Is Haryanvi just a dialect of Hindi — or something far deeper? This conversation uncovers the buried linguistic and civilisational identity of a region that predates the Indus Valley Civilisation itself.
Host Arjun Singh Kadian and linguist Dr. Usha Godara (IIT Kanpur) dismantle the myth that Haryanvi is “just Hindi.” Dr. Godara argues with scientific precision that Haryanvi — rooted in Shauraseni Prakrit — has a structurally distinct grammar, a unique case-marking system, and its own phonology that Hindi simply cannot account for. The real barrier isn’t linguistic; it’s political. Haryanvi was deliberately subsumed into Hindi during the Punjab-Haryana reorganisation struggle of the 1950s–60s, and that historical wound still suppresses the language today. Meanwhile, Delhi’s “village versus urban” identity crisis runs parallel — Delhi itself was once the capital of the Haryana cultural region. Yet, Haryanvi children in Delhi schools face penalties for speaking their own tongue.
The conversation closes on a hopeful note: the Jio revolution and social media are finally giving Haryanvi voices a platform no gatekeeper can silence.
About The Speakers:
Arjun Singh Kadian is an academic and policy professional. A geologist by training, he teaches, has worked at the Haryana chief minister’s office and travelled widely across the region to understand its problems and challenges. Arjun is an alumnus of the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, and Zeit-Stiftung, Hamburg, and a fellow at Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Berlin. He is involved in projects with Indic Academy and Rath Foundation and has initiated the Haryana Thinkers Forum. His first book, Land of the Gods: The Story of Haryana, was published in 2021 and his second, Neeraj Chopra: From Panipat to the Podium, in 2022. Currently, Arjun is associated with the Prime Ministers’ Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi.
Usha Udaar is a professor of linguistics and Language research at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Her research interests include General Linguistics, Linguistic Variation and Generative Theory of Language.
