At high school, I found Hindi impossible to learn. I was the class topper, but scored in Hindi only 3/50, making my Hindi teacher shout that I was a disgrace to India. I went to a charming young lady Hindi tutor next door, but my Hindi didn't improve. I did enjoy the Bollywood classics like Dosti, Guide, Sangam, etc. but it didn't alleviate my learning difficulties.
I went to IIT Madras, and found that I had another difficult language to deal with - Tamil. I first thought almost everyone was quarreling, but later discovered that is how Tamil sounds to aliens like me.
When I went to IIM Calcutta, I found Bengali rather quaint and elaborate, but felt no antipathy. After all they made stuff like rossa gulla, misti dohi, kheer kadam, luchi. The only things I now added to my hate list were a series of vegetables like Tinda, which were inedible.
I took up a summer project in Nagercoil, in a fit of daredevilry and the spirit of exploring India. I was compelled there to converse with everyone only in Tamil, finding myself in many difficult circumstances, much to my friends' amusement and my chagrin. I saw a lot of Tamil movies likeThanga Padakkam with Shivaji in the lead. Well, by compulsion, my Tamil improved by leaps and bounds.
I then took up a job in Delhi. I had to converse in Hindi, willy nilly. Then I had to enrol in a Hindi class being a public sector employee. I topped the class, and as a bonus, thanks to a good teacher Sharma-ji from UP, I found Hindi was so close to Sanskrit, my favourite after Kannada, and started speaking Hindi quite well.
In the past few decades I have made many friends among Hindi-speaking and Tamil-speaking people. When I went to Germany, I spoke German well enough to impress the locals. I had by now found out a simple rule.
Which is the best language in the world?
The language of the listener. Master it, and you will communicate better.
