Dear Editor,

A small article in the Guyana Chronicle caught my attention today. The article referred to World Hindi Day. Previously I did not know that there was a day dedicated to celebrate this language spoken by hundreds of millions of people around the world, and by a large percentage of people in Guyana − mostly words and phrases, and not complete sentences. I recall there was a time, albeit very short, when Hindi was taught in high schools in Guyana. It was open to all Guyanese and I remember how excited students were, as well as many parents. Perhaps it is time for the Ministry of Education to bring the language back into schools. After all, Hindi is a part of the language of Guyana. When someone says, come na bhai, that is Hindi (Chalo na bhai), or when someone uses words like, channa, paglee, aaloo, dahl, roti, puri, kushi, pandit, pajama, bungalow and numerous others, they are speaking Hindi. I see a potential for another linguistic connection among our disparate ethnic groups.

Yours faithfully,
Mohan Singh