Word War
From social media platforms to classrooms, India is still locked in a room with language upholders, ready to bash each other’s heads for dominance.
“Language,” my grandfather used to say, “is like a part of your body, a limb. A token of identity that makes you different from others. You carry it like a badge of honour everywhere you go.” Yet if you step into a classroom in Lucknow today, you will find a different stew cooking. Hindi conversations are incomplete without English words, and English questions are often answered in Hindi. It’s as if we quarrel over which flame is brighter, while burning down the lampstand that holds both.
A classroom in Lucknow turns into a mini Parliament, with back-to-back insults hurled at each other. A harmless exchange of words spiraled into a quarrel just because a student answered a question in Hindi that had originally been posed in English. This is not an isolated situation. Maharashtra is still continuously debating which language medium should be used for primary education. Uttar Pradesh isn’t far behind — 42% of lessons in “English Medium” schools are actually taught in Hindi, prompting new guidelines. Many more such incidents have sprouted up across modern India, tethering on the edge of becoming a major social problem. It’s as if the country has been given two wings, yet flaps only one and wonders why it can’t fly.
Now the real question arises: amid all other problems, is this a new problem, or just the new normal of our nation? After 78 years of Independence, India is yet again standing at the edge of linguistic crossroads, wanting to choose the comfort of the vernacular, or the poshness of English.
Aladdin's Lamp but only with only 1 wish?
Imagine discovering Aladdin’s lamp in a haunted cave, but the genie says, ‘You can make only one wish.’ Now you’re stuck, unable to choose between escaping the cave or claiming your wish. That's exactly what happened on 2nd February, 1835.
Thomas Babington Macaulay, with words as sharp as a sword, drafted "Macaulay's Minute” which dared not only to establish English as the only medium of instruction in schools but went on to say that “English was Superior” and the “Better” language in order to serve the British Crown.
It did not take much time for the word to turn into law with the British themselves at home. The English Education Act of 1835 went on to become the first legal act declaring English as the only language for schools, colleges, and universities, throttling and quieting every and any other tongue. The schools which earlier hummed with — Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit, Persian, and Tamil — were now tossed to the sides while English-medium schools rose as glimmering towers among clay houses.
A Never-Ending Tug of War :
Have you ever walked into a classroom where the blackboard and teacher speak one language, but the students reply in another? That’s not a quirky scene from a film; it’s the picture of India’s education system. As per the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) 2019–20, about 26% of all schoolchildren study in English-medium schools, while 42% of enrolments still use Hindi as the primary medium, keeping Hindi dominant overall.
This is just one side of the tug of war. The rope frays differently in other parts of the country. In Delhi, nearly 60% of students attend English-medium schools, making English the sole referee of education in India’s capital. In Maharashtra, the rope shifts even more as English-medium students in the SSC exams clocked a pass percentage of 98.44%, the highest among all mediums, yet again proving that English isn’t just a language but a passport.
Amid the tug of war, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 steps into the arena and tries to steady the rope by reintroducing the three-language formula, which makes it mandatory for students to learn three languages, at least two of which should be native to India. Under this policy, children up to Grede 5th are to be taught in their mother tongue or regional language.
However, in the South, this “balancing act” of NEP didn’t pacify the authorities and the crowd. For instance, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, clearly declared:
"Tamil Nadu will never allow the Centre’s three-language policy. The state will continue with its dual language policy (Tamil and English)."
This is a reflection of strong, decades-long opposition to what is viewed as the imposition of Hindi or any centrally mandated language formula.
Speak English and You Are What?
Some people are convinced that English is the only ladder to success. The reasoning seems obvious: speak English, and you’re instantly preferred in job ads, higher education, interviews, even in day-to-day life. No wonder many parents from lower-middle-class backgrounds increasingly view English as a survival skill. This belief is so strong that in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, English-medium admissions in municipal schools have doubled in just one year.
Muddled Minds in the Middle :
It’s true that learning in English often yields higher success rates academically, while many students studying in regional languages struggle comparatively more. This isn’t due to a lack of intelligence on their part, but rather a lack of infrastructure on ours : outdated textbooks in regional languages, sloppy translations, and teachers who are neither trained nor supported enough to teach in vernaculars. To top it all, many English-medium schools switch back and forth to local or regional languages mid-session, without fluency in either. The result? Muddled minds children left with a broken understanding of every language while mastering none.
Balancing Act : English And Vernacular :
The only way to preserve ethnicity and prevent conflicts is to strike a balance. The clear solution is not English vs. Vernacular, but English alongside Vernacular. Children should be encouraged to develop a strong foundation in their mother tongue during their early education, with English introduced slowly, and gradually at the higher levels.
This foundation should be supported with meaningful resources and updated textbooks. The most important thing is to train teachers in bilingual methods so the transition to English is smooth, not abrupt or sudden. Finally, regional or local languages must be honored in literature, digital media, and higher education to ensure they continue to exist in contemporary contexts and are not merely just reduced to “home languages.”
About the Author
Alviya Faisal
Alviya has always been drawn to stories : the ones tucked in the pages of history books and the ones hidden between the lines of literature. She studies History and English Literature, not just for facts or fiction, but for the way both reveal how deeply people feel, love, and change over time. Her writing often comes from small moments, a sentence that stays, a silence that lingers, or a feeling that is stubborn enough and refuses to go away. She loves exploring emotions that don’t have easy explanations and finding words for things most people only feel. When she isn’t reading or writing, Alviya can be found gazing at the moon, lost in thought. It’s her quiet ritual, a way to slow down, to listen, and to remember that beauty often hides in stillness. She writes for those who find comfort in words, and for anyone who believes that even the smallest stories can hold entire worlds.