Hindi is going places and building careers!

Our mother tongue may be losing ground in the Hindi heartland, but it is gaining popularity in other parts of the world.

As a result, more and more experts of the language are being given red carpet treatment overseas.

Pawan Agarwal, professor of Hindi at Lucknow University, says, “With increasing demand for Hindi in other countries, career opportunities have grown for the masters of the language. In addition to teaching, the language experts are also wanted by corporates for translation and advertising jobs.”

Talking about the fad for the language that has been growing over the years in America, another senior faculty at the LU said, “Majority of learners are those who originally belong to India but are settled in the US for years. They want their chil- dren to learn their language. However, the number of those who have no links with India is also quite high.”

Hindi experts who are often invited to give lectures and conduct seminars say that the method of teaching the language is quite interesting abroad.

They use Indian cinema, songs, stories etc to teach Hindi to those who have had no links with the language in the past.

While Prem Chand remains to be among the favourite authors of Hindi in other countries, the language is also preferred by those who wish to study Indian mythology and culture.

Prof Rakesh Chandra, senior faculty, LU recalled his UN visit a couple of years ago. He said, “We were a part of the delegation that went to participate in a Hindi Sammelan held at the United Nations. All speeches were given in Hindi and the popularity and respect for the language was quite visible.”