The Language of Shayari and Our Prime Minister

Some years ago, the writer (now minister) Shashi Tharoor marveled at India’s unity in diversity. He described how it manifested in the case of the traditional Prime Minister’s Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort. Tradition calls for the speech to be in Hindi. Tharoor recounted that when Deve Gowda, who knew no Hindi, became PM, he read a Hindi speech written in the Kannada script, thus ensuring that the tradition lived on. Well, our humble farmer has company in PM Manmohan Singh! Read on to figure out how!

New Delhi, Aug 15 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rendered his 48-minute Independence Day address from the historic Red Fort here in Hindi – as is customary in independent India’s 60-year history. But the script used for his prepared speech was not Devanagari.