The Devendra Fadnavis government has withdrawn its proposal to introduce Hindi in the early classes in schools in Maharashtra because of the opposition’s pressure. In Tamil Nadu too, there has been pushback on the introduction of Hindi by the Modi government.

“In Maharashtra the BJP cannot afford to take electoral risks,” says Professor Alok Rai, academic and author who has taught in universities in India and in the US and has written a book called Hindi Nationalism.

But, he points out, the BJP does not want just to introduce the language. “It has a larger cultural agenda behind it. Hindi carries within it a coded language,” he tells Sidharth Bhatia in this podcast. “The agenda is a Hindu agenda, an upper caste agenda.” The introduction of Hindi in the south “consolidates their support in the Hindi belt.”

Also, “School Hindi is very different from what is spoken on the streets,” he says. Everyday Hindi, that is Hindustani, "has evolved". “School Hindi is sterile”, he says.

India’s stand on global events is becoming increasingly unclear. Whether on the Israel Iran war or the Ukraine-Russia war, India has not taken a clear position, though in recent years, India has been supportive of Israel, giving up the country’s long standing support of Palestine.

Nor has prime minister Modi clearly repudiated President Trump’s repeated statements that it was he who brought an end to the India-Pakistan conflict.

Does India have a voice in global affairs? Salman Khurshid, a former external affairs minister in the Manmohan Singh government, thinks not. In a podcast discussion with Sidharth Bhatia, Khurshid says. “We are doing too much lecturing and parroting phrases and not enough diplomacy.”

“India requires to get up and be able to say something and do something that will make a difference. We could and should have a role” in world affairs. But we are simply “making phone calls”.

Khurshid, who also was in a multi-party delegation that travelled to south-east Asia and the Far East, said that the outcome of the trip was “satisfactory” but “we could not get any commitments”. The discussion covers a wide range of topics, including India’s relations with its neighbours, India’s stance on Israel and its bombing of Gaza and the lack of clear information by the Modi government.

India sends students to the US in record numbers, but this academic year, applicants are feeling anxious before they head out. The changing policies of the Trump administration is likely to cause delays and tougher immigration questioning, among other things. Moreover, it is likely that the Optional Practical Training (OPT) programme, which allows F-1 visa holding students to work for a year or more, will be modified if not terminated. That was one of the great attractions for foreign students in the US. So is it still worth going to the US to study? “Absolutely,” says Viral Doshi, who has advised Indian students heading to the US for the last 20 years. “No other country can match up to the US,” he says, in sheer number of colleges, in the kinds of courses it offers and in the experiences one can have.

He acknowledges that parents have anxieties but “I tell them, have patience,” he says in a podcast discussion with Sidharth Bhatia. “Almost 50 percent students have already got visas and others will too, maybe a few weeks late for the first semester.” He says universities depend foreign students and are saying they will allow students to come late.”

“America is not the same as it was some years ago. Things have changed. No more internships and no more jobs or work experience.” And most important, he adds, “Avoid political activism.”