The accent of one’s birth place persists in the mind and heart as much as in speech
La Rochefoucauld (Maxims 1665)
People say I write just like I talk. Now is that a compliment? I’m not sure. I get teased and imitated all the time. More than my accent, it’s the way I talk–my gestures, expressions etc. The cross-pollination of several cultures, I believe– Indian, British-colonial and American.
We Indians are probably the most imitated people in the world. I don’t find that offensive. I think our funny English endears us. An Indian accent can break up tension, pretty quick. Take a stressful situation, say in a courtroom or workplace. Throw in someone like Appu from The Simpsons (now that’s a gross exaggeration, but you get the idea) and before you know it, smiles will start peeping out of people. This may not work for every situation. Like when your computer is on the blink, the last thing you want to hear on the customer service line is an Indian trying not to sound like one. Speaking of which, who’s seen The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel movie? Great movie. Deeply human and touching in parts, I thought.
Indian words have added color and variety to the English language. Most date back to the colonial days. Especially delightful are the double-barrelled rhyming words that are so essentially Indian such as: hurdy-gurdy, tip-top, higgledy-piggledy, hocus-pocus, tit-for-tat, topsy-turvy, harum-scarum, roly-poly ,slip-slop…”
A friend of our family’s (a well-known glutton) would over-stuff himself at our dinner table and refuse another helping saying, “Thank you but I am fully fed-up!”
Another time an Indian student explained her absence in my design class saying she had “the loose motions” (A common Indian term for ‘the runs’). “Oh wow,” exclaimed this American girl, looking impressed. Later the American girl told me she thought “loose motion” was some kind of exotic dance. Like “Do the locomotion“.
Don’t you just love it!!!
If we Indians mess up English, the Brits mess up our language too. “Theek hai Babu” (“alright clerk” in Hindi) becomes “Ticketyboo” for the English. (Thank you Larry Brown for that little gem!)
Consider these British-Indian words which have become mainstream.
- A – atoll, avatar
- B – bandana, bangle, bazaar, Blighty, bungalow
- C– cashmere, catamaran, char, cheroot, cheetah, chintz, chit, chokey, chutney, cot, cummerbund, curry
- D – dinghy, doolally, dungarees
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A modern rubber inflatable dinghy Dinghy: a type of small boat, often carried or towed for use as a ship’s boat by a larger vessel. It is a loanword from either Bengali or Urdu.
- G– guru, gymkhana
The Jorhat Gymkhana Club in Assam famous for its polo matches and other sporting events. Gymkhana: “It is applied to a place of public resort at a station, where the needful facilities for athletics and games of sorts are provided.”
- H – hullabaloo
- J – jodhpur, jungle, juggernaut, jute
- K– khaki, kedgeree
- L – loot
- N – nirvana
- P – pariah, pashmina, polo, pukka, pundit, purdah, pyjamas
- S – sari, shampoo, shawl, swastika
- T – teak, thug, toddy, typhoon
- V – veranda: An open pillared gallery round a house.
A typical tea garden bungalow with wrap-around verandah - Y – yoga
- Comedian Russell Peters makes a dig at the Indian accent
- Peter Sellers, sings “Oh, to be in Yingland” (I have tears in my eyes every time I listen to this outrageous song!)
- A side-splitting gag on Indian English
- Indian-English crash course by a cheeky little Miss
- Indian English accents spoken in different states of India
Tea Buddy 