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What is the
language of Delhi? For several hundred years it was Zabane-Dilli,
the language known variously as Hindawi, Rekhta (the 'mixed') and
finally Urdu. It was refined and polite. Today this refinement has
been overwhelmed by the dynamism of a metropolis of nine million
people mostly outsiders - all bent on making their living, career
and name.
Lifestyle affects language, and the language of the street today
is blunt and functional, laced with insults to sisters and
mothers. You could call this the lowest common denominator of
language, either simple Hindi or Urdu - for they both share
syntax, grammar and vocabulary. The difference is that Urdu uses
the Persian script and takes higher vocabulary from Persian and
Arabic, while Hindi uses words from Sanskrit and the
Sanskrit-based Devanagiri script. Urdu grew and flourished in
urban centres, especially Delhi and Lucknow. During the
independence movement the Urdu language became increasingly
identified with the Muslim community alone. It was made the
national language of Pakistan, while Hindi became the national
language of India and the chief mother tongue of Delhi.
Punjabi, however, is not far behind in the race for the top Delhi
language. Delhi has always existed on the edge of Punjab and tens
of thousands of Punjabis from Pakistani Punjab settled in the city
after Partition. People from the south and east have brought their
languages too, and any Delhi cable operator worth his salt shows
channels in Bengali, Tamil and Malayalam - and, of course,
English.
English was brought into the Indian education system by Macaulay
in the nineteenth century to create a class of Indians, imbued
with English culture, who would carry out the administration of
the Raj. This is the class referred to by one of Delhi's most
outstanding literary residents, Vikram Seth, in his poem Divali: O
happy breed of Babus, I march on with your purpose We will have
railways, common law and a good postal service. But Delhi's army
of central government servants does not have the monopoly of
English. English has become identified with power, privilege and
good education, in a way that no Indian language has. English is
the first language of intellectuals, the upper ranks of
businessmen, and the language targetted by the upwardly mobile
middle classes who aspire to material wealth and prestige. In the
process, Indian languages have been neglected. But English, like
any invader which has settled in India, is being changed by its
adopted land, expanding to include Indian words and concepts.
Perhaps in time it will merge into a new Zaban-e-Dilli.
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