In view of
the enthusiasm among the Tamils of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province to
learn Hindi, the Indian Consulate General in Jaffna has asked the
Ministry of External Affairs for funds to start regular Hindi classes at
the Consulate, said A.Natarajan, the Consul General in Jaffna.
“For some time now, the Consulate has
been conducting classes, but in an ad hoc manner with no special or
dedicated fund for holding such classes. We want to regularize and
institutionalize the classes employing regular teachers, for which we
need dedicated and adequate funds. We have taken up the matter with the
Ministry,” Natarajan has told the New Indian Express on Sunday.
“The Consulate is conducting a survey to
find out the extent of interest in the Hindi language in Lanka’s Tamil
heartland. We are trying to find out how many are familiar with the
language and to what extent, and to what age groups they belong, so that
we can proceed on the right lines when we institutionalize the set up
here,” he said.
Asked if he would be able to find
regular Hindi teachers in Lanka’s Tamil heartland where the language is
not spoken at all, the Consul General said that he has already received
seven applications.
“There are some people who are willing to come to Jaffna to teach free of charge,” he added.
There is no shortage of Hindi teachers
in Sri Lanka, but they are all in the Sinhalese-speaking South. Apart
from the Indian Cultural Center in Colombo, the Universities of Kelaniya
and Sabaragamuwa have regular Hindi Departments turning out graduates.
In and around Colombo itself there are 40 tutorial colleges conducting
Hindi classes. The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation’s FM station has a
daily Hindi program woven around Hindi film music. And all but one of
the staffers in the Hindi unit there are Sinhalese.
Subhashini de Silva, who is a Hindi
announcer at the SLBC, came to learning the Hindi language through
Hindustani classical music.
“When I went to the Bhatkhande
University in Lucknow to learn classical vocal music, I felt the need to
master Hindi also. Initially I learnt from an Indian friend, but later
did a Prathmik course of the Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha and also
got a Diploma from Kelaniya University.”
Among Sri Lankans, it is the Sinhalese
rather than the Tamils who have a passion for Hindi. This is partly
because of the hold of Hindi films on the Sinhalese and partly because
the Sinhalese language is a Sankritic language like Hindi. But there is
at least one Tamil, Kausalya Thyagarajan of Kurunegala, who speaks Hindi
flawlessly and teaches Hindi both in a government school and privately,
The New Indian Express reported.
“I have seventy students in all and they come from three towns, Kandy, Kegalle and Kurunegala,” Kausalya said proudly.
“ I have been a Hindi film fan since the age of eight, and I love India,” she said when asked what drew her to Hindi.
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