NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 15, 2008: Twelve young flagbearers of Hindi from Europe chosen from among hundreds for their skill in the language are currently on a 10-day trip to India.
Barring a few European students of Hindi, they are all persons of Indian origin who have learnt the language to keep alive an emotional link with their country of origin.
The trip involves meetings with dignitaries and commoners alike, and visits to historical places like Haridwar, Rishikesh, Agra and Lucknow. The UK Hindi Samiti of Padmesh Gupta conducted the test in February to select the youngsters all aged between 16 and 25 most proficient in Hindi and an organization called Aksharam planned the trip.
“The whole idea is to promote Hindi in Europe. If Hindi dies among second generation Indians from north India in Europe, their links with India will also die, as language is a crucial aspect of culture. So we thought that inculcating love of the language was important for inculcating the love of India,” Anil Joshi of Aksharam told Hindustan Times.