> I find it very strange, I'd sooner Hindi or Urdu
Hindi and Urdu are practically the same languages (though, with different scripts - Hindi uses Devanagari; Urdu uses an Arabic-derived script). You can refer to both Urdu and Hindi as 'Hindustani'.
Furthermore, learning Hindustani really is very advantageous. Every other grad student I see nowadays speaks Hindi (Indians, Bengalis, Pakistanis, etc.). Its speakers are usually very warm-hearted, and even more welcoming when they see someone making an effort to learn their language (and culture).
Hindi and Urdu are practically the same languages (though, with different scripts - Hindi uses Devanagari; Urdu uses an Arabic-derived script). You can refer to both Urdu and Hindi as 'Hindustani'.
Furthermore, learning Hindustani really is very advantageous. Every other grad student I see nowadays speaks Hindi (Indians, Bengalis, Pakistanis, etc.). Its speakers are usually very warm-hearted, and even more welcoming when they see someone making an effort to learn their language (and culture).
Oh, and it's also the second most-spoken language by number of native-speakers. [Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_... ]