Lecturer Dr Ian Woolford's three-month campaign to save Hindi proves successful

BY RAJNIANAND LUTHRA

twas aconsolidatedcampaign staged overthree long111onths,but LaTrobe's Dr Ian Woolford received news this weakthatn1ade itallworth it. The university's Hindiprogran1, slated tobe terminateddue toCOVID-caused financial hardships,will bemaintained with nocuts.

"It'squite arelief" DrWoolford ' , LaTrobe'sface ofHindi, toldIndianLink. "I can hardlybelieve thatthe uni hascome to thisdecision."

Announcingthe decision,theuniversity's Dean ofHumanitiesand SocialSciences

ProfNick Sisleysaid, "Afterconsiderable discussionswith stakeholdersincluding staff, students,con11nunitygroups and governments,we havedecided to retain the current tlindiprogram. Notwithstanding the significantfinancialchallengeswe face, itis cleartous thatit re1nainsfirmlyin the university's andcountry'sinterestto retain the Hindiprogram."

Buoyed atthedecision, Dr Woolford said, "I an1particularlyheartened that thereasonstated isthatHindi isvitalto Australia'snationalinterestand therefore has aplace atthe university.Asa Hindi specialist, I agree."

DrWoolford spearheadeda massive campaign involvingvariousinterestgroups besideshis owncolleaguesand students, dedicatingallhisenergies intosavingHindi at theuniversity.

"Ireached out tostaffand studentsfrom multipledepartn1ents andotherswho wanted tosee itsurvive, the Indiancommunity in Australiawhowroteto the universityand totheir Me1nbersofParliament askingforsupport,even academicsin India. Support ca1nefrom theAustralian High Commission in New Delhi too."

Hindi student Jessica Elle1n, whocoordinated the student response tothe university,isoverthemoon attheannounce1nent.

"I'111sogladtobestarting mythirdyearbeingable to continue Hindi,"shetold IndianLink. "The uni has madeawisedecision. The currentfinancial situationis not ideal butit'sitnportant forus to haveHindi - not onlyforour 700,000strong Indian communitybutalso forAustralia'sownfuture in tradeandgeopolitical stability."

Jessica organised fellowstudents towrite groupsubmissions to theuniversityand also targeted newsoutletsand governmentagencies.

"Iworkedveryhard on thephone, and onsocialmedia, tokeeppressure onthe Universityand thefederal government. I alsowenttotheVictorian Sate Government, DFAT, the Ministersof Education,HomeAffairs,Multiculturalism, and otherrelatedministersandShadow ministersto stoptheuniversityceasing

Hindi-aNationalStrategic priority Language."

The Indian Student AssociationofLaTrobeand the university's Bollywood Club alsoplayed theirpart.

Presidentofthe

Bollywood Club Priyanshu Tomar, an international studentstudying for a Masters'degree in ComputerScience, helped organisetwoonline petitions.

Theyread: "LaTrobe Universityuses their connectionto the Indian Film FestivalofMelbourne and Bollywood starsto promote the University in India,particula1·lyto potentialfuture students. Itis hypocritical (todo this) andatthesame time cut Hindi,the language ofBollywooditself. What kindofmessagewill this extraordinarystepsend to India and the Indian diaspora?"

"ItisgreatnewsthatHindi willcontinue," Priyanshu toldIndianLink. "Ihave firstgenerationmigrantfriendswhoare studying Hindiandtheyweredevastated whenthe movewasannounced."

DrWoolfordmeanwhile,isshowingno signsofslowingdown,instead appearing furthergalvanized intheserviceofthe languagewhichhascome todefinehislife.

"Nowthatwehave support,itisvital tocontinuetobuildmomentum,and not just at LaTrobe butacrossAustralia," he reflected. "The universitysectoris devastatedby thecurrentcrisisand wemustconsider newinitiativesgoing forward. Forinstance, I'm looking atways toworkwith facultiesacross the spectrum -Public Health, International Relations, Sociology-tosee ifthere isanywaywe can design Hindi units to help their students. In Public Health forinstance therecould be greatadvantages. Howcanwe make Hindi, avitalcommunitylanguage inVictoria, more attractive to theirstudents? l thinkit's a natural thingwe should bedoing."

He seems tohavepassed thisenthusiasm on tohisstudents.

Jessica Ellen1stated, "I will work alongside Ian togetmorestudents. Butthe universityalsohasa responsibility. Itwas perhapsa failureofmarketingthatpeople didn'tknowabout tlu1diat LaTrobe."

She added, "Ianisagreatteacher, and agreatasset totheuniversity. Itwould havebeen ashame tolose himand the program."

One ofIan'sjobsonhis to-do listfor nowincludeswritingmessages ofthanks tovariouspeoplewhosupportedhis campaign.

"There are hundredsofpeople to thank, peoplewhotookituponthe1nselvestodo theirbit. l justknowthefirst 150."

Wecan'tletIangowithoutaskinghitn this: with Hindisafeat LaTrobe,is there a line ortwo frompoetrythatdescribeshis currentstateofmind?

"The lastlinesfron1Vinod Kumar Shukla'spoemHathashaseVyaktiBaith GayaTha. Theygoasfollows: flum dono saathchafe,Ekdoosrekonahinjaantethe, Saath chalnekojaantethe."

Bravo, Ian babu.

BY RHEAL NATH

hen Karl Rockpicksup the phone (with acheerful 'Na1naste!' noless), his New Zealand accentisapparent. That is, until he burstsinto 1-lindiwith an earnest, quietconfidence.

Onsocial media,the popularlndophileis knownforhishonest,sometimeshumorous, videoswherehebustsn1ythsand scamsof India. He'sevengothisown hashtagforthe cause: #nahichahiyeji (Nothankyou).

"Therewereso1nanyproble1nswhenlfirst ca1netoIndia.Everytouristhasatleastone badexperiencefromtheirtrip.l wantedto givetravellersawaytodiscoverthecountry andavoidthescains,"KarltoldIndianLink.

Fromhighlightingfakecallcentresto warningagainstfake teasandtrinkets, his videosaiintoprepare the averagetourist forIndia.It'snosurprise, then,thathe'sgot over 1.2 millionYouTubesubscribers.

Nowa residentofNew Delhi, Karl earned a stampofapproval lastyearby none otherthan ChiefMinisterArvind Kejriwal when hedonatedhisplasmaafter recoveringfron1 COVID.

"All Ihavewantedistofitin. Itwassuch a nice thingto becalleda Delhiite. Itwas oneofthebestdaysin aprettydifficult year,"he saidwithasmile.

TheKiwi'sadventures in India might evenput local travellersto shame.Since hisfirsttripbackin2013,he hasvisited everystateand UnionTerritory, along with neighbouringcountries Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Hisreason issimple: "I've been fascinatedwith Indiasince I was 18years old. Ijustwanted toseeeverythingthe countryhad tooffer."

Indeed,aglance atbisYouTube channel reveals escapadesoffthe beatentrack, like visitingthe BearTemple inChhattisgarb and CellularJail in theAndaman and

Nicobar Islands.

Evenin hisowncity, Karlroutinely sharessnippets ofhislife. In 2019,he sharedhisexperience ofattendinga Diljit Dosanjh concert andsoon afterthat, the Punjabi singerreached outonlnstagra1n, welco1ninghim"tothe Bhangra world."

Theexpathasauthored twoe-booksso farfortourists and Indophiles,includinga bookonhowtolearnHindiquickly.What made hjn1wantto learn thelanguage?

"l startedlearningHinditoassin1ilate," Karlexplainedto Indian Link. "Often, menusandroadinstructionsandothertravel basicsaren'tinEnglish. LearningHindi helpsyouconnectwitheveryone."

Infact,someofhismostpopularvideos onsocialmediaremainhisinteractionswith localswhilespeakingin 1-lindi,complete with theirfaceslightingupinsurprise.

Jnoneinstance, hegreetsa military officerwithajovial "Rani rani ji, ki haal chaal?" (How's itgoing?)beforeentering the airport.

Anothertitne, anamused shopkeeper askshim: "Toh kahan. se seekh rahe ho? (Whereareyoulearningfrom?)"

"Mere dost se (From myfriend)" Karl responds happily.

Doesthis111eanhe'sgotagraspofthe infamousIndianbead wobble?

"Initially, l had troubleunderstandingit," helaughed. "Butnow peoplecommenton myvideos that ldoittoo!"

AnotherbenefitoflearningHindihas meant enjoyingBollywoodn1ovieslikea local. In 2018, heeven visited the Druk White Lotus School (whichwas featured in Bollywoodfilm 3 idiots) beforeitwas closedtotourists.

"I starteddiscoveringBollywoodwith ShahRukbKhanmovies,but nowI'ma massiveAamir Khan fan.Hismovieshavea lotofdepth. ltcanbe difficult forforeigners to trulyunderstand movieslikePKor 3 idiots withoutcontext,butI'mnowgetting the hangofit,"Karlshared.

Twoyearsago,histiestoIndia were officialJycemented when be married bisgirlfriend, Manisha Malik,bycourt marriage through the Special Marriages Act. Stayingtrue tohiscause, healso made the mostoftheopportunity tobust mythsaround marriagein lndia, including a misconceptionaboutconverting to Hinduismto marrya Hindu.

"There'ssomuchstrength in the Indian familyunit.Sometimes,there canbe commentspassedabout my wife being married to aforeigner, but myparents-inlawreally fight forme," Karlsaid.

"I didn'tknowthisbefore,butwhenyou marryintoanIndian family, you become theirothersonordaughter. l cannowsay thatl have twosetsofparents!"

Movingfron1Aucklandto New Delhi, asonecan imagine, wasa "steeplearning curve" forthevlogger.Herecallstheinitial difficultyoflearningto'adjust' bysharing seatsona busorassertingbis spot inlineif peopletrytocutpasthim.

Overtheyears,though, heseemstohave settled in. "There'snotalltoomuch Imiss about NewZealand Agood n1ince and cheesepiemaybe,"heconfessed.

Up Close And Personal

With Karl Rock

Favourite local dish? Cholebhature. I love it!

Cookanything Indian?

I'm not much ofacook Ican make Maggi,though. I liketoadd extra black peppers,turmeric, chilito spice itup.

Favourite Indian drink?

I amthechaiwallah ofthe house! I loveto makepropermasala chai, I probablydrink multiplecupsa day. Thefunnythingis, I didn'teven like tea before I cameto India.

Favourite Bollywood movie?

Oangal, starringAamir Khan. It'sset in Haryana,where mywife isfrom.

AdvicetoAussies or Kiwis looking to live In India?

Live here ifyou havea deep appreciationofthecountry. You haveto WANTto be here. Otherwise, itcan bea lotofworktoadapt.