“I want to keep serving literature till I am alive. I don't work for Hindi, I live for Hindi,” says Kiwi-Indian author Preeta Vyas who has written about 238 books, including ones for primarily children.
Hailing from Madhya Pradesh in central India, Vyas has become a known face in the literary circles, mainly in the Hindi language, across India and New Zealand and she has been relentlessly contributing to the same.
Vyas moved to New Zealand in 2004 along with her family after spending many years in Indonesia, where she wrote ‘Parchakapan Sehari Hari', a book providing Hindi translations for day-to-day conversational Indonesian words on different topics. She also wrote a book on Hindi grammar in the Indonesian language, titled ‘Tata Bahasa Hindi’.
The 59-year-old told The Indian Weekender, "I have been associated with literature and media since I was young. Writing is my passion, and I want to do my bit in conserving literature wherever I live.”
She believes everyone, migrants even more so, should be proud of their mother tongue since the language we speak has the biggest influence on our personality.
“I think, as migrant parents, it is our responsibility to teach our kids our mother tongue and make sure they are proud of it. A child will automatically learn and adapt to English in an English-speaking country like New Zealand. Therefore, it becomes more important for parents to ensure the child learns and is pleased with their mother tongue. Every child should know about their roots and feel proud of it,” she says.
Vyas has been the editor of many publications like the Hindi edition of ‘Dhanak’, published in New Zealand, and the web magazine ‘Sangam’ among others. She has also served from time to time as a guest editor for dozens of magazines in India.
In 2022, she started the online platform ‘Pehachaan’, which aimed at promoting the Hindi language by providing content on social issues, poetry, music and much more. She is also the founder and editor of the quarterly Hindi web magazine ‘Pehachaan’.
Vyas is among the first Indian authors to translate Maori folk tales into Hindi. She says, "I wanted to start a space where we could provide relevant Hindi content for everyone. I want it to be a resource and part of our heritage that can be passed on from generation to generation. Migrants in New Zealand, in particular, want to find good Hindi content, which is what our digital platform provides. We Indians can go anywhere worldwide, but we carry India and our heritage with us."
Vyas says the platform endeavours to attract new talent and talk about issues relevant to them, and also for the older generations living abroad who miss reading engaging content in Hindi.
She says, "With time, we need to develop ideas like digital platforms and social media platforms to keep our language alive. This is my way of keeping our Hindi language alive and making efforts to pass it on to our young generation."
ISSUE
Leave a Comment