The Mixed Identity of Hindi: A Journey Through India's Languages
Looking at the fascinating and complex identity of Hindi is our way of celebrating Hindi Diwas. This is a language that resonates differently across regions of India. Author Vaishali Shroff explores the evolution and identity of Hindi in today's India in her book Taatung Tatung and Subtext was curious to find out how one of India's official languages is ubiquitous and cancelled simultaneously.
URDU OR HINDI: WHAT ARE YOU REALLY SPEAKING?
How well do you know our official language -- Hindi? Turns out, a few fairly common Hindi words owe their origin to Urdu. Now imagine, how your favourite Bollywood songs would sound if we changed them to their original Hindi words. On this episode of How did this become a thing, we delve deep into what really is Hindi and are we speaking Urdu on a daily basis.
BREAKING LANGUAGE BARRIERS: THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION GOES LOCAL
India's internet boom has seen a significant shift towards regional language content. As more people come online, the demand for digital platforms that cater to their linguistic preferences has skyrocketed.
internet users in India who prefer
to access the internet in
regional languages
Prefer Hindi
E-commerce platforms are winning over Indian
consumers with vernacular languages
Vocal For Local
90%
Amazon's regional language users from Tier 2 cities and below.
5X 
voice-search users
3X in vernacular-search users
(from 2021-22)
60%
Meesho's orders that
come from Tier 4+ cities
70%
Prefer usingregional languages
Dial in the Desi style
20%
searches in non-English (with significant growth in Tier 2 cities)
90%
videos in languages like Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, and Kannada Partners with regional micro and nano influencers
Over 600 live streams per month with 300+ content creators engaging with customers in real-time.
The Gold Rush:
Booming Billions
of internet growth in India is projected to come from non-English speakers.
$50
Billion in 2022
$150-$170
Billion by 2027, driven by
non-English users.
Sources -
Use of Indian languages key for increasing Internet access in India: Report
Vocal For Local: How E-Commerce Platforms Are Using Vernacular Languages To Win Over Indian Consumers
QUIZ
Have you been thinking about learning a new language? American Sign Language (ASL) is a beautiful visual language to learn and it is a form of communication that bridges the gap between the Deaf and hearing communities! Can you guess what some of these common gestures mean?
Case Study
Creating a multilingual website for Bureau Veritas
What's not lost in translation
Auto-translate? Handy, but it’s not the whole story!
Translating a website to your preferred language? —Just a click away! But auto-translate often falls flat, missing the nuance! Enter TIC and the Bureau Veritas website, built from the ground up in English, Spanish, and Japanese. Bureau Veritas’ business and leadership has a key presence in said countries, making it all the more necessary to give it a truly organic and ‘local’ UX! But this isn't just a language switch—it’s a cultural switch! Each version features tailored content that resonates with local audiences, refined URLs, and meta-descriptions. It's more than translation; it's a seamless experience that speaks directly to users in their native tongue. The result? A multilingual website that doesn’t just translate—it connects. Now that’s what we call speaking the user’s language!
