Summary of the article which appeared in scroll.in by Suraj Gunwant is Assistant Professor, Department of English, Ewing Christian College, University of Allahabad.
The article argues that English is often wrongly blamed for the decline of India’s regional languages, while in reality, Hindi plays a more immediate and powerful role—especially in North India. Hindi dominates everyday communication, education, and social interactions, making speakers of smaller languages like Bhojpuri or Braj feel inferior and pushing them to shift toward standard Hindi for respect and mobility.
This shift is driven largely by aspiration rather than force: families encourage children to adopt Hindi as a “better” or more respectable language, leading to the gradual disappearance of mother tongues in homes and communities. The process is subtle and often disguised as adopting proper manners or educated speech.
The author concludes that India should avoid promoting any one regional language over others and instead adopt a balanced multilingual model, where English can function as a neutral link language while regional languages are preserved for cultural identity.
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