IIMC Dhenkanal Celebrates Hindi Diwas with Virtual Deliberations

Dhenkanal: Hindi acts as a connecting language in a major part of the country which speaks different languages. Any language is an integral part of the culture of the area. So is Hindi. Experts from academia highlighted such issues during the inaugural day of week-long Hindi Diwas celebrations at the Eastern Regional campus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Dhenkanal on Monday, 14 September 2020.
September 14, every year, is observed as Hindi Diwas across India and the world. The Hindi language was first adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India as the official language on this day in 1949.
IIMC Dhenkanal organized virtual deliberations on two different topics to mark the Hindi Diwas. The topics for the virtual discussion were ‘Mother Tongue and Education: Contemporary Theoretical Perspectives’ and ‘Importance and Utility of Hindi’.
Deliberating on the importance of mother tongue in education, Dr Uma Shankar Pandey, associate professor of Surendranath College for Women said, “People would understand cultural, educational and emotional values better in local or mother language than global language. In India, Hindi is the most spoken language but all can’t speak it fluently. To make this possible, people should practice speaking regularly.” Referring to the ideas of the Western philosophers Dr Pandey demonstrated how power structure builds up around a language and there should be a bridge between the mother tongue and the connecting language which is Hindi in India.

Dr Anjuman Ara, associate professor, Dept. of Hindi, Ravenshaw University Cuttack talked about the importance and utility of Hindi in the present scenario while explaining the difference between official, national, and connecting language.. “The Indian language Hindi has played a pivotal role during the pre and post-independence period. Indians need to concentrate not only on global language but also on local and regional languages,” she said. Besides, Dr Anjuman also said, there are plenty of opportunities for the people who know Hindi in education and other service sectors. So, learning Hindi will be useful to everyone in enormous ways.
In a speech welcoming the guests, Professor Mrinal Chatterjee, Regional Director, IIMC Dhenkanal said, “Languages should be used in our daily regularly to preserve the ancient culture and the language. We should learn as many languages as possible for a better understanding of the cultural values and their importance”. He also said that if people forget to use the language, it will lose its value.
Kedar Nath Jena, senior section officer, IIMC Dhenkanal declared the winners of the Hindi noting and drafting competition among staff members of IIMC Dhenkanal. Laxmi Narayan Mishra was the winner of the first prize while the second and third prizes went to the Badreenath Jena and Manoj Kumar Jena respectively.
The Virtual event was moderated by Sambit Pal, assistant professor of IIMC Dhenkanal, and culminated with the vote of thanks by assistant professor Dr Jyoti Prakash Mohapatra. The session was attended by media industry experts, media academicians, research scholars, faculty of the IIMC, and the students.
The Hindi Fortnight celebration at IIMC Dhenkanal will also include an online Hindi poetry festival ‘Shabdanjali’ on 20 September 2020, Sunday. It will be held in the Google Meet platform from 5:00 to 6:00 pm. The event will be curated and conducted by Itishree Singh Rathaur, news editor, All India Radio, Cuttack, and Bishnupriya Pandey of IIMC New Delhi.