OUTSIDERS have traditionally denied India its
nationhood because of its inability to
communicate with itself. With at least 18
recognised languages, not to mention dialects,
India seems a linguistic cacophony. Yet, the
survey found that Indians are actually anxious to
have a common language. Predictably, Hindi does
not find favour in the south and the east. But
after 50 years of Bollywood, a staggeringly large
number of Indians confess their ability to
understand Hindi. This includes a significant 79
per cent in the east and 30 per cent in the
south.
English does not fare too badly either.
Contrary to the census myth that English is the
language of a microscopic minority, the poll
indicates that almost one in three Indians claims
to understand English, although less than 20 per
cent are confident of speaking it. This has
monumental implications: India can capitalise on
it like no other country in the world.
Do you think
there should be one language across the nation?
Rest: Don' t Know / Can't Say
Which language?
Others: 15
Hindi: North 97, East 83, West 75, South 31
All figures in precentage
The graphs are only representative, not to scale
|
Do you speak, read,
write and understand Hindi?
| SPEAK |
66 |
| READ |
|
49 |
| WRITE |
|
47 |
| UNDERSTAND |
|
71 |
Speak North 94 South 24
Understand North 94 South 30
Do you speak,
read, write and understand English?
| SPEAK |
19 |
| READ |
|
34 |
| WRITE |
|
34 |
| UNDERSTAND |
|
31 |
Read Urban 53 Rural 28
Understand Urban 49 Rural 25
|
50 years of
existence as an independent nation has produced
convictions, attitudes and fears which are real, tangible
and, more important, identifiable. An exhaustive India
Today-ORG-Marg Independence poll sought to track and
interpret some of these. 
