In some Indian languages, the word for “language” is bhasha—the vowels long and warm, as in “car” or “tar.” It has a formal weight and a refined spirit. It comes to us from the classical heights of ...

“Many languages in India do not get the respect or place they deserve,” said Aloka Kujur, a writer and activist from Jharkhand, whose mother tongue is Kuduk, a tribal language native to the east ...