Hindi is the primary language of 300 million people, most of whom live in India. It is the written variant of Hindustani used primarily by Hindus. The version of Hindustani used by Muslims is called Urdu, which is the official language of Pakistan. And though both Hindi and Urdu share common linguistic roots, they are, in practice, rather different. But this is mere nitpicking: Most people just say that Hindi is the official language of India and leave it at that.

Hindi Language Programs

Hindi is a member of the Indo-Iranian subfamily of languages, which are spoken throughout India, Iran, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka. Close linguistic cousins include Persian, Bengali, Urdu, and Punjabi. Interestingly enough, not all Indo-Iranian languages employ the same alphabet. Hindi, which uses the Devanagari alphabet that forms the basis of Sanskrit, is read from left to right-just like English. Urdu, on the other hand, uses a form of the Arabic alphabet and is written from right to left. Confused yet?

You shouldn't be: Hindi is the source of some of the most common words in the English language, including bangle, thug, and that old American sartorial standby, khaki.

Hindi Literature:
In the same way that English literature can be traced back to a time when it scarcely resembled what we now call Modern English, Hindi literature can theoretically be said to have its roots in the Sanskrit texts of the post-Vedic period, some 750 years before the common era.
The Hindi literary tradition is rich and varied, running the gamut from the aphoristic couplets of Abdur Rahim Khanakhana ("Don't lose the little people when you see the bigger ones. When you need a needle, what can a sword do?") to modern literary lights like Nirmal Verma, Narendra Kohli, and Shrilal Shukla.

Career Opportunities:
There are numerous career opportunities for those possessing a mastery of Hindi, including many with government agencies. These include the FBI, the U.N., and other agencies in Washington, D.C. Other careers include: foreign service officers and translators, the Peace Corps, the armed forces, nursing, social services, international relations and marketing for private business, and teaching and research opportunities at colleges and universities.
There has, in recent years, been much discussion and debate about the so-called outsourcing of technology jobs to India. Statistics vary, but according to some sources, more than one-half of all Fortune 500 companies outsource some of their work to the Hindi-speaking Subcontinent.

Online Resources:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/in.html
The World Factbook - India

http://www.cs.colostate.edu

http://www.en.wikipedia.org

http://www.cio.com