Letter to BS: It's in the interest of Tamil Nadu's youth to learn Hindi

This refers to David Milton’s letter “Language formula” (June 5) calling the proposed three-language policy a cultural invasion. What is the ground reality? I am a senior citizen, living in Chennai for over four decades. A few years ago, I had to go to Noida, to work on a software project. To reach my office, I got into a shared auto and mentioned my destination as Sector 57, which the driver could not understand. With my rudimentary knowledge of Hindi, I explained to him as “pachas aur saat” and got dropped at my office. With a basic knowledge of Hindi, one can get along anywhere in India, beyond the south.

With assembly elections due in two years, one can understand the hue and cry raised by the Tamil Nadu politicians. But can they assure higher educational and employment opportunities to the youth of the state, within Tamil Nadu? The youth of Tamil Nadu would do well not to play into the hands of their scheming politicians, but learn Hindi, on their own, as it is in their best interests.

V Jayaraman, Chennai
 

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