Special Report by Manjari: Two sharply different faces of Hindi are now on display. One stays anchored in its traditional Devanagari script; the other morphs into a “modern” Hindi rendered in Roman letters. That second variant, once a novelty, has spread across government offices, the private sector, social media, even literature and mainstream media.

This year’s Hindi Fortnight and Hindi Day celebrations offered a vivid snapshot of the divide. Within one nation and one government, the language seems to be splitting—an evolution that many at the event warned could erode India’s linguistic and cultural heritage.

Presiding over the “Sahityawale Hindi Divas Seminar,” Harendra Pratap called the rise of Roman Hindi among the educated class “incorrect,” pointing to its dominance in social-media exchanges. He also criticised the way banks keep Hindi as a secondary option on ATM screens.

Gajraj Singh, Special Officer on Duty (Hindi) at Rashtrapati Bhavan and chief guest at the programme, praised the Sahityawale initiative and urged families to begin using Hindi at home. “Only then will the younger generation carry it forward naturally,” he said.

Keynote speaker Arvind Pandey ‘Maitribodh’ joined a roster that included Rajarshi Arun, Dr. Pankaj Kumar Jha, Nibha Jha and Sushma Kumari. Dr. Pankaj argued that symbolic celebrations mean little without daily use, and demonstrated features of a Hindi software tool. Nibha Jha called Hindi “the soul of India,” urging its adoption in science and technology. Rajarshi Arun pressed for more engaging Hindi literature. Mr. Maitribodh began with personal anecdotes but was cut short by technical glitches. Sushma Kumari closed with a biting satirical poem lampooning the overuse of English words in Hindi.

The interactive session drew comments from Dr. Sanjay Kumar Mishra, Rajeev Ranjan, Ashok Sinha and Anshu Chaudhary.

Among those present were Dr. Chitti Annapurna (Head, Hindi Department, University of Madras), Dr. G. Ganesan Mishra (Assistant Professor, Chaudhary Mahadev Prasad PG College, Allahabad University), Dr. Deepa (Assistant Professor, Arvind College, University of Delhi), Dr. Preeti Soni (Assistant Professor, Maharashtra) and author Ms. Rinku Sinha from Hyderabad.

Devashish Jha and Anita Singh Ruhani conducted the programme.