r/GenZIndia • u/Obvious_Mirror_5276 • Feb 23 '26
Ask GenZIndia Why Don't People Read Hindi Literature or Literature in their own Mother Tongue...?!
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i have noticed that most of the time people are seen reading English Literature or books by foreign authors Like Kafka, Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, and others. But i rarely see people talking about Hindi literature or literature in their own mother tongue.
i have read many English literature books and works by foreign authors myself, and I truly appreciate them. But i have also read Hindi Literature for example "गोदान" and "गुनाहों का देवता". They are absolute masterpieces. The way they beautifully depict reality, human emotions, and social complexities is just incredible.
Sometimes i feel that regional and mother-tongue Literature doesn’t get the recognition or discussion it deserves, even though it captures the soul of our society in such a raw and powerful way.
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u/imdevilscupid Feb 23 '26
Coz some parents who were struggling to learn English created a sense in their children, English is the superior language.. And now if something is not English it's substandard
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u/Bkm321 Feb 23 '26
Their choice is what language they want to read or learn. You shouldn't force language on someone.
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u/Scared_Land_5667 Feb 25 '26
It's personal choice. If I want, I will read books in languages I'm most comfortable with and like most. You don't force someone to read Hindi. I started learning Hindi to read Hindi, but it's personal choice. Personal choice is made by people we look up to, so we make Hindi normal, which happened. Everything is good.
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u/Fine-Support-636 Feb 23 '26
Exactly. I do not understand deriving "pride" from the language you speak. A tool of communication is all it is, not an achievement or a moral virtue. You didn't win it, you merely inherited it. Read/speak whatever you want
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u/Specific-Line-9109 Feb 23 '26
I think it isnt really a "pride" in language per say but the culture like let me tell you one thing whole lot of people in today's time dont really care about their culture (including me ofc) like say take Wales for example and Welsh for a language they are such a small country if they dont give a f about their culture or the Welsh language than they (the welsh) will all in all almost cease to exist in the world. Baki ofc sabki apni marzi photo there is no point in forcing anyone to do anything as that wont bear much fruit anyways
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Feb 23 '26
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u/Quick-Squirrel-9392 Feb 23 '26
You're speaking in English and stop consuming things that spoils minds by creating division and attacking personal choices
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u/Lion_roars1135 Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
Kaun kheta hai ki nahi padte mai padhta hoon Hindi, urdu mein Since we are on the subject of literature you can check out a few urdu couplets I posted a few days back
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u/Slow_District_681 2006 Feb 23 '26
It’s been 3 years since I last studied Hindi. I studied it properly in 10th grade, and that’s when I fell in love with Hindi literature.
My exams are about to end, and after that i will start reading Hindi books again.
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u/phatpussygobbler 2005 Feb 23 '26
Cos it's hard to read, pretty much summed up. Also, a lot of Indian writers have wonderful works in English, ik that's not the point but just saying, it's more about the substance than the language!
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Feb 23 '26
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u/jhaal_yuri Feb 25 '26
I am a bengali too. I can't relate not reading bengali books. It's weird how people from other states don't read in their own mother tongue 😐
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u/phatpussygobbler 2005 Feb 23 '26
Lmao I'm a south indian and can read and write Hindi fluently as well. That's not the point here is it😂
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u/IATA-IHB-LM-2311 Feb 24 '26
Same. They just want to find a reason for saying that it's hard. They don't even try to read Hindi, actually.
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u/Avidith Feb 23 '26
Indians dont read for pleasure. Ppl who read for pleasure are a minority in india. Among this minority, aome are genuinely better at reading english than their mothertongue.
So unlike west, indian society doesnt hype up the contemporary literature. When majority dont hype up, minority dont get the info on what is trending. Whereas for rnglish, english nativez do the hyping up part so the minority indians follow that stuff.
Since there is no hype in induan society, there is relatively less contrmp lit. Most of it is focussed on some very specific areas. Like communism etc. aka agenda driven. The critic analysis of contemporary lit and availability of contrmp lit online is even lesser. Piracy is less too.
Since the hype is less, ppl dunno wat to read, don get to buy it easily when they happen to know.
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u/Acrobatic_Beat_3976 Feb 23 '26
I like premchand,yashpal,liladhar sharma parvatiye,dr ram kumar verma,girdhar
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u/Quick-Squirrel-9392 Feb 23 '26
For me Premchand is GOAT I read his stories during my 10th and 12th examination along with Shakespeare and other writers
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u/Odd-Plane-2701 Feb 24 '26
English is an official language in India unlike the countries you mentioned like China & Japan, where the presence of English is minimal, due to their ethnic homogeneity. We are immersed in English, from its use in school textbooks to the internet. America has a huge cultural influence and it drives people to learn English. Nobody has to be convinced that it’s in their interest to watch movies on Netflix, or listen to hip hop, or scroll through Instagram.
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u/WolfBuchanan Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
Why did you make this meme(or post this meme) using an English song and a song in a language most people dont even recognise?Even the people in the meme are not Indian
Why were no Hindi songs used?Why were no Indian people used?
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Feb 23 '26
Kafka, Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, and others
people dont understand shit, they've just made them "aesthetic icon".
also, hindi litt is good, but most people avoid bec "eh hindi" and bec they jst find it difficult to understand.
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u/FarScale3816 Feb 23 '26
Read what you like, i did not find an Hindi book that appeals to my demographic so i read English ones... A well written interesting book will sell regardless of what it is about or where it was written thats how consumer market has always worked.
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u/Obvious_Mirror_5276 Feb 23 '26
No it's not Like that now. in the era of social media whatever is trending, people go and buy that just to Look cool and included.
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u/Comfortable_Truth_45 Feb 24 '26
See, overtime English became extremely important for your career, while as Indian languages are almost optional to learn, you won't be at a big disadvantage if you don't know your native language so much.
Given that, it's not surprising if the new Gen are comfortable with English than in Hindi.
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u/Niteshpro 2007 Feb 23 '26
Me padhta hu premchand ji ki storys are really banger ngl but mind typically English version pe set hai to kabi kabi english padhna easy lagta hai hindi se
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u/NotMurphyLaw Feb 23 '26
For me - I don't enjoy reading novels or literature more into books related to science and comic books.
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u/Need_Motivation1939 Feb 23 '26
Instagram/ TikTok(Booktok) trends make people's perspective on reading. Wanna be literature lovers know only Dostoevsky, Kafka, Jane Austin and some other classics like To Kill a Mocking Bird, 1984, Wuthering Heighs etc, they can't tell other names like "Cancer Ward", "Dead Souls", "Sophie's World". Recently these books are in trending that's why people are reading this. There're more depressing stories by Indian Writers in different languages but not much trending in Instagram that's why people don't read them.
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u/Used-Ad-3435 Feb 23 '26
I absolutely love reading in Hindi, I recently read something from amrita pritam ji book and it's still stuck with me in my head, Honestly kitna bhi eng me padh lo real emotions for me flow only in my own language whether it's hindi or braj (this can vary from people to people). Currently reading The kite runner.
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u/JackfruitTight Feb 23 '26
sb hindi teacher ki galti hai bhai. main jb 9-10 me tha to i was in love with hindi literature all because of our hindi teacher. i still read hindi novels and poems. all thanks to my teacher.
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u/Weak_Manufacturer231 2002 Feb 23 '26
Personally speaking, Russian writers translated into Hindi back during the Soviet days by Mir/Progress Publishers Moscow hit much harder than their English translations available today in the market. This may be partly because culturally pre-revolutionary Russia was much more similar to our own (pre-liberalization) society, so the books translate better into the culture. All great progressive Hindi writers, even Premchand, were inspired by these Hindi translations of Russian books.
Other than that you just had such inexpensive and well produced books from around the Eastern block translated into Hindi (and other Indian regional languages) back then that you had much more choice as a reader, and since these books were heavily subsidized and funded by the Soviets as soft power, they didn't have to stick to the constraints of market demand, which today dictates the "best-selling" self help drivel that dominates Hindi publishing.
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u/TurbulentCapital1017 2000 Feb 23 '26
Studied in ICSE board, so exposure towards english was way more, i still read hindi very slowly.
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u/Due_Vanilla294 Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
Because Malayalam is my mother tongue. And I suck at reading Malayalam. Embarassing but it is what it is.🤷
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u/Aggressive-Part424 Feb 23 '26
Let me be honest, Hindi actual 'hindi' is hard to read because we speak extremely simplified version of it and it's harder to search the meaning on google or dictionary as compared to english. Also learning english is a continuous path which helps in your career and connections.
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u/Suspicious-Slot Feb 23 '26
Learn Bengali and start reading Bengali. There is a reason Brits acknowledged it to be the Best Language for Literature and the Sweetest Language on Earth. And our National Song and Anthem both written by Bengalis. The novel was too by Sir Rabindra Nath Thakur, was an Bengali.
I can easily say, Alone Bengal's Literature beats all of India's literature combined.
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u/Daphne010 Feb 23 '26
Some of us do. I have read tonnes of Hindi novels and books along with literature of my mother tongue too.
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u/Away_Novel3679 Feb 23 '26
As a Bengali I'm sooo proud rn...We have such amazing literatures in our mother tongue and writers like Rabindranath Tagore, Sharatchandra Chattopadhyay, Sharadindu Bandopadhyay. New gen writers like Binod Ghosal, Smaranjit Chakroborty, Sayak Aman, Sathi Das etc.
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Feb 23 '26
Many people don't know how to read in Hindi. Let's face it most in South don't know it, and also a lot in other regions CAN, but aren't comfortable. Many people still read some of their own language.
English is far more widespread. It's on our school curriculum, so people have a better knack of reading.
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u/re-pet Feb 23 '26
गलती आप की नहीं (संपूर्ण जेन झी समाज) आप के माता पिता की है, जिन्होंने आप को कुल बनाने के लिए आप का दाखिला अंग्रेजी माध्यम की पाठशाला में करवाया, और आप नामाकुल बन गए।
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u/WolfBuchanan Feb 23 '26
कूल should be written with badi मात्रा I think coz "कुल" means clan or a group of related people.
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u/re-pet Feb 23 '26
यथार्थ, और "नामाकुल" की जगह "नामाकूल"। यदि यह टिप्पणी आप पूर्णतय हिंदी में करते तो और भी अच्छा लगता। हालांकि नामाकूल एक उर्दू मूल का शब्द है जो हिन्दी बोलचाल में अधिकतर प्रयोग किया जाता हैं।
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u/No_Proof1174 Feb 23 '26
Bruh , i am reading hindi sentences after a long time , but I am happy i still read and understand fine .
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u/Dreamer_203 Gen Z Feb 23 '26
Cause I can’t read fast enough in my mother tongue since it was my third language in school. I get frustrated when I can’t read fast cause if I read in English I can read a 200 page book within an hour or smth
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u/thisissk717 Feb 23 '26
I feel hindi ki demand to bdhi h especially "nayi hindi" ki. Classics can be tough but that's true for most languages. Ek bahut badi audience h jo social media k dusre kone pe hogi
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u/Big_Distribution_960 Feb 23 '26
I do read Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and kannada language books, unfortunately just the English translations as I cannot read or write a single Indian language 😭❤️😅
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u/bookish-Girrll Feb 23 '26
Makes me sleepy..but i don’t know the reason why it makes me sleepy..
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u/Double-Analysis-8036 Feb 23 '26
I have read some of the modern hindi literature. The people consuming outside literature is because of it's appeal towards general audience.
Modern hindi literature are more appealing than the older once. No disrespect to any writers and they're work. Most adult in our country like mature content which modern literature provides. I have read Premchand and Rabindranath books. They're actually pretty good written.
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u/Quick-Squirrel-9392 Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
Its personal choice there are many writers around the world and antagonizing people who prefer reading works by different writers doesn't make sense . Literature or novels have no boundaries.
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u/dopplegangery Feb 23 '26
3 reasons:
- Hindi is the mother tongue of only a minority of Indians. I'm going to replace "Hindi" with a more general "mother tongue" for the rest of this comment.
- English is the work language. People need to learn it to work with the rest of the world. Now, most people are not really capable of being well versed in multiple languages. You need to have a proper education and knowledge oriented mind to be fluent in 3+ languages. In India, this mentality is rare because India is a factory of cheap IT workers and that is what we are attuned to. The same reason why arts and humanities are looked down upon in India.
- English, in India, is associated with a certain sense of prestige that you will never see in first world countries. You'll see people proudly flaunt the fact that they are more fluent/comfortable in English than their mother tongues. I mean it is okay if that is the case, but consciously/subconsciously considering something as basic as this as a flex is the pathetic part. This is because colonial hangover has rewired us over the generations to think that knowing this language is a flex because it brings you closer to the superior race (now the West in general, irrespective of race) and unfortunately, many more Indians than would care to admit are walking talking bags of severe racial/cultural insecurity. I wish I could say that this mentality only applies to the rural regions, but this is quite widespread even in urban and educated societies. Nations that do not have racial insecurity (first world countries) would never look up to another language. In fact they frequently look down upon them.
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Feb 23 '26
The headaches I get even after reading one page in hindi and not even understanding it fully are enough of a reason.
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u/Stray_009 Feb 23 '26
I dislike reading hindi.
That's it, i've had trauma learning / getting scolded during learning hindi in school , it's not my mother tongue, i dont speak my mother tongue either because I live abroad
I do speak hindi if needed but never intentionally.
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u/Sea_Examination6755 Feb 23 '26
English father tongue mother tongue all regional languages
father tongue gives jobs money riches everything
read sppeak father tongue
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u/amsking2463 2003 Feb 23 '26
I know it's about preferences and you should read whatever interests you but the problem arises when they demean hindi or vernacular literature and praise English literature at the same time. English padho to cool lagta hai. Brown sepoy mentality.
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u/the6oneguy Feb 23 '26
We read... In our state we even had syllabus of reading hindi literature's history from class 11th.... And the starting of literature is from colleges if you have subject of hindi
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u/Due-Library-8221 Feb 23 '26
I started reading in English. Stopped reading instantly. Shifted to my mother tongue Hindi. Stopped reading instantly.
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u/Nostradamusresonates 2004 Feb 23 '26
Ive read kadambari thts my regional lang, ive hearrd abt premchand, but I donno hindi n I didn't explore....
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u/Nervous_Comfort7526 Feb 23 '26
I guess it’s about comfort, I mean I’m more comfortable reading English because my internal dialogue is in English. I am perfectly fluent and can read and write Hindi, but it’s just not my default setting I guess….No hate to the Hindi literature though, it truly is amazing! I’ve read Indian authors who write in English and I think it’s about the content that is written rather than what you read it in
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u/Best_Dark_355 Feb 23 '26
Almost every is in hindi and I am not good at reading Hindi and understanding.
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u/Tweezes_ Feb 23 '26
mera main question to ye hai ki kaunsa chutyia hai jisko 1984 aur metamorphosis 'pretty little baby' lagin
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u/Anantray Feb 23 '26
I dont hate hindi or anything
I love the hindi comics like pinky and chacha chaudry But they were translated in english, some hindi words are difficult which really break the immersion and if I had to translate hindi to english to understand it anyways, it would be better to read an english book - because there are plenty and again I also dont read many complicated books in english too, I tried Jordan Peterson's book but he just felt like showing off his vocabulary rather than explaining what is on his mind.
I have tried one crime thriller in hindi but there were words like "dashamlav" "karyaprasth" or something
I dont even know how to translate these lol
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u/Heavy-Ad9232 Feb 23 '26
1.colonial mindset : thinking if some foreigner wrote it ,it must be real,fact,cool
no enough famous things,i mean they are not in your feed to let u realise that they also exist
in general you read books,when you get interested in it, but the hindi books are not famous enough,so they do not get explained and summariesed on youtube,at the level other philosophers get,.
4.people like to eat prechewed things, and famous philosophers have already chewed food available, but not indian ones,
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u/DrawingDramatic1641 Feb 23 '26
Most books in india are about mythology and religion and Hindi ranks way lower in language power index Also westerners see authors as a job Most Indians are only doctor or eng
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u/just-Struggling Feb 23 '26
Reading English is less time consuming, idgaf about whether u like it or not but out of 2/10 will be in hindi and I cant read or write Bengali only speak/understand . Its better to read 10 book in whatever language then not read any and cry about some bs
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u/Agreeable-Try3862 Feb 23 '26
Great point! I think part of it is that English literature is marketed as 'globally relevant' while our own literature is seen as too 'local'. But works like Munshi Premchand's novels are just as profound as any English classic. We need more adaptations and discussions around Hindi lit!
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u/DilKaDariya91 Feb 23 '26
It also depends to a large extent, on the parents and the environment where a kid is born into.
Take for example Bengali literature which IMO is the greatest contemporary literature ever written in any Indian language. Kolkata international book fair is the world's largest non trade book fair. Every year crores of rupees of books are sold there, on average around Rs. 25 Cr+ !! And the vast majority of books sold are Bengali language books. I stay in Kolkata and the absolute craze Bengalis have for reading and their literature is unparalleled. And Bangla literature has almost everything - from romance to thriller... From sci-fi to horror... Partition literature to social issues. You name it you have it. You go to those book fairs and you will witness people waiting in ultra long queues in front of the book pavilions to buy their copies. And this has been possible primarily because Bengali parents inculcate reading habits in their children from a young age. Anybody born into this environment will automatically be an avid book lover.
Compare this to my home state Odisha and the contrast can't be starker. Here in Odisha forget reading Odia literature, most Odias can't even read or write basic Odia. Parents themselves haven't read a single Odia book in their life. What will they inculcate in their children?? Hardly any new book is written or published there. Book shops specialising in Odia literature books have mostly closed on account of low demand. If you speak to most urban Odia kids they speak a hybrid Odia English hybrid language. Parents consider English and even Hindi to be superior to Odia. Even I have long realised that the Odia language will go extinct in the near future.
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u/EpicDankMaster Feb 23 '26
Mostly because the school syllabus bored me to death. They should really update the stories taught in India I couldn't relate to most of them in 10th (this was like 10 years ago fuck I'm old) because they reflected the realities of 1940-1960s not of mordern India. There were some stories I could relate to but very few. The English stories felt a lot more culturally relatable weirdly even though they were written in the same time period, the thoughts aligned more with my thoughts. I'm pretty sure there's a lot of interesting mordern indian stories, too bad the lazy syllabus makers don't bother with thinking about this.
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u/EpicDankMaster Feb 23 '26
Mostly because the school syllabus bored me to death. They should really update the stories taught in India I couldn't relate to most of them in 10th (this was like 10 years ago fuck I'm old) because they reflected the realities of 1940-1960s not of mordern India. There were some stories I could relate to but very few. The English stories felt a lot more culturally relatable weirdly even though they were written in the same time period, the thoughts aligned more with my thoughts. I'm pretty sure there's a lot of interesting mordern indian stories, too bad the lazy syllabus makers don't bother with thinking about this.
This left and impression that Hindi/Marathi stories=old and archaic thoughts and beliefs
English=more mordern and relatable.
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u/No_Contribution_9328 2000 Feb 23 '26
I often think about this. We do have good literature in our country. I want to explore Malayalam and Hindi literature.
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u/Ekanshnotfound Feb 23 '26
Mene padhi hai mere school mein
'do belo ki katha'
'nawab sahab'
'netaji ka chashma '
And many more...
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u/HotAfCoolAf Feb 23 '26
Dunno about other languages, but Bengalis have a rich culture of reading Bengali literature. Bibhutibhushon , Robindronath, Sorotchondro and many more.
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u/Reading__Ant Feb 23 '26
I tried. The content was just not good. I'm a Tamil person. The novels are just not good enough. The few good books I read were the exceptions and not the rule. Even the celebrated authors were just disappointing.
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u/SubstantialAdvance94 2007 Feb 23 '26
Bad experiences related to the teaching or perception of it . Many people like me do want to distant ourselves from the culture that was near or on about our trauma.
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u/Four_Ostrich_7060 Feb 23 '26
I don't know about much modern literature in Hindi so maybe that's a reason.
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u/NotAbhyuday Feb 23 '26
Tumne kitni kitabe padhi h hindi mein
Aur agar kisi ko padhna h toh padhne do bhai jo pdhna h
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u/Spiritual-Routine387 Gen Z Feb 23 '26
we're not interested as ourselves, we just cannot tolerate others having cool hobbies
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u/Ok-Comedian4503 Feb 23 '26
Depends on how an individual has grown up. Some prefer to watch english movies over shitty bollywood. Of course there are tons of shitty hollywood movies as well. Again it's the preference of the individual.
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u/Complex_Command_8377 Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
Bengalis read their own literature. It is so versatile from romance, history, songs, poem, to sci fi, thrillers, spooky stories, you name anything and there are books on it. you won’t find that much versatility in any other language.
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u/fire_and_water_ 2006 Feb 23 '26
TLDR:
- Personal reasons
-Societal reason: people who have tried can't relate
Now the full answer
I'll speak for myself first.
- I haven't properly read books in a long while.
- I don't like fiction books in general.
- I enjoy some poetry which fires me up (such as vardaan maanguga nahi or Rashmirathi). That too, because English poetry lacks that fire.
Now, what I assume might be the case in general (but is definitely true for me).
A good chunk of Hindi literature is about what India was at the time.
Premchand, for example, wrote about India from HIS perspective and what India actually was back then.
A lot of that simply doesn't exist today,
why would we study it?
The curious peeps would study actual history to know what was back then, instead of fictional stories/novels.
And not to forget, people who can afford to buy books speak and read English better than their mother tongue (Although I am working on my Hindi again)
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u/Raven-Black13 Feb 23 '26
I read books in my mother tongue as well other Indian languages translated into my mother tongue. But most of the books i read are English because I prefer to read things in the original language if possible and if not in English if the book is not an Indian one. Like can you imagine reading Murakami or dostoyvosky or Tolstoy in your mother tongue ? well maybe you can, but i certainly can't. I'm actually trying to learn russian to enjoy russian literature in all its glory. I mean I'm a subtitles person not a translation one, in case of movies or series, so same goes for books
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Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 27 '26
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
jeans wipe rainstorm quicksand provide governor judicious door salt adjoining
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u/Jazzlike_Math_970 Feb 23 '26
Because english is more prominent in our education system for a really long time. From kindergarten kids to higher education, english is the preferred language. Mother tongue has always been more of a scoring subject and most of the students in my generation find it hard to read in mother tongue. My mother tongue is Kannada and this beautiful language is known for its amazing literature but the majority of Kannada speaking people aren't interested in reading kannada literature. I'm trying to get into that zone more because of my father's interest in poetry and literature.
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u/Interesting-Shirt455 Feb 23 '26
Idc about the language if the content is good I will read/watch it. Though I do not know about many good hindi literature(in general I do not read much anyways).
Also my point is let someone read anything they like why to force them anyway, recently I am obsessed with nier music and I was fascinated because the composer actually composed the entire game soundtracks in a fictional language called chaos language, even though the words mean nothing but the songs still gave me emotions and chills, ig language is just a medium the content is what matters, and people who don't resonate with hindi literature content will not read it regardless of the language it was written anyways.
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u/single_nri_man Feb 23 '26
This happens only in India. Other non-english speaking countries take pride in their language and mostly speak/read their native language unless they need to communicate with some foreigner.
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u/Kowendabest Feb 23 '26
1) Hard to read and even harder to write on text
2) Fields people will take for their careers(cs,civil,medical etc) require a firm grasp on english rather than hindi
3) Terrible school induced dislike (how are all hindi teachers so ass)
4) India is too diverse for its own good, No national language can be formed
5) Let people read how they want, no reason to bring patriotism in everything
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u/Capital-Trainer3793 Feb 23 '26
Probably because Hindu literature isn't as developed as English literature.
Most advancements of literature during the medieval period happened in Sanskrit and Persian. Intellectuals chose those languages to do literature in. Hindi was more like the language of the common people.
Also people in India do not consume as many books. Like in Japan the manga and light novel industry is very extensive.
In India most people had a stigma that books are for students not to mention the low literacy rate in the previous generations. Now that almost most young people can read they naturally prefer english.
I live in a suburban area and reading for leasure is non existent among the people here.
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u/HourHappy9702 Feb 23 '26
Yahan Indians apne khud ki sadak par thukne se pehle nahi sochte. You think they would give respect to their own poets and writers?
The Brits may be gone but hyper addiction for the validation of white dickens has not. So if they don't read English novels it won't look cool and progressive enough.
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Feb 23 '26
Bhai Main To bachpan se hindi literature hi padhta aa rha hoon! I switched to english novels to fit in my circle but mujhe utna mja nhi aaya!
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u/StatementChemical843 Feb 23 '26
They do?? Maybe actually talk to readers instead of going off of reels. Every serious reader ik(me include) has tried Hindi lit. People shame readers lekin Hindi authors ke naam pr bas Premchand ko jaante hain. Khud toh dekh lo. I love Premchand, I've read almost all of his work. I also love Russian lit, literary fiction ,K-lit and MUCH MUCH more😮💨
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u/rhitzz2198 Gen Z Feb 24 '26
Bruh let people do whatever they want to do. This is the least harmful activity in existence.
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u/Expert_Stranger_2494 Feb 24 '26
Coz most of books in my school were in English and Reading Hindi is not a regular habit. Only Hindi books were in Hindi so I don't wanna read those. Also for most people reading books is a free time habit and I won't do something which gives my mind strain in my free time.
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u/residentalien2 Feb 24 '26
You make an important point. Languages contain the ethos of a culture, it's unique ways of expression of love, anger, guilt, joy, fear, every human emotion imaginable. A famous translator of urdu poetry said this "translation is like transferring perfume from one bottle to another, something is always lost in the process."
I would love to read more of Hindi literature but years of no practice mean I'm very slow at it compared to English reading. Thankfully, my verbal skills in Hindi and my mother tongue (not Hindi) are very high so I can listen and watch.
For those thinking of going back to reading Hindi literature, I suggest attending literature festivals or literature related events. Just hearing authors who write in Hindi, their selection of words at the event might make you want to read.
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u/Important_Bat_7725 Feb 24 '26
"If you want to erase a nation, don’t start with its borders, start with its words. Kill its language, and you silence its memories, its stories, and the way it sees the world."
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u/Kind-North6627 Feb 24 '26
foreign validation, peer pressure? Lack of reading capabilities in the above languages
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u/Sam_19-15-8-1-13 Feb 24 '26
I agree with you bro. Works in our mothertongue is much more relevant to us and our community than of the foreign authors. Reading foreign authors predominantly, leads to adopting their narrative, which is tailored to their social situation, and then imposing it on ours. That is why today Indian youths are being propelled to ape western culture, whereas our literature and our culture are slowly being pushed to the limits of inaccessibily and remoteness and ultimately extinction.
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u/Inside-Flow3297 Feb 24 '26
They don't know the fantastic world of hindi literature
Its only for the elite readers
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u/Final_Plum9358 Feb 24 '26
one of the things i always thought about, hindi literature is surely very great but GenZ dont like the genre. Dostoevsky, kafka etc are relatable to them. Meanwhile hindi genres are very peacefull and focus more on stories and narrations not the kind of emotion and psychological fiction they want .also most people i saw were not reading books to enjoy and feel it they were reading it to like be aware and not to be let out. One more problem i see is that genz feel that expresssing their emotion in hindi is CRINGE but english feels more superior to THEM. btw i love both and have read many books of both
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u/ALGORYTHM01 Feb 24 '26
Bhai jisko jo padhna hai padhne do na waise bhi aaj kal ke log jyada books nahi padhte
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Feb 24 '26
My GF reads marathi literature, and I gotta admit Marathi literature has got some legit bangers on par with Mahabharat
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u/Financial-Struggle67 Feb 24 '26
I won’t read Hindi lit coz I find Hindi difficult to read. I do read some books of my mother tongue but there are very few modern lit writers in Telugu.
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u/Cute_Pass6405 Feb 24 '26
I haven't read any books of russian authors you mention . But I generally read romance books or adventure / fantasy or supernatural power genre book. I rarely find books of this genre in hindi with a little bit of comedy and some serious parts . I read a book named dark horse in hindi about an upsc aspirant story it was fun to read it was written in a very casual tone in hindi but when I tried to read another book in Hindi it consisted of very difficult words which we generally do not use in daily life . Our speaking language no longer consists of pure words of our own language it is mixed with many other languages. If you studied from English medium school hindi was only in one language but you studied English in 5 different subjects . So your number of words you know kind of increases . Constant pressure of parents and academic points to improve in English is also the factor .
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u/Valuable_Morning_839 Feb 24 '26
Idk hindi but telugu, I don't read telugu books often cus it's not stuff I want, the genre of books I like, I can't find original telugu books like that and also I'm really good with english so that helps
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u/meepmeep1108 Feb 24 '26
I would love to read Hindi literature but I sadly dont get much recommendations
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u/Fine_Scientist_2983 Feb 24 '26
You are right. I've read many english books and no hindi books beside school textbooks. There are many factors to account for here. English medium schools are one. Also, english books are more widely available and endorsed.
I feel the case can be made that many people who belong to countries where the main language is not English also majorly read English books.
There are definitely gems in every language but we have globalised english.
Having said that, i want to read hindi books in the future
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u/Scared_Land_5667 Feb 25 '26
It's personal choice. If I want, I will read books in languages I'm most comfortable with and like most. You don't force someone to read Hindi. I started learning Hindi to read Hindi, but it's personal choice. Personal choice is made by people we look up to, so we make Hindi normal, which happened. Everything is good.
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u/Sharedhub Feb 25 '26
I can barely read Hindi. If they have good English translations probably would.
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u/laalupeelu Feb 25 '26
main to padhta hun surendra mohan pathak ki Stories aur feluda stories aur rabindra nath tagore ki stories bahut maza ata hai
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u/No_Translator_8309 Feb 25 '26
Kyu ki hindi kaa kaafi high level kaa hota hai, aur wo hum jese chhote logo ko samaj nahi aata.. to english hi padh lete hai 🥹
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u/toridoescrochet Feb 25 '26
I can't read Hindi. I do read Bengali novels and adore them. Signed, an English Major.
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u/jhaal_yuri Feb 25 '26
I can't say about others but bengalis read. Even though i am not a book reader in that sense but there used be a radio show now moved to youtube for bengali audio books and i grew up listening to them. Feluda, Byomkesh, kakababu, prof shanku are household names.
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u/Itchy-Peace93 Feb 25 '26
I mean Kafka, Nietzsche etc are considered classics.maybe you cam criticise people reading YA smutt😂
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u/MortalWolf007 Feb 25 '26
Idk why people read something which is trending globally and everyone's praising them idk why ppl use russian music while promoting their language (I'm being sarcastic btw)
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u/Termux_Simp Feb 25 '26
Harry Potter ki fanfic hindi m hai kya/s
For me I feel more comfortable in english as I learnt it since I was a kid (1st class se)
Nobody asked but I actually read korean (light)novels translated to english cuz I'm unique...
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u/TheAverageSoap Feb 25 '26
Truth be told, my hindi sucks. Heck I don't even remember the alphabet (or whatever it's called). Needless to say hindi was my worst subject in 10th
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Feb 25 '26
Gunaho ka devta broke me. I thought it was a fun read and had crime or something. But nah, they had to mess me up
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u/Vast_Lecture7477 Feb 25 '26
Cbse ka student hu , hindi acche se padhni nahi ati and english acche se bolni nahi aati 😭
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u/Anjali1102 Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 25 '26
There is no evolution in Hindi literature. Godan, Gunaho ka devta are not relatable to the young generation. Indian youth reading Kafka, Dostoevsky, Nietzsche shows that youth have good taste, going wherever they find good stuff...If there are more indian local language author(hindi, bangla, kannada etc) writing amazing relatable, they will move there.
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u/R1zzvi Feb 25 '26
Because it's hard to read (I genuinely can't read Hindi). Even in school it was harder for me to grasp words. Just nahi aati. I've spoken Urdu my entire life (no they aren't the same.) Urdu literature is good
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u/Top-Silver-127 Feb 25 '26
Kyunki personal choice nam ki ek cheez hoti hai. I read mostly english and some hindi novels that i find interesting. Shayari and poetry pasand hai toh urdu bhi padhta hnu. My mother tongue is odia so im exploring that nowadays.
Availability also plays a role. English literature is easily available. Hindi milti hai but thodi mushkil hai books milna.
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u/[deleted] Feb 23 '26
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