute
The annually celebrated event, Hindi Divas also pays gratitude to Beohar Rajendra Simha by observing the event on his birthday.
Hindi as an Official Language
14 September 1949 is the day when the constituent assembly decided with the unity that Hindi will be the official language (the state language).
Declaration of the Hindi Day
It was also the day of the 50th birth anniversary of Rajendra Singh Ji. So the day emerged as the most appropriate day to declare it officially as the "Hindi Day".
The Official Date of Hindi Day Celebration
To emphasize the Hindi language and signify this important decision, Vardha, the Rashtrabhasha Prachar Samiti gave a great contribution in making the 14th of September an official date to celebrate Hindi Day every year.
Hindi in Indian Constitution
It is marked in a chapter of the 17th part of the Indian Constitution in article 343(1) as well. It is mentioned there that the language of the union will be Hindi and the script will be Devnagari. For official works of the union, the used Numbers shall be as per the international forms.
How English Became One of the Two Prominent Languages?
Many people who were not proficient in Hindi, they raised their voices against this decision, so English was also declared as an official language of India.
Hindi Day Celebration
A few popular events of celebrating Hindi Day are as follows:
Awards for the Achievements
The officials and dignitaries facilitate the awards to people for their excellence and notable achievements in various fields pertaining to Hindi. Pranab Mukherjee, the former President of India, also set such an exemplar by observing the event in Vigyan Bhawan of New Delhi.
Rajyasabha Awards
To motivate people, many award functions are also being organized to honor the active people in this field.
Rajyasabha Awards are also facilitated to the Nationalized banks, PSU's, Departments, and ministries.
Two popular rewards that are given annually on this day are Rajsabha Kirti Puruskar and Rajbhasha Gaurav Puruskar.
Earlier, these awards were called Indira Gandhi Rajsabha Puruskar and Rajiv Gandhi Rashtriya Gyan-Vigyan Maulik Pustak Lekhan Puruskar respectively. The names of these Awards were changed on 25 March 2015 by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Rajsabha Kirti Puruskar
There are about 31 awards that are given under this plan. This award is given to the committee groups and departments for their ultimate works in the field of Hindi. Its main goal is to make people use the Hindi language in government-related works.
Rajbhasha Gaurav Puruskar
This award is distributed to any Indian who writes on subjects that are related to science and technology. It offers 13 types of awards from 10000 to 200000 rupees of amounts. The person who wins the first prize is given the award of 200000 rupees. The second prize winner is given the award of 1.5 lakh rupees, and the third prize winner is given the prize of 75000 rupees. Around 10 people are given the consolation prizes of 10000 rupees each. All those people who are honored by such awards are given the momentoes as well. It all aims to develop Hindi in various fields of science and technology.
Honors and Rewards
People who give their special efforts and bring efforts to make it close to people, they are honored with the amount of one lakh one thousand rupees.
Hindi Day Celebration in Schools and Colleges
Other than these notable official events, Hindi day is also celebrated in schools and colleges.
The events include many cultural activities and competitions. The institutions arrange essay-writing competitions, debates, and other inspiring programs. Among such events, the following activities remain the highlight:
- Vichar Goshti
- Dictation competition
- Poem competition
- Award function
- Official language week
- Hindi Tankan competition
Why is Hindi Day Celebrated?
- This day is observed as a significant day to ignite respect for Hindi and motivate the mass to use Hindi more in daily life.
- The events aim to evoke reverence, inspiration, and connectivity with the Hindi language.
- People are welcomed with their suggestions for the development and expansion of Hindi.
Significance of Hindi Day
Shakes Hindi Users for Realizing Their Responsibility
The Hindi Day reminds people of their responsibilities and duties towards this language. Those people who hold immense knowledge and understanding of this language are being inspired by such an observation so that this language can be saved from disappearing from the planet.
Motivation through Appreciation
People who use this language the entire year and give their efforts to develop this language or spread awareness among people, they are honored on this day by facilitating awards for using in this language well in their lives and works.
Encouragement to Hindi-related Tools and Dictionaries
As people are very less aware of the tools of Hindi-writing, this day is used as an opportunity to give knowledge about the Hindi dictionary and writing and searching in the Hindi language.
Analysis of the Pros and Cons
Through competitions and other events, people are not only awakened about the development of Hindi but also about the profits of preserving this language and also the losses of not paying attention to this language.
Preservation of Hindi Language and Hindi Literature
There is a wide range of Hindi literature that is not less than a treasure. Losing the language means losing that treasure. It is an asset to Indian culture and society.
Inspiring Vibes Are Ignited
People who love Hindi, they motivate their family members and youth to not forget this language and indeed preserve it for making the most of the literature available in Hindi.
Gratitude to the Legends
Along with Beohar Rajendra Simha, people also thank Vyohar Rajendra Singh and renowned writers such as Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Maithili Sharan Gupt, Kaka Kalelkar, Seth Govind Das, and their supporters who gave their tremendous efforts to make Hindi adopted by the constituent assembly of India.
Why People Observe the Hindi Day Events?
Hindi as the Mother Tongue
Many people celebrate Hindi as their mother tongue and find themselves connected with this language emotionally. However, Hindi Day is not only celebrated at the local or regional level but also at the national level. Its observance by many notable events makes it an important occasion.
Facts and Figures about Hindi
Hindi as the First Language
Today, about 50 million people speak in Hindi and regard it as their first language where India is a nation of about 1.8 billion people. This fact gives Hindi a special place among the Indian people. It indeed gives more power to the celebration of Hindi Day.
Popular yet Undermined Language
The number of people who speak Hindi holds the third position in the entire world after English and Chinese. However, it is not given the deserved respect if compared with the number of people who use this language.
Status of Hindi
It is unfortunate that around 177 countries support yoga but there are not even 129 countries that support the Hindi language. Hindi is not even the language of the United Nations Organization.
Hindi Day Challenges
Situation of Hindi
Despite the fact that Hindi is the third most spoken language, the number of people who can read and write is very low. This number is decreasing day by day.
The reason behind this is the increasing use of English. The growing interest of people in using English words while speaking Hindi is replacing many Hindi words with English words. Many Hindi words are indeed vanishing from day-to-day communication. It is increasing the probability of getting this language vanished completely in the future.
Ignorance towards the Need of the Hour
Both people and the government seem to be ignorant and inactive towards giving their efforts to preserve Hindi or epic literature and other knowledgeable write-ups in Hindi.
The Greatest Mockery
It is indeed a mockery that those who try to spread awareness about Hindi day on social networking platforms, they also use the English language while appealing to the people. The supporters of the Hindi language take charge to plead such people to use only Hindi at least on Hindi Day.
An Appeal
A Call to United Efforts of General Mass and Proficient People
Hindi day makes people realize that if proficient people will also not speak in Hindi only and completely, then it would be very tough to develop this language, which is the need of the hour.
Every Effort Counts
It is suggested that at least on Hindi day, everyone who knows Hindi should speak in Hindi for showing respect to this language on its celebration day.A Call for Institutions to Join Hands
It is surprising that even in the largest Hindi institution in the world, which is in Varanasi, the position of Hindi is very disappointing. People who are connected to such an institution are appealed to use Hindi during their professional and personal communication. People are also appealed to express their thoughts in Hindi.
A Call to All!
It is not going to be fruitful that a few people make their efforts towards preserving this language. The unity and passion to save this language are necessary to preserve this and for taking it to new heights.
The Critisization of Hindi Day
Many people criticize Hindi Day by saying that people observe this day only for fulfilling the formalities and they forget the cause the next day. Even during the events also people use English and other languages. Government officials are also seen working in the English language even on Hindi Day.
However, many people also say that such critics say so only for opposing the celebration of Hindi Day and making the mockery of it so that the rest of the emotional attachment and emotions with this language can also be harmed.
It is regardless that how people celebrate the Hindi Day or see the Hindi language in their daily life, but people who respect Hindi as their mother tongue, they hold immense respect towards this language and stand by it.
