Language is most important for communication. It is used to inform others, to ask them to do certain things and to express feelings, moods, ideas, information, experiences etc. Language undoubtedly has a very important social purpose because it is mainly used for linguistic communication.

It’s worth noting that Chinese is the single most spoken language in the world today with around 1.2 billion people who consider it their first language. The written origins of the language have been traced back to 1250 BC in the late Shang dynasty. Along with Tamil, Chinese is one of the oldest surviving languages in the world.

The languages of India are divided into various language families, of which the Indo-Aryan and the Dravidian languages are the most widely spoken. Indo-Aryan language is a combination with Persian, Arabic, and Turkic elements in its vocabulary, with the grammar of the local dialects. They are Assamese, Sindhi, Gujarati, Odia, Marathi and Punjabi. The two largest languages that formed from Apabhraṃśa which in Sanskrit literally mean “corrupt” or “non-grammatical language”, that which deviates from the norm of Sanskrit grammar. Apabhraṃśa literature is a valuable source for the history of North India for the period spanning the 12th to 16th centuries. They are Bengali and Hindustani. On the other hand Dravidian languages are the four most commonly spoken languages Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. All four are official state languages of India, and Telugu, the most commonly spoken of all the Dravidian languages, is the third most common language spoken in India.

While most countries in the world have one national language, India has a different language for each of its 28 states. Each State has its Own Language

Hindi is recognised as an official language and all Union Government Records are written in Hindi and English. Other State Governments have records written in the State’s official language and English.

However, all Indian languages are phonetic. That means you can pronounce any word just by seeing it written. In every major Indian language, each syllable has a unique representation in script. It is truly “What-you-see-is-what-you-get” for the Indian language.

What’s more, many Indian languages share the same script (the written alphabet). For example, Sanskrit and Hindi are written in the same script – Devanagiri – but are still very different. Most of the Indian languages have their own script and are spoken in the respective states along with English.

Most Languages in India Follow the WYSIWYG Premise WYSIWYG implies a user interface that allows the user to view something very similar to the end result; while the document is being created. In general, WYSIWYG implies the ability to directly manipulate the layout of a document, without having to type or remember names of layout commands. The actual meaning depends on the user’s perspective, WYSIWYG is an acronym for What You See Is What You Get. WYSIWYG is a way of designing electronic documents so that content such as text and graphics is displayed on screen during editing in a way that corresponds exactly to its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product.

Hindi is spoken as a mother tongue by about 40.22 percent of the population, mainly in the area known as the Hindi belt comprising Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.  It is the official language of the Indian Union, of the four states mentioned above, and of two other states namely, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

Tamil (5000 years old) – Oldest Living Language in India. Part of the Dravidian family, which comprises of some native southern and eastern Indian languages, Tamil is the most widely spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu and is also one of the recognized national languages of India. Its spoken by at least 65 million people.

Assamese is the state language of Assam and is spoken by nearly 60 percent of the State’s population.  The origin of this language dates back to the 13th century.

Bengali is spoken by nearly 200 million people in the world – in Bangladesh and in West Bengal. It developed as a language in the 13th century and is the official state language of the eastern state of West Bengal.

Gujarati is the state language of Gujarat and is spoken by 70 percent of the State’s population.  It is Indic in origin and branched out from the Indo-European group of languages.

Kannada is the State language of Karnataka and is spoken by 65 percent of the State’s population.

Kashmiri is a language written in both Persio-Arabic and Devanagari scrip and is spoken by 55 percent of the population of Jammu and Kashmir.

Konkani, principally based on classical Sanskrit, belongs to the south-western branch of Indo-Aryan languages.  It is spoken in the Konkan region covering Goa and parts of the coastal regions of Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra. It is the official language of Goa, the smallest state in India.

Malayalam is a Dravidian language, spoken by the people of Kerala and Lashadweep.  It is an ancient language and is thousands of years old.

Marathi is an Indic language dating back to the 13th century.  It is the official language of the western state of Maharashtra.

Oriya, the state language of Orissa is spoken by nearly 87 percent of its population.

Punjabi is an Indic language and is spoken in the state of Punjab.  Although based on the Devanagari script, it is written in a 16th century script called Gurumukhi, created by the Sikh Guru Angad in the Indian state of Punjab and in Shahmukhi, a Persio-Arabic script in the Punjab province of Pakistan.

On top of that, there are dialects that change in every region. So, if you are in, let’s say Karnataka, a state in the southern part of India where the primary language is Kannada, you will see a variation of this language in North and South Karnataka.

What’s more, in regions close to the borders of particular states, there are completely unique languages or dialects, influenced by neighbouring states. That means, you will hear people speak a totally different language called Konkani on the border of Karnataka and Maharashtra. Note that the primary language of Karnataka is Kannada and that of Maharashtra is Marathi.

Rajasthani refers to a group of Indo-Aryan languages and dialects spoken primarily in the state of Rajasthan and adjacent areas of Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh in India. 

Bhojpuri is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern-eastern India and the Terai region of Nepal. It is chiefly spoken in western Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Sociolinguistically, Bhojpuri is considered one of several Hindi dialects. 

Sindhi is spoken by a great number of people in the North-west frontier of the Indian sub-continent comprising parts of India and Pakistan.  In Pakistan, the language is written in the Persio-Arabic script, while in India it uses the Devanagari script.

Telugu is also a Dravidian language and is the spoken by the people of Andhra Pradesh.

Urdu is the state Language of Jammu and Kashmir and it evolved with Hindi in the capital of India, Delhi.  Urdu is the language adopted by the majority of the Muslims in India.  Urdu is written in the Persio-Arabic script and contains many words from the Persian language.

Sanskrit is older than Prakrit languages. However, both are Indo-Aryan languages that co-existed for several centuries. Sanskrit is not the refinement of Prakrit languages as mistakenly believed by some. It is the refined and codified version of archaic Vedic language. It’s worth noting that when groups evolved at a habitat certainly there was some kind of communication perhaps Sanskrit and Tamil dominated from the History of India since 3000 BC.

The word “Veda” means knowledge. Vedas are the scriptures of all true knowledge in various stages of life, in all walks of life believed by the Hindus. Be it friendship, be it emotions, be it morals, ailment, business, sharing, enmity, belongings, love, faith, career whatever. Vedas are classified in two categories: Para Vidya (Knowledge of the worldly matters) and Atma Gyan (knowledge of self).  We have in the Veda knowledge of God, Self, Nature, Cosmic order as also knowledge about social norms, ethnical conduct, marriage, food, health, objects of the world etc.

There are four Vedas. The oldest Vedic texts are those of the Rig Veda, dating from about the 1300’s B.C. These are mostly fabled poems written in praise of the great Vedic gods-Indra the Warrior, and the Panchmahabhutas –Akash (Space), Agni (fire), Jala (water), Vayu (air) and Prithvi (earth). The Yajur Veda is about formulae for sacrifice; sacrifice plays an important role in mankind, although the rituals associated with it have evolved over several thousand years of existence. The Vedic scriptures dictate the rules of sacrifice which are followed in highly structured methods.  Sama Veda is about phrases for priestly chants, and Atharva Veda are verses dealing with peace and prosperity and the daily life of human society. The Vedas are also called Samhitas. They are mainly collections of verse and texts that provided the rituals of the holiest rites of the early part of formulation of religion.

The Vedic scriptures are written in the Sanskrit language.  According to the Vedic history, they were written down thousands of years ago. The date, however, is not very important because, without a doubt, the knowledge contained in these scriptures was existing a long time before it was written down. Angiras (अंगिरस्) rishi is credited for formulating the fourth Veda called Atharvaveda. The Veda may be understood by simply accepting what the Veda says about itself. The Vedic self-understanding is amazing, at times even unbelievable to the modern reader, the modern reader needs to read, and re-read a few sentences for clarification. Many philosophies in it are confusing.  The different opinions about the origin and history of the Vedic scriptures are due to the fundamental difference of views between the followers of the Veda and modern mundane scholars.

There are two important texts which were formulated later: long prose essays were written for the Brahmanas which explain the mythological and theological significance of the rites. After the Brahmanas came highly theoretical works called the Upanishads which explain inward reflection. The real meaning of growth in life is deep inner understanding of self. Upanishads are search for unity in existence. They gave rise to the development of Indian philosophy. The Vedas explore origins of life, highlighting the ideals of human existence, the goals that indicate the values. There is no dogma, no restriction of thought. The teachings come in words clear as crystal: ā no bhadrā kratavo yantu viśvatah: ‘let noble thoughts come to us from every direction’. That, indeed, is the essence of the Vedas.

Vedas teach us to follow truth, to accept nothing but the truth, which is one, though the wise describe it in various ways: ‘ekam sat viprāh bahudhā vadanti’ – that Truth or sat which is synonymous with being and becoming, with life and living in all its manifestations.

By the way, in the period of Vedic faith the term Hindu was not created. Vedas dint preach worshipping different deities, it was just not prevalent at that time. It is amazing to find evidences of a lot of work related to science and mathematics in that period. Lot of sages invented mathematical and scientific formulae.  The Baudhayana sūtras are a group of Vedic Sanskrit texts which cover dharma, daily ritual, mathematics, Ayurveda, etc. It is surprising to note that the value of ‘Pi’ – the Pythagorean Theorem is mentioned in it much before Pythagoras invented it. The concept of God in the vedic times was primarily to describe different phenomenon occurring in the universe. The countless forms of creation manifest the Truth or Reality of God, which is imaginary. But beneath and beyond all the names of gods and goddesses, the idea is of one and only Universal Power!!

The sages for the sake of explaining created gods for representing different manifestation in the nature, such as wind, fire, rain, sun and moon. Apparently they identified 330 million different natural phenomenon and forms of energy and represented as different gods. But their ultimate goal was to make the common man understand the universe and its working.

Classical Hinduism seems to have evolved when Adi Shankaracharya united many different streams and cultures and sects evolved from vedic religion. Adi Shankaracharya felt it was necessary to modify the traditional religious practices in vedic religion and make is simpler and easier to identify with common masses. He ratified murti-puja i.e. worship of sculptures of God, so the people could easily identify different forms of god. He combined all different ideas and cultures under the single umbrella of Hinduism. The teachings from puranas became the core of Hindu religion with the guidance of vedas, upnishadas and other shastras. Many figures from Ramayana and Mahabharata represent incarnation of gods like Rama, Krishna, and Hanuman, which became popular worship idols.

The clear thrust of the Vedas is towards an unmistakable monism, which means a theory or doctrine that denies the existence of a distinction or duality in a particular sphere, such as that between matter and mind, or God and the world. At the end of so many prayers, the worshipper poses the question: “kasmai devāys havishā vidhema”, to which god do I offer my prayers? Vedas teach you that in an open, hypothetical situation there is no room for fanaticism. There is only one supreme power, which we identify as God. The supreme power speaks the same truth to people all around the world. The question is, when God speaks, what do we hear? Two people can listen to the same story and come away with very different meanings. We hear what we want to hear in order to believe our own ideas. People in different eras and cultures hear God differently, according to their own traditional and spiritual conditions.

In modern times, Maharishi Swami Dayanand Sarswati, the founder of Arya Samaj proliferated the teaching of the Vedas and he believed that the Vedas were for all human beings. In conclusion, the fundamental message from the Vedas is to do maximum good and to promote welfare of the world as a whole. Vedas teach us to promote physical, spiritual and social development of entire mankind without any distention of caste, colors, creed, religious race or sex. They promote universal brotherhood.

Our heritage is all that has been passed to us by previous generations. Heritage refers to something inherited from the past. The word has several connotations. Natural heritage refers to, an inheritance of fauna and flora, geology, landscape and landforms, and other natural resources. Cultural heritage refers to the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society – man-made heritage. Food heritage refers to recipes and ingredients and procedures of cooking, industrial heritage refers to monuments from industrial culture. Virtual heritage refers to an ICT (information and communication technology) work dealing with cultural heritage. Inheritance of physical goods after the death of individual; of the physical or non-physical things inherited. Heredity refers to biological inheritance of physical characteristics. Birthright refers to something inherited due to the place, time, or circumstances of someone’s birth. And, Kinship refers to the relationship between entities that share a genealogical origin.

It is all around us. It is in the houses we live in, our educational institutions, our places of work, the transport we use, our places of worship, our parks, our gardens, beaches, the places we go to for our social life, in our language, literature, music, sports, in the ground beneath our feet, in the shape of our landscape and in the placing and arrangement of our fields, villages, towns and cities. Heritage is also found in our moveable possessions, from our national treasures in our museums, to our own family businesses, and in the intangible such as our history, traditions, legends and language. While all that we inherit is strictly our heritage, the term has become synonymous with the places, objects, knowledge and skills. I strongly feel that we must learn to value our inheritance for reasons beyond their mere utility and their functional use.

This is because each heritage is unique and exceptional; it is the responsibility of the current generation to preserve it. It’s so sad that due to us – the citizens of this nation and our government’s sloppy attitude we have lost a lot of historical, geographical, cultural heritage. This clearly shows we lack respect for our history. In order to build a great future every nation must connect with its past. Our past is loaded with brilliance, heroism, ethnicity, empires, inventions, also a lot of suffering and sorrows. The peaceful native people were massacred and virtually wiped out by invaders. Our history has experienced slavery in its most brutal and oppressive form. I have this strong belief that all generations born after independence have taken governance, rules and regulations, law & order for granted. They grew up in a very different world where a transition began towards Western culture.

We achieved independence but forgot the freedom fighters, we won so many wars but forgot the warriors, we believe in equality today but forgot those great rebellions who struggled for it,   and we are enjoying industrialization today but forgot the first generation of industrialists who had to bear the brunt of the Britishers; who were not given good treatment and equal chances. We have some of best musical inheritance, paintings, artifacts which we are hardly bothered about. We are so callus to not even make a mention of all those mammoth contributions made by thousands of people to create a powerhouse economy in our country due to which we can boast of many other laudable achievements today.

Our national accomplishments are the result of long journeys and numerous processes. It is these processes and journeys that we have no detailed records of and the very few persons who still remember may not be around much longer. There were long and sometimes painful steps that had to be taken to create the country we have today.

India is home to some great traditions. What are they? The first is spirituality of India. Nowhere else in the world will you find such profound and deep spirituality that can win over the hearts of people and make them blossom from within. The second is Ayurveda, it is such a unique tradition in which the medicines have no side effects, and only work to protect and enhance our mind and body. The third is Yoga; regardless of the country, people all over world are rapidly adopting and incorporating Yoga in their lives. The fourth tradition is music. India is home to so many different types and schools of music. I don’t think in any other part of world you will find such a rich diversity in music and dance.

The other mentionable heritage is of the language and dialect. You will find that after every 200-300 kilometers, the language or the dialect changes; the music and dance changes; the local culture and beliefs change. You will not find such diversity anywhere else in the world. Music, dance and drama (full of Navarasas) are inseparable from our culture. How can we forget our food? India has a fantastic basket of variety of recipes across the country. Next is our dressing and attire; you will see such a variety of clothes and dressing styles, and even the opulence of ornaments and accessories worn along with them. We decorate our idols in temples also with beautiful fabrics and ornaments. Due to such fascinating diversity in all aspects of life Indian tourism stands tall in the world. I have to mention proudly about our Sanskrit language. Do you know that Sanskrit fits the bill to become a computer language? Forbes in 1987 reported that Sanskrit is very suitable to use in computer as a programming language, because of its perfect syntax. Interestingly, Sanskrit has very little room for error as well. We have to take all efforts to nurture and conserve Sanskrit by compulsorily teaching it from primary standards in schools.

Our national anthem mentions about all regions, language, geographical inheritance, natural resources and culture of India and it advocates the people of India to preserve and cultivate its rich cultural heritage.

Albert Einstein said “We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.”

Max Mueller, German scholar has quoted “If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions, I should point to India”.

Anthropology, as a discipline of Humanities can do quite a lot in treasuring and nurturing our rich heritage. Universities can take some positive steps to stimulate Anthropology branch with adequate facilities and infrastructure; so that many youngsters opt for this branch of study. Besides collecting and preserving the narrative of our past, we should also be proud of it. We lack any real nationalism and pride. This is ruthlessly demonstrated in the way we treat our environment, how shabbily we have kept our heritage monuments, forts, architectural sites. We are very poor because we have not preserved our rich heritage.

Ignorance and shame regarding our own country is not only limited to the younger generations, the older generations are no less to hold closer the western culture with much fervor. Look at any Indian soap operas – they project unreasonable and unsound culture and customs.

I feel unless we wake up from our deep slumber to accept who we are, our authenticity, and begin to take pride in it, we may lose whatever little inheritance is left with us. We should take enormous efforts to maintain our uniqueness of heritage. We cannot displace our past, and if do so, we will become a bland and soulless country.