The more languages journalists speak or understand, the more sources they have access to
The more languages journalists speak or understand, the more sources they have access to
TeaThe Official Language Committee headed by Home Minister Amit Shah recently submitted its report to President Draupadi Murmu. The Committee recommended that Hindi be made the medium of instruction in central institutions of higher education in Hindi speaking states and regional languages in other states. it is resume a debate on imposition of Hindi
This debate takes into account the importance of speaking different languages for a reporter. Language is a powerful tool for a journalist to initiate dialogue and build camaraderie with interviewers to get a good story.
There are 22 official languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. Most Indians speak two or three languages with relative ease. I am jealous of people, especially journalists, who can converse in five or six languages. If a reporter speaks more languages, he has access to more sources.
Unfortunately, I am fluent in only three – English, Hindi and Malayalam. Malayalam came in handy when, as a crime reporter in Delhi, I had to get into the vast police circle of Malayalees who were deployed to deal with mountains of paperwork in police stations. I can also follow bangla and punjabi so that i can get it. Without understanding Bangla, it would be nearly impossible for me to sit through hours of briefings at the Delhi office of the Trinamool Congress, where MPs often break into Bangla, especially when they want to share a story of import. Knowing a line or two in Tamil has helped me start many conversations and use succinct sources to part with important details.
Whether we are comfortable or not, reporters really have no choice but to try to understand the language of the people being reported. Recently, a colleague from Kerala, who speaks fluent Hindi, complained about hours of painstaking translation of Punjabi and Haryanvi that they had to piece together to make a story on the agrarian distress in Punjab and Haryana. While there is always the option of seeking help from someone on the ground, a reporter will still have to rely on the translator’s ability to interpret and communicate the essence of the dialogue.
I can’t imagine doing any ground reporting without knowing the language. Failure to understand what the person is saying not only affects the story; It gets even funnier when the communication is through wildly extravagant hand gestures and leads nowhere. Furthermore, the best election stories do not come from journalists who constantly question respondents on electoral choices, but from debates that take place between voters. If a reporter instigates the crowd and puts himself in the crowd to hear the argument, he will get the correct picture.
Now coming to Hindi. How do we define “Hindi speaking states”? There are also many different dialects in the so-called Hindi speaking states. Most would agree that the Hindi spoken in Delhi is quite different from the Hindi spoken in Patna. I am not even going into Hindi vs Bhojpuri or Maithili debate here. Moreover, the tone, form and syntax of Hindi varies from region to region. It makes the job of a reporter very easy and if he is able to adopt his version of Hindi then he is dear to the public.
Comment | This Hindi – and Hindi only – advice is flawed
One of the enduring regrets of my visits to rural India is that I sometimes find myself unable to interact openly with women. I vividly remember a trip to Sikar in Rajasthan where I could not understand the women as they spoke a dialect of Hindi that I was completely unfamiliar with. I still regret that I could not raise his voice in my reportage.
sobhanak.nair@thehindu.co.in