Over 6 Lakh Users Celebrate Hindi Diwas at the First Edition of #KooHindiFest on Koo app

To celebrate the richness and popularity of Hindi in India, #KooHindiFest 2021 - the first-ever Hindi language festival organised by India’s microblogging and social media platform, Koo - culminated today. The Fest was a massive success with over six lakh people from across 10 states, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana participating in various contests and activities designed to honor the legacy of Hindi – the most spoken language in India. From common users to well-known leaders, people from across the spectrum of society participated enthusiastically in the campaign on Koo. The enthusiasm and participation from traditionally 'non-Hindi' states was noteworthy.

#CoolHaiHindi, #KooHindiFest and #KooPeKaho trended on the platform for the entire day as people openly expressed their love for the language on the platform, which recently crossed 1 Crore users.

#KooHindifest 2021 is the first edition of the festival, instituted as part of Koo's #KooPeKaho campaign that aims to connect with and empower Indians who speak in their mother tongues. The campaign has been designed in tandem with Koo’s vision to democratise the voice of India by offering users a simple and easy to use microblogging platform where they can express themselves freely. The week-long festival comprised various cultural activities and content that engaged with users on Koo. Some of these activities* included #Kavishala, #MitikaSwad, #GeetSagar, #AbhiPictureBaakihai and #EkDinKanayak.

A Koo spokesperson said, “With the #KooHindifest 2021, we aim to celebrate the richness of the Hindi language which is also one of the most spoken official languages in India. However, the initiative is much bigger - the aim is to remind people and accentuate the significance of the variety of native languages that are spoken across the country. We are elated about the success of the first edition of the fest. The response from users from different walks of life is indeed heartening - farmers, social workers, teachers, homemakers and students. This clearly highlights how Koo is helping Indians express their opinions on various topics in their mother tongues - which no other social media platform has enabled thus far.” 

#KooHindiFest 2021 was launched on September 08, 2021, by Palash Sen with the launch of Euphoria's new album 'Sale'. With a series of events like creator events, contests, webinars and workshops spread over the week, the fest curated interesting activities and contests for users. Right from tagging each other on memes in Hindi, Hindi poetry, acting, travel photography and singing contests, more than 6 Lakh users are making the most of the opportunity to express their love for the language on social media.

Enthusiastic Participation from Leaders

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath (@myyogiadithyanath) wrote: Hindi language, a symbol of national unity in a country full of diversity, is an integral part of our identity and culture. Let us take a pledge to use Hindi more and more to establish it as a national language and as a world language. #hindi_means_koo_app (#हिंदी_मतलब _कू_ऐप)

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan (@chouhanshivraj) wrote:  Happy #Hindi_Day! Jai Hind, Jai Hindi! #Koo_pey_cool_hai_hindi (#कू _पे_कूल_है_हिंदी)

Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Shri Jairam Thakur (@jairamthakurbjp), wrote: “Hindi is the pride of India, the identity of India. Let us, on this ‘Hindi Diwas’, take a firm resolve to promote Hindi for the preservation of the country's identity and pride”

Former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Dr Raman Singh (@drramansinghCG) wrote: “The influence of Hindi is increasing continuously as the language of the Internet, people are now getting more attracted towards Hindi. The youth are now proudly talking in the new Hindi. Hindi is one of the fastest-growing languages ​​on the Internet. Multinational companies Microsoft, Google are also working in Hindi now. It is clear that the scope of Hindi is increasing. Say with pride that we are Hindi." (#हिंदी_मतलब _कू_ऐप) (#कूल_है_हिंदी)

Former Chief Minister of Jharkhand & Union Minister, Shri Arjun Munda (@arjun_mundaFO7CS), wrote: "The world's fourth-largest population speaks in Hindi. Now people of Hindi speaking villages and towns have started raising their voices through social media. Let us also be a part of this change and speak Hindi proudly." #Hindi_means_koo_app; #cool_hai_hindi (#हिंदी_मतलब _कू_ऐप) (#कूल_है_हिंदी)

Former Bihar Minister & RJD Leader, Shri Tej Pratap Yadav (@tejpratapyadavofficial), wrote:   In the 21st century, Hindi has become not only the language of poems or stories but also the language of employment. Talking about the popularity of Hindi, all multinational companies including Google, Microsoft have started working in Hindi. In such a situation, understand the importance of Hindi. Write and speak Hindi proudly. #hindi_means_koo_app #cool_hai_hindi (#हिंदी_मतलब _कू_ऐप) (#कूल_है_हिंदी)

National President of Lok Janshakti Party, Shri Chirag Paswan (@ChiragPaswanOfficial) wrote: When India became free from the slavery of the British, the biggest question was raised in front of the country regarding the language, because India was the country where many languages ​​are spoken. After this, at the time of constitution making, the Constituent Assembly gave Hindi the status of official language and I am proud of the land of Bihar, which first considered Hindi as its official language.” #hindi_means_Koo_app #cool_hai_hindi (#हिंदी_मतलब_कू_ऐप) (#कूल_है_हिंदी)

JDU's veteran leader Upendra Kushwaha, JDU spokesperson Arvind Nishad, Rajasthan government minister Sukhram Bishnoi, Uttar Pradesh government minister Rama Shankar Singh Patel, Minister in the Madhya Pradesh Government – Dr Mohan Yadav – and several MLAs participated. Apart from leaders, journalists also voiced their opinions on this campaign and expressed their love for Hindi. In addition, prominent personalities and artists also participated in the fest and celebrated along with fellow users. Actor Vinay Anand posted an interesting video of him exhibiting his prowess with the nunchucks while Delhi6 Actor Pankaj Jhaa and Lord Ram from Ramayan, Arun Govil wished and commended the initiative urging creators to come forward and participate.

Activities on Koo during the celebration of ‘Hindi Diwas’:

• #Kavishala - thousands of creators came together to share their poetry (Kavita, Shayari, etc) and exhibit their creative writing abilities. This was further capped by an online Sammelan of Koo Poets

• #MittiKaSwad - Travel bloggers and photographers came together to share their stories in the form of pictures of interesting places in India that they have travelled, followed by a convention to share these with fellow members of the community.

• #GeetSagar - Thousands of users came forward to sing a song of their choice in Hindi followed by a jam event where users from all over the country came together to sing tunes together with the community, from rappers to singers representing their cultures.

• #AbhiPictureBaakihai - Movie buffs celebrated the #KooHindiFest by enacting favourite parts of their favourite movie scenes and had a gala event where movie buffs came together to discuss the Bollywood universe.

• #EkDinKaNaayak, inspired by the movie - Nayak: The contest invited users to engage in dialogue and debate to post Koos assuming the role of a fictional leader and highlight issues and subjects that needed the attention of the government on priority. The contest received an extraordinary response with thousands of participants from across the country. Eliminating terrorism, corruption, unemployment and sexual violence emerged as some of the most voiced concerns by the participants. Additionally, mandatory monthly allowances for homemakers and putting a curb on pensions of MLAs to revive the economy were also suggested by the participants.

•  #KooPeKaho - #KooPeKaho and #KooPeKahoUparChado were initiatives run to promote and graduate content creators to future influencers. This event contained tailored workshops for different types of creators across the country to graduate from being enthusiastic creators to the next generation of influencers in the country.

About Koo

Koo was founded in March 2020, as a micro-blogging platform in Indian languages. Available in multiple Indian languages, people from across different regions in India can express themselves in their mother tongue. In a country where just 10% of India speaks English, there’s a deep need for a social media platform that can deliver immersive language experiences to Indian users and help them connect. Koo provides a stage for the voices of Indians who prefer Indian languages.