My Hindi and me
Most people of my generation in South India were probably first exposed to Hindi with the advent of television. Roads used to wear a deserted look on the days serials like Mahabharat and Ramayan were telecast. Since not every house had a TV set, it also became a kind of neighbourhood social gathering. So, our beginnings with Hindi — certainly not colloquial Hindi — started with hearing people addressed as “Mahoday”, “Shrimaan”, and such lofty terms! My Early Days with Hindi My formal introduction to Hindi began in high school, where it was one of the optional subjects — perhaps what was then called the “third language”. Sri G.T. Narasimhachar (GTN) was entrusted with the unenviable task of teaching a bunch of thoroughly disinterested students. My mother, however, was well-versed in Hindi and had read classics like Godaan. Her attempts to teach me Hindi mostly resulted in my understanding the story in the textbook without actually understanding the language ! I still remember o...
