Hindi's day in the sun

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is possibly the strongest bastion of the English language atop Raisina Hill. But the ministry is also trying to keep in step with the Narendra Modi-led government's stress on increased use of Hindi, including issuing in-house circulars and posting orders in Hindi. Some of the changes have largely been cosmetic. One such can be noticed at the MEA's media conference room at Jawahar Bhavan in New Delhi. In a corner is kept a wooden plaque with a quote from Tamil poet and freedom fighter Subramanya Bharathi. It roughly translates from Hindi thus: "If at all national unity is to be maintained, Hindi can be a path to achieve it." Until a couple of months back the plaque would be shunted from one dusty corner in that room to the next. But the regime change at the Centre has meant better days for Bharathi's words in support of Hindi.