Hindi Vindi

Languages has never been my cup of tea. However hard I try, my brain is wired in a way that makes languages difficult to grasp. When I was in grade one, My parents decided that I should learn Tamil, my mother tongue as my second language in school. Despite being able to speak in Tamil, I struggled with writing as I could never get the spellings right. Every time I submitted my note book to the teacher, it would be returned to me with several red ink marks on it. When my grandmother and mother tried to teach me, I would cry each time they made me write a word as an imposition as I never intended to make a mistake. My brain could simply not understand the nuances. At the end of Primary school, I could read and speak Tamil,but my writing skills remained below par. My ability to understand a new language was also low.

While attempting to learn my mother tongue itself was an arduous task, I made an unsuccessful attempt to learn Hindi. Several people told me that they had learnt Hindi by merely watching films. I knew the task would not be that easy, but I enrolled for classes and tried to understand Hindi. Despite all the effort I put. The attempt was a failure.

I assumed that I was unable to learn Hindi as I did not have anyone to interact with. Most of my friends spoke either Telugu or Kannada, and I thought it would be easier to pick up one of these languages. Once again my Mission Failed.

My linguistic disability never posed any problems. I was able to communicate verbally in English and Tamil. In India my lack of knowledge in Hindi was never remarked upon. Surprisingly the first this language issue was when I was in Singapore. Several times I found myself in the company of people who spoke in Mandarin and Hindi. While those who spoke in Mandarin were sympathetic, my Indian comrades simply expressed their surprise and continued talking in Hindi.

Some of them argued that Hindi was the national language of India. When I pointed out that Hindi was not 'THE' national language of India and that India had over a dozen national languages, they would arch their eyebrows and shake their head. They never empathized with me, but asked me to talk in English each time I spoke in Tamil ( Mainly to make them understand my situation).

My saviours were my roommates. One of them made an attempt to always talk to me in Hindi while the other when a step ahead and translated every sentence to me as others around me spoke to each other oblivious of my presence. 

I imagine the day, I would be able to have a full conversation in Hindi. Like the Sridevi in English Vinglish, I want to see the surprised faces of those around me. However I know this day may never come.

To those who tell me that I need to learn Hindi, I just have a few questions.

You say that Hindi is spoken in Delhi and I will suffer if I ever move to Delhi. I have no intention of moving to Delhi. Many of you have the intention of moving to Germany, France, Spain and Japan in the future. However you do not know German or French and still have the intention of emigrating to these countries. 

Secondly, you say that Hindi is spoken in many places in India. Sadly, we are not in India guys! we are in Singapore now! here, Hindi is NOT a National Language.Tamil, my mother tongue is one of the national languages of Singapore. If you feel it is necessary to know a Language that is commonly used in the city where you intend to live, I suggest you learn a language that is used in the city where you currently live. If thats the case, according to your analogy and theory, you can learn Tamil. 

So buddies.... When shall we begin the lesson???