r/southindia_ • u/Agreeable-Put9824 • 7h ago
हिंती Imposition/Language issue We need to coin the term 'Hindi Defaultism'
We all are familiar with 'Hindi imposition' / 'Hindi Supremacy'.
But I think it is also important to adress and spread awareness about Hindi default world view of North Indians because it is very hard for one to examine their own privileges.
and Because compared to Hindi imposition and Supremacy , Hindi Defaultism goes unchecked and undetected
Also even though North Indians might not mean explicit harm with their subtle'Hindi Defaultism' but it does damage us.
For ex - They assume every single person in Maharashtra knows Hindi and why we get outraged when there is no Marathi on sign boards , instructions, public service providers like Banks, Railway stations etc
Keeping the principal of linguistics sovereignty aside they don't realise the practical harm they inflict upon us due to their 'Hindi defaultism'.
For ex - Many ATMs and bank forms in Mumbai have Hindi and English instructions only. On the top of that it is 'textbook Hindi' like ' विकल्प का चयन करे' instead of layman Marathi adjecnt Hindi like ' पर्याय चुनें'.
Now how an illiterate or Elderly Marathi person who doesn't know Marathi or know very basic Hindi from films is supposed to avail he service ? He might not even ask for help to strangers in regards with sensitive financial information like ATM etc.