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Indlish all the way

Last Updated 20 April 2015, 18:08 IST

It is fascinating to note the ways in which we adapt and adopt English usage. Take, for instance, the term ‘time-pass’, to describe how some folk while away hours, waiting for a bus or an electrician or standing in queue, not actively or pleasurably, but just ‘simply.
We are used to myths of cosmic time, aeons long, though we also jib at lifetimes racing past generations, dynasties, empires and hegemonies. ‘Pastime’ is a word for agreeable activities like playing cards, chit-chat with friends, solving the crossword or indulging in a hobby.

The Oxford dictionary apparently gives ‘timepass’ an Indian lineage. Ignoring the jibes of India-baiters, I’d like to note the colloquial use of English in our languages. This is my tribute to the best that the British Raj and history have imparted to our lifestyles and aspirations for India as a steadfast melting pot of great cultures. 

Some Indians begin using an Indo-English lingo from the primary school.  “We have to by-heart this poem, it seems”; “Teacher only told, bring tiffin”;  “Uncle came yesterday itself”; “Where all you went on picnic? What all you saw?”; “It is very hot, no?”; “You do one thing”; “Don’t mistake me, but do as I say only”; “Miss scolded Mali like anything”; and so on. 

We sometimes resort to an arrogant phrase when NRI and foreign tourists complain of our disorderly traffic or power cuts or litter: “We are like that only”. A foreign diplomat of Indian origin once ribbed me:  “You folks like to say, “Swalpa adjust madi” (kindly adjust a little), and then take over the whole compartment for your ‘hold-all’ and steel trunks.” 
One of the earliest Hindustani terms to slide into English during the East India Company’s incursions was ‘loot’ (plunder), an apt loan word, repaid with ‘rowdy sheeter’ and crimes like ‘chain-snatching’, burglary and worse. Among other Indian words in the colloquial parlance are bungalow, gymkhana, verandah, almirah, cushy-job, curry-favour, catamaran, jungle, and even bangles. 

We also add our own emphasis to enliven conversations. On my first day in the college hostel, I heard a student asking someone below, “Upstairs going-aa?” The other replied, “No, yaar. Just looking.” Newcomers to the town have popularised ‘sim-simply’ and ‘dub-double’, in tune with the chime of ‘shilly-shally’ and ‘dilly-dally’.  

An arrogant man is said to have “head weight”. Our esteem for the print media is evident when “it is put in the papers only”. Ladies discuss how long to “keep the cooker on the gas-oo”. The hired help is told to “catch water” before the tap runs dry. These Indian idioms, a part of our daily life, definitely deserve to supplement the entertaining glossary of Anglo-Indian words called Hobson-Jobson, which the British had begun.

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(Published 20 April 2015, 18:08 IST)

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