This week again Zomato found itself in yet another controversy, re-invigorating one of the most sensitive and heated debates in the country, which has not died even after 71 years of India becoming a republic. The continuance of the debate around the prevalence, use and imposition of Hindi indicates that the discourse is still as alive as it was at the time of independence. 71 years ago, prior to the Constituent Assembly debate on the status of Indian languages, Rajendra Prasad had aptly highlighted: "There is no other item in the whole Constitution which will be required to be implemented from day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute". This statement encapsulates the importance that languages hold in our life. It is an outlet for the basic human urge of communicating. What is encoded in the scripts of languages is the innermost expressions of individuals, as also how they are related to society. The Zomato episode has triggered two parallel debates — first, the imposition of Hindi across the nation and for most of the official uses; second, intolerance around the issue that resulted in the sacking of the employee who told one of the customers that everyone should know Hindi. As regards the imposition issue, the framers of the Indian Constitution had abstained from the use of the term 'national language'. This sentiment ought to be respected in both letter and spirit. When the status of languages was to be determined during the Constituent Assembly, the debate mostly revolved around the parameters of operability and unifying the entire nation. These parameters, with an apparently greater focus on 'unifying factor', continue to dominate the discourse even today. This is one way to look at languages. The other broader way is to perceive the languages as intrinsic to the way of living life of a particular community. This perspective has, unfortunately, failed to grab due attention all throughout. Why is language such a sensitive issue? It is because native languages become as much the part of the speaker as of the social realities of the speaking community. Language is related to the existence of individuals and the sustainability of communities. For the sake of operability and the argument of unified India, this existence cannot be compromised. Perhaps, India's diversity and its scattered culture is the strongest glue that holds it together. Imposition of Hindi, or for that matter, any other language is not required for the purpose. Neither do we need agents to force any particular language to flourish. Let languages take their own course! This, of course, brings us to India's linguistic plurality and diverse culture. Given their prevalence among a large section of the population, Hindi and English are identified as official languages of India, with 22 other languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. Talking in terms of plurality, these numbers represent only a minuscule proportion of the extraordinarily wide spectrum of India's linguistic plurality. People's Archive of Rural India chronicles more than 700 languages across the length and breadth of the country. Also, the PLSI says that close to 220 languages have died in the past 50 years. These are the languages of India — undocumented and unprotected — spoken by varied groups and sections of people who constitute India. If there has to be an administrative focus, it should be towards buttressing these languages, more importantly, preventing them from dying. India's diverse language and culture reflect its national character — which simply exists and doesn't need to be constructed as per the whims of select groups. Though Hindi has flourished over decades and the number and proportion of its speakers have increased, the 2011 Census stated that Hindi is not the first language of 56 per cent of Indians. So, the case of imposing Hindi or replacing it against some language doesn't hold any ground. The government also appears to understand this fact. The real challenge that lies ahead of the government is to create a space for the hundreds of languages that characterize India, to revive the dying ones and let them flourish in a way Hindi does. As India claims to have made advances in the digital and technological domains, it enjoys a position of benefit, which it could leverage for the promotion of all Indian languages. Languages of India are one of its prized reflections of reality. Let not narratives replace realities!