Vishwa Hindi Diwas, also known as World Hindi Day, is celebrated across the globe on January 10 each year. With over 49 crore speakers, Hindi is the second most popular language in the world. The language is spoken primarily in India, Guyana, Mauritius, Nepal, Guyana, Fiji, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago.
It was on January 10, 1975, when the first World Hindi Conference took place in Nagpur. The event was inaugurated by the then PM Indira Gandhi and was attended by 122 delegates from 30 countries. The first World Hindi Conference was also graced by the then Mauritius Prime Minister, Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, who served as the Chief Guest.
Since 1975, the World Hindi Conference has been organised in several countries over the years including Mauritius, USA and the UK. January 10 is therefore dedicated to the promotion of the Hindi language across the world. As such, this day is celebrated as the World Hindi Day since 2006, when it was first observed under PM Dr Manmohan Singh. Although the objective is similar, Hindi Diwas differs from the World Hindi Day.
How is Hindi Diwas different?
It was on 14th September 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted Hindi as the official language of the newly formed nation. The language was chosen owing to its penetration and number of speakers who could understand the language in the country. 14th September is celebrated as ‘Hindi Diwas’ to commemorate its adoption by the Constituent Assembly.
At the same date, the date marks the birth anniversary of Beohar Rajendra Simha, one of the biggest proponents of the Hindi language. Under the Official Language Rules 1976, all government offices are encouraged to communicate in Hindi so that it reaches out to more common people. Hindi originated from the ancient Indic language of Sanskrit and is written in the Devanagari script.
Therefore, World Hindi Day and National Hindi Diwas of India are completely different. While the focus of the World Hindi Day is to promote the language at the global stage, the National Hindi Diwas is held in India to mark the adaptation of Hindi as the official language of the country.
