A group of people in Hamilton marked Hindi Diwas (Hindi Day) on September 14, to commemorate the declaration of Hindi as an official language of India.
The legislation was adopted by the Constituent Assembly in 1949, according the status to Hindi. Thereafter, successive efforts by some politicians and groups to make it the National Language failed.
Indian Government promulgated the Official Languages Act in 1963 elevating 23 other languages to the status of Official Language.
The meeting in Hamilton was commendable since it brought together people from various states of India.
Indian Newslink Correspondent, Waikato Chapter of Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) and Indianz Global Suman Kapoor led the meeting to promote the language among the Indian Diaspora, especially children.
“We believe that language brings together and creates a bond between people and hence Teaching Hindi to all those interested as an important activity.
Our Global Mehfil (Radio Show), Roshni (Newsletter) and various other avenues help us to strike a common ground,” she said.
Ms Kapoor said an increasing number of Hamiltonians were beginning to evince interest in learning Hindi.
“The common factors between Hindi and Maori, including similarities of some words and vowels are truly amazing,” she said.
The Hindi learning and teaching group meets on Wednesdays and Sundays at the Hamilton Central Library between 1130 am and 1230 pm.
