A ‘nativised’ Hindi associated with Assam’s only hill station is trying to hold its own amid a row over the Centre’s move to make the ‘standardised’ form of the language compulsory in high schools across the northeast.
Hindi reached Dima Hasao – a district formerly called North Cachar Hills – in the late 1800s primarily through merchants and construction workers who worked on a mountain railway system. By the time the railway line was completed in 1899, the non-tribal settlers and diverse indigenous communities across the hills had developed a pidgin to communicate among themselves.
Read the full story by Rahul Karmakar here:
Animation by Richard Kujur
