“Concern be dammed”

Ashok Kumar: Professor
Centre for Creative Advertising & Screenwriting Skills
Ask anyone who knows the language- especially Hindi - and you will hear him complaining that the TV is butchering it.

The norm for hiring TV anchors/presenters is how much ‘base’ have they got in their voice and how do they ‘look’. In some cases, there may also be reasons for personal preferences which is human and sometimes normal but worse! The professional world is being infected by the unprofessionalism un-mindful of the fact that even the smallest decision of media affects people, society, culture and opinions.

Anyone who wishes to work as an English copywriter or a corporate communicator in India has to necessarily possess a masters degree in the English language. But when it comes to hiring a copywriter or a journalist or a screenwriter in the Hindi language it is enough to say that “I know Hindi because I am from UP, Bihar”. Of course, the language spoken/understood in major parts of the country-especially in UP and Bihar is Hindi but don’t we all know that there is a difference between conversing in an understanding a language and its correct written and spoken form, literature and purity.

It is not unusual to hear on TV words like TABADTOD ( It is not a Hindi word, the original word is that of  Marathi and it is  TABADTOB not TABADTOD ! ).KHULASA, an Urdu word, is generally used by TV walas these days to mean expose’ whereas the word actually means ‘the Jist’!! HALAATON (plural of Urdu word Haal is Haalaat, Halation is no word). JAZBAATON- which is used regularly is no word either because the plural of Jazba is JAZBAAT…Jazbaatoon is no word in any language! Then there is a problem of pronunciation and diction as well. ‘SH’ is generally pronounced as ’S’, ’Ja’ is pronounced as ‘Za’ and vice versa. ‘Nuqta’ of Urdu language is freely used as per whims of the anchor/presenter whether or not it is there in the word.

It is not just the TV widely circulated news papers have also been publishing headlines like “HAVA NIKAL GAYI” and “BAND BAJ GAYA” and so on…..either the editors belong to that street level class or they are unaware that the decent alternatives to these phrases also exist. If one looks at the editorials in the literary magazines one will find that they have nothing to do with literature or the language or any decency in spoken/written language…they are full of political commentaries and political views of the editors! How can then the language flourish!

Holders of standards are losing focus and bringing down the standards!

To anyone who knows the language and diction/pronunciation it all hits like a slap in the face!But most of the anchors/presenters/journalists in Hindi in this country pose themselves as kings and rulers and know-all!

TV Channels are not bothered as long as they are making money.People are not bothered as long as they have something to watch on screen and the literary pundits are bothered only in their own  ‘JUGAAD’ of trying to be invited to TV debates and earning some or other award….’so why offend anyone by saying anything !’

But having said all this I must confess that it is not only the TV anchors/presenters/journalists who are responsible for butchering and destroying Hindi language it is the ‘THEKEDAARS’(custodians) of the Hindi language who,  in fact, are the destroyers of the language.  Let's look at some fact. Isn’t it decades since the Hindi typing has been around? We have not been able to standardise fonts, we have not been able to standardise a key board, we have not been able to preserve and use Hindi numericals (They will say that our Constitution provides for Arabic numerical with Devnagri script, my point is why? Why there has been no concern for preserving Hindi numericals?. What were the advocates of Hindi doing at the time such provision was being enacted?) We have not been able to standardise our dictionaries. We have not included common everyday words from other languages.We have, in fact, excluded some age old words from Hindi itself!
Language is culture and people have to realise that this way it is our culture that is at stake!
Its a minuscule population who really cares about the language and its effect on society. But, ironically, who is bothered about them!
*****
Professor – A renowned screenplay writer and an acclaimed author, Prof. Kumar boasts of an illustrious career spanning four decades. Prof. Kumar has worked across several prestigious institutions including FTII, MICA, SNDT Women’s University, ATN and Home TV. He has also directed almost 50 short films and has three novels to his credit. Prof. Kumar also has numerous published short stories in his name.

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