Continued from P1

Others conceded opting for Sanskrit because it is perceived as easier. At the same time, Hindi’s compulsory status in later years created what one described as a voilà moment — suddenly finding the course effortless due to prior exposure.

This shifting landscape reflects deeper anxieties. In Tamil Nadu, the state government made Tamil compulsory in all schools in 2015‑16, but CBSE institutions still offered limited options. By 2017‑18, Hindi was made compulsory across all classes, forcing students to abandon their third-language choices. Such reversals leave students questioning the value of learning any particular language and highlight the ongoing power struggle over linguistic education.

The practical argument for Hindi is clear: it eases mobility across states and is widely spoken. Yet, the cultural cost is steep. One student who moved from Chennai to Hyderabad admitted that while Hindi literacy helps in daily life, “the inability to read Telugu” — his mother tongue — “creates painful gaps in my cultural identity”.

With globalisation, urban migration, and the dominance of programming languages and AI skills and pan-English language learning dominating the education landscape across the southern state, S Prabhakar, a Kannada teacher from Devanahalli in Bengaluru, said, “This is not an isolated case. Students increasingly view mother tongues as irrelevant to their career prospects. The danger is stark: earlier, there was a common thread that connected people across the southern states, though each has its own language, rich in heritage and literature; now, there is the risk of being “pushed into the back seat by the policymakers in education who fail to see the eventual disaster within a few generations if current trends continue.

C Vatsala, a Telugu pundit from Hyderabad, pointed out that the CBSE’s three‑language formula was designed to preserve diversity while promoting national unity. However, unless schools, parents, and policymakers actively incentivise learning state languages, south India’s vibrant linguistic spectrum could fade into a monochrome dominated by Hindi and English. The challenge is not just educational — it is civilizational, she adds.