English Vinglish

The other day me and a few colleagues along with my boss, were seated in a training room discussing some usual office stuff! Conversations slipped from formal to casual and jokes surged in! And the reason for a whole hearted laugh was given by me! I spelled a word so miserably, that my team burst into laughter!  On top, to add to the embarrassment, I justified saying ‘’My tongue got rolled’’.. And I could only get a what-did-you-just-say look from Vaidya (READ : Vaidyanathan Iyer )

“Tongue got rolled.. What English is that Gargi’’...?, he commented! And of everything Era and Firdos, two of my good buddies at work could do, was join vaidya in further making jokes out of me. You know friends are meant for that.. Before they could even pick you up they make sure they have their share of laugh! Shamelessly I laughed at my own silly mistake.. For had I been in their place.. I would have imitated the same thing.

Though I do not recollect the word that I spelled, but I remember Vaidya telling me that it had a weird mix of Marathi and Malu accent! Heavens! English and its Pronunciations... Perhaps the importance it gets from us, Indians... it wouldn’t get from any other corner of this globe! We find a great deal in speaking it crisp and right! And why not, we are pro’s at things we do!

This little fun conversation at work triggered a few thoughts in my mind! Rather it streamlined the bits and pieces my brain had stored since long!

I do not want to get into the battle of; if English language should be given importance over our native tongue and related topics! All that I want to put across are a few light hearted thoughts! We already live a way too serious life!!!! I do not intend to add to the seriousness!

Shit Happens! That’s life! A person who has been educated in an English medium school could make a mess of that language... while a vernacular student, who might have a little MTI problem, may throw a vocab at you, to understand which you might want to refer to a dictionary! Irony, isn’t it?

Again an accent is something we do not appreciate! Agreed it sounds gross when a normal English word is spelled  in a manner that reminds you of the various existing Indian dialects, but isn’t it funny that when an Italian, French or a Spanish person speaks English with a hint of their native language, it is a thing of fancy! Serious Double Standards we deal with!

All this is so funny and so paradoxical that sometimes I wonder what possible solution I could have! If I say an accent is ok, I am sure as hell I will have my English teachers slam me down with all possible logical explanation! And If I say, Thy English shall be perfect, I will again trigger debates!

So let me take a neutral way! ( The safest bet, perhaps!) Let us treat every language with the beauty it carries from its origin! Yes, we do speak the purest form of this globalized language, so let us not fall into the glamorous western trap and try to neither adapt their accent nor mix it up with various permutations and combinations of Indian languages and their dialects , just like I did ( Mistake accepted)

 Let us neither underrate it nor overate it! Keep it simple silly, should be the tagline!

Yes, I am a proud Indian and I take pride in saying that everything we do is a perfecto! It isn’t just for statistics that the Indian ICU and its human resources are just as precious!

 If you are struggling with it, be rest assured, you are not the sole soul.. You have bunch of idiots in the league who act as if they are Shakespeare but cannot even the compete the understanding you pursue of the language! Learning takes time, and when it comes to a particular language, it hell does! But eventually you will master it! For those who aren’t struggling, remember, learning a language is a never ending process! Make mistakes.. Learn! The learning curve can be tricky at times but is eventually fun!

Till then let’s keep it light and bright!                          

Adios Amigo!