Barry Speak “INGLISHISM” *V Bharathan*
*A customer asked the clothier “have you a shaart.” The latter queried “Sir are you a Madrasi or a Bengali. The former asked “how does it matter where I come from”...* The shopkeeper replied, “ Sir if you are from Madras, I will give you a short and if you are from Bengal, I would give you a shirt”. This is “Inglishism” in letter and spirit ensconced in the “ems and ens” of the south and the ishschools and ishstamps of the north. Uncle kho hello bholo aur tight karo are all part of its evolution. The debate on the merits and demerits of the division of India on a Nehruvian concept of linguistic basis, as opposed to Sardar Patel’s zonal division basis, still continues to haunt our countrymen as they travel across pan India, not being able to comprehend the myriad road signs/ town names colourfully depicted in the local language. India is led by the classic 5% English speaking elite drawn from the 5 cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangaluru. Economics, industry, information technology, science, commerce, higher education, judiciary, banking , financial services, armed forces, premier businesses , IIMs and IITs breathe and function in English. Our diplomatic corps is simply pukka pukka in style and demeanour. The only perceptible change is the Nehru jacket and a new found confidence thanks to India’s recognition and progress. The British crown adorns our minds. The educated Indian is a savant in successfully blending his home grown mien with western habits and style. Indian consciousness naturally gravitates towards the West. We perhaps unwittingly and nonchalantly ignored the east till a few years ago, reluctantly, “oilily” engage the Arabs. The French, Germans and Warsaw group are looked at with amused indulgence whenever they speak English! One dares to think that incompatible Sino-Indian relationships, despite Hindi- Chini bhai bhai is perhaps due to nuances of understanding and interpretation lost in translation and perception. A case in point is the fact of the Chinese mission in Delhi having quite a few hindi experts with vocabulary and speaking skills that boggles many of us. In stark contrast, our mission in Beijing is woefully inadequate in Chinese and relies on interpreters to translate Indian english! Our spirit of nationalism subsumes common sense in terms of leveraging the english language to advantage while promoting local vernaculars. The distinction, that “our myriad mother tongues give us a unifying eclectic culture while the alleged foreign one gives us commerce” and that both need to be fostered and preserved is lost in the forest of short sightedness while guarding trees of temporary grandeur, narrow sentiments and political grand standing. Six decades post freedom, India is in a language conundrum in a cauldron of ill logical controversies. Our critical dependency on English though understood is perversely perceived to be anti-Indian. Hindi continues to be perpetuated in nascency. Local politicians pay lip service to the cause of regional languages at cost to progress and Indianness. So much so that in the last few years there is continuing down slide across India in standards of English. Yet there is hope, in the common sense of the ordinary Indian who intuitively senses that our heritage of languages is rich, eternal and can never be threatened. This citizen knows that “Inglishism and English” both have rightfully imperative places. The former is an essential osmotic absorption. The latter is a rich force multiplier for every conceivable facet of our existence. “Inglishism” benignly internalizes multilingual India. English effectively externalizes India in the World order. Whether it is a shaart, shirt or short it really does not matter so long as it makes sense to us Indians who relish Inglish and enjoy english. The author is the former Vice Chief of the Naval Staff
