On YouTube
सर, आप हिंदी में साइन क्यों करते हैं? || आचार्य प्रशांत (2021)
73.2K views
4 years ago
Signature
Hindi Language
Identity
Simplicity
Mind
Mother Tongue
Role Models
Spirituality
Description

Acharya Prashant responds to a question about why he signs his name simply in Hindi. He begins by asking what is wrong with signing one's name simply in Hindi. He recounts that until the age of 12 or 14, he also used to sign in English with a flourish, but then he questioned the necessity of such embellishments and the use of English. Since Hindi is the language he speaks, plays, and eats in, he found it natural to sign in Hindi and changed his signature to simply writing his name in Hindi. He urges everyone, especially Hindi speakers, to question why they prioritize English over their mother tongue for their signature. He extends this question to speakers of all Indian languages like Odia, Bengali, Punjabi, and Tamil, asking what compulsion drives them to sign in English. He argues that a signature should be a clear and simple representation of one's name, questioning the need to twist letters into complex shapes, which he likens to the knots in a complicated mind. He states that a simple mind leads to a simple signature, and the knots in a signature reflect the knots and suffering in one's life. This complexity, he says, is often imported, just like the English language for signing, and it brings suffering. He recounts an incident from a job interview where a Vice President, upon seeing his simple Hindi signature, asked if he was trying to make a statement. He also criticizes the tendency to blindly follow role models, citing an example of someone copying Sachin Tendulkar's signature. He advises that one should learn specific skills from experts in their respective fields—cricket from a cricketer, business from a businessman—but for life's wisdom, one must turn to the source, which is spirituality or a Guru. He concludes that just as a beautiful face doesn't guarantee a good person, a skilled professional is not necessarily a wise human being. One must not confuse proficiency in a particular field with wisdom about life itself.