One language, many tongues

One language, many tongues

I figured out soon enough that there were as many English accents as there were colours of skins and that there were as many Englishes as there were places in the world.” 

With this introduction to ‘a killer language’, Kalpana Mohan begins a journey across the country to see how English, brought to India during the British Raj, feels on the palate of young Indians having gone through ‘tadka’ of local spices for more than a century. 

In her book An English Made in India  — How a Foreign Language Became Local — Kalpana narrates encounters with people of varying education and economic status. The author has covered many regions of India, tracing the way English entered and changed the life of people here. 

Dalhousie, Delhi, Pune, Bombay, Bangalore, Madras and Calcutta prominently feature in her chapters, as do states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Each chapter is region specific. With so many local languages in India — or bhasha as the author refers to — every region is bound to have its own take on how English is spoken there. She has found apt personalities — famous and otherwise — to paint a complete picture. Well-known names such as Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Jerry Pinto and Kranti Kanade are generously quoted and so is Kalpana’s maid Ganga and her late father’s valet (not driver) Vinayagam. From students in Delhi to the royals of Travancore, she has left no speaker unheard. 

An English Made in India also emphasises how learning this language is seen as key to being a successful person, and so, right from a farmer in rural Punjab to an affluent professor in Tamil Nadu, everyone wants their children to go to an English-medium school. The book is not off mark. How many people do you know who willingly send their children to local language or Hindi-medium schools? 

Everyone wants to speak English and “go to America,” and be rich. Among the pages, you’ll see how Prateek from Uttarakhand was bullied in school for asking, ‘Kya aap fraandship karoge?’ at a private English-medium school in Delhi where millionaires send their children to study. And how a Kashmiri who believed that English was the language of joy and peace, felt deprived of not being able to learn the Kashmiri script. 

The book recounts how the British introduced English to Indian masses by cleverly using the language to create an upper crust of brown sahibs who were rather ‘English’ in their thought process. Quality English schools were set-up, many were sent abroad to study further and return to India to take up key administrative positions. Little did they know that from this group of educated Indians, reformists and freedom fighters would emerge to overthrow the Raj! Every chapter in the book traces the history of English with respect to that region. Some bits might seem irrelevant at first glance, but Kalpana has expertly connected the dots. 

“There is little doubt that Indian English is powerful — and temperamental. One might even say that it resembles the car steered by James Bond. It looks and drives like any other car but its fire can be seen only with use,” the author writes. 

The language is here to stay. And it will continue to draw from the many languages we have. In a way, it seems like Darwin’s theory of  ‘survival of the fittest’ also applies to bhasha and English alike.

Enjoyed reading The Bridge Chronicle?
Your support motivates us to do better. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay updated with the latest stories.
You can also read on the go with our Android and iOS mobile app.

Related Stories

No stories found.
logo
The Bridge Chronicle
www.thebridgechronicle.com