Of course, my book looks at India after 1947. But this cultural synchronism can be seen even before 1947. The language of the Hindi film that started evolving much before Independence is a beautiful, supple Hindustani, not the formal, rigid, artificial Sankritised Hindi promoted by the government. It is much more eloquent and popular language.
If you look in the 1960s, the central government tried to implement Hindi compulsorily and failed. Yet, people in Tamil Nadu or the southern states are not against Hindi. It is only the imposition of the language they are against.
There is a famous oral anecdote I have heard but I did not put it in my book. Uttar Pradesh's (former chief minister) Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is a kind of Hindi zealot, wrote a letter some years ago to his counterpart in Kerala, (then) chief minister E K Nayanar, in Hindi. Nayanar replied in Malayalam. There were fewer people in Lucknow who understood Malayalam than there were people in Trivandrum who understood Hindi. A wonderful response!
The point is, if you use political means to impose Hindi, you will fail. Through the popular medium of the Hindi film, Hindustani has spread throughout South India. In Chennai, Rameswaram or Nagercoil, even a taxi driver will speak Hindi, not because the government told him to but because he watches Shah Rukh Khan and others on (the screen).
Image: Top, Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala in Naya Daur. Below, decades later, Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan in another hit film, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.
Part II of this must-read interview: 'It is a miracle that India has survived... for 60 years'
Also read: What are you doing for India?
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