Gonda: Hindi serves as a linguistic bridge connecting India from north to south and east to west, and learning the language can help people understand and engage with the country’s diverse cultural landscape, said Dr R. Arasu, president of Bhasha Samanvay Vedi, Kerala, and former head of the Hindi Department at the University of Calicut.
He was speaking at a seminar on ‘Hindi in South India’ organised at the Lalita Shastri Auditorium of Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Degree College. The event was jointly organised by Purvapar, the Department of Hindi and the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) of the college.
Dr Arasu said Hindi has played an important role in connecting people across India’s linguistic and cultural boundaries. He remarked that a person who does not make an effort to understand Hindi while living in India could remain limited in their exposure to the country’s wider cultural and linguistic world.
Highlighting examples from India’s literary and social history, he noted that personalities such as Rabindranath Tagore of Bengal and Dayanand Saraswati of Gujarat produced important works in Hindi despite coming from non-Hindi-speaking regions.
He stressed that society should strive to transform diversity into unity and adversity into opportunity. He also underlined the importance of maintaining a human perspective in writing and said that love and hatred cannot coexist.
The programme began with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp and floral offerings before the idol of Goddess Saraswati. Head of the Hindi Department Dr Jaishankar Tiwari welcomed the guests and described the gathering as a ‘Ganga-Kaveri Sangamam’, symbolising cultural and linguistic interaction between North and South India.
College Principal Prof Jitendra Singh said such interactions between scholars and institutions from northern and southern India would strengthen Indian languages and promote greater mutual understanding.
The programme was conducted by Dr Suryapal Singh.
Scholars from South India Honoured
Hindi scholars and writers who travelled from Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh were felicitated during the event. Among those honoured were Prof C.K. Vanidevi, Dr Ratish Nirala, Prof P. Geetha, Sanjay Kumar PS, Kunjikkanaran O, Dr Salmi Satyarthi, Dr O. Vasavan, Dr M.K. Preetha, Dr B. Vijayakumar, Dr Sreeja Pramod, Dr Rajendran Koyikkal, P.A. Ajayan, Akhila A, Dr S.A. Manjunath and Dr K. Jayalakshmi.
The visiting scholars were presented with certificates of appreciation, traditional angavastrams and mementoes in recognition of their contribution to Hindi language and literature.
Books Released at the Seminar
Several books were also released during the programme, highlighting literary contributions from Hindi and non-Hindi-speaking regions.
The publications included Purvapar, a collection of critical essays focusing on the works of writers from non-Hindi-speaking areas; Awadhesh Singh Awadhesh’s Maganman Badra; Ghanshyam Pandey’s Kauaa Ror; Ramakant Singh Shesh’s Geet Ye Tere Liye Hain; and three works—Muktak Manas, Sabmein Jot and Jot Hai Soi.
Other books released included Kiran Singh’s Anokhi Chulbuli Duniya, Dr Mahesh’s Sard Hawaon Ke Din, and Ganesh Prasad Tiwari’s Rigved Ki Suktian.
The gathering brought together academics, writers, educationists and Hindi enthusiasts, creating a platform for discussion on the growth of Hindi beyond traditional Hindi-speaking regions and its role in promoting cultural dialogue across India.
Among those present were Shri Man Singh, Prof Shailendra Mishra, Prof Aman Chandra, Dr Chaman Kaur, Prof Mansharam Verma, Devanath Dwivedi, Shivakant Mishra, Ghanshyam Awasthi, Rajesh Ojha, Prof Maharajdin Pandey, Dr Sandeep Srivastava, Brijlal Tiwari, Rana Pratap Rahi, Dr Santsharan Tripathi, Dr Manoj Mishra, Dr Pawan Singh, Krishnanandan Tiwari, Umashankar Shukla, Prof Shivsharan Shukla, Prof Ranjan Sharma, Dr Neeraj Pandey and Mukta Tandon, among others.
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