the language-bridge

on a routine journey back home, i noticed a fellow indian girl get on to the bus. my natural reaction is to give a smile, and on a few occasions, the other person tends to ignore it and proceed with their busy day. that day was one. after a few minutes, i looked up from my book on hearing 'tumhaara naam kya hai'.. an old american by the door was asking her (she was dressed typically indian that day) and she answered with a wide smile 'how do u know hindi'.
that was the start of a conversation between them which lasted till he had to get off the bus. he was describing how he'd been to various parts of india and how he had come to learn quite a bit of the language.
it's strange how attractive you find your roots, when someone else points it out to you..
people around are pretty surprised when they are told that two indians whose hometowns 50 kms from one another may not be able to communicate in the same tongue. they are astonished when 2 indians communicate in english, coz that's the only common language.
i didnt find anything strange about it till i came to a country 3 times as large, where someone from alaska can conveniently talk to someone from hawaii in their mother tongue!

check out wiki's note on indian languages:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_languages_of_India