I'm Lovin it: Street English in India

I'm Lovin it: Street English in India

chillibreeze writer — Reem Khokhar

To truly experience the culture of a place most people would agree that the best way to soak it in is on the streets. “On the streets” here does not necessarily mean eating at street stalls or buying clothes at a pavement bazaar, but experiencing culture by observing the local people. The English language in India and it's localization is one such phenomenon that must be understood by observing the way people have molded it to fit into their own culture. I was walking through a fancy shopping mall in New Delhi with a friend and we passed by a glossy sign for McDonalds. The byline read, “ I'm loving it”. I had never given much thought to it, but my friend pointed out that this was the way many Indians speak. In fact she was a bit suspicious about whether the advertising agency was not actually taking a playful dig at the Indian tendency to use progressive in static verbs like, “I am understanding it” or “She is knowing the answer”. However, I disagree with my friend about the byline actually being a cheeky dig. Advertising caters to a target audience in a way that will appeal to them and in a language they will understand. This is the way many Indians speak English. With globalization has come an acceptance of an Indian identity and it is reflected in the confidence with which Indians have made English a part of their culture and bent the rules of conventional usage.

Ramananda Sengupta, the international editor of Outlook Magazine, spoke about how English is used in India and pointed out various peculiarities which are well understood in the country, but would seem quite alien to a foreigner. There is a distinction between first language and “Mother Tongue” in India . Sengupta interpreted a first language, as the one you think in, which for most educated Indians would be English. The “mother tongue”, which is another Indian adaptation, is the language spoken in one's native region. There are various other adaptations, which are distinct to English spoken in India . No one has a problem understanding sentences like, “You asked her no?” “We did it just like that only”, or “Please off the lights”. These are of course particular to conversational English and would not be used while writing.

There are several words that Indians use, which are not really used in other English speaking countries. For example ‘eve teasing' is the word used to describe the harassment of women, a ‘Himalayan blunder' is a very serious mistake, a “hotel” is used as a generic term for a eating place, ‘tops' are earrings, a ‘rubber' is an eraser, a ‘bearer' is a waiter, and ‘cent percent' is one hundred percent! Don't be befuddled if an Indian asks you your “good name”, which may lead you to think about which is the “bad” part and look at him or her blankly for a while. They just want to know your name! Signboards advertising “Fooding and Lodging” are common at small motels and no one has a problem understanding that.

Along with globalization has come not only the call center culture where young professionals are well versed with the nuances of American and British English and accents, but a also a new confidence in the way Indians have adapted the English language to suit their own culture. Indians have improvised and innovated in order to make English a part of their identity. Liberally sprinkled with local terms it is used unashamedly because this is the way one speaks English in India . It is all part of effective communication. So whether it is Pepsi's byline of “Yeh dil maange MORE” or Lehar's “CONTROL nahin hota”, they are reflections of the way English is spoken by most people here.

The disdain expressed by many educated Indians in the past at this tendency to infuse ethnicity into the English language is fading away. To speak English like the British is no longer the predominant view. Ivan Illich, an anti institutional philosopher, supported this trend in his series of articles called Vernacular Values. “Language would be totally inhuman if it were totally taught. Speech is much more than communication, and only machines can communicate to without reference to vernacular roots.” These improvisations are tailored for effective communication as there are certain times when neither English nor the local language are able to convey meaning adequately on their own. So it is common to hear Hinglish, a combination of Hindi and English, where local terms are interspersed through English sentences. This usage is not only reflected in advertising, but also in television shows, in movies, and even in Indian writing in English. In the latter, it is used to lend authenticity to the narrative, as sometimes the English language cannot completely convey the local experience.

Though there are many opponents to this trend and the new confidence in this so called “convoluted” version, many believe it to be positive. Whether it is advertising professionals, writers, or scholars, they all believe it is about effective communication and the fact that English is becoming localized shows it's popularity with the masses. Of course it is incorrect to believe that this hybrid version is used in business or professional communication. This is a casual style of speaking English adapted to the life of the millions of Indians who speak the language. Some may scream sacrilege, but it is really about the evolution of a language to mirror changing attitudes of a society. And for the millions who speak this hybrid version, “Well what to do, we're loving it!”