Angrezi in Mumbai
Now that I have settled down and the hammering has died down to a mere drone, I am back to writing my heart out! And I have realized that so much happened during the trip to India and there is so much I have to say, so I guess the next few posts will be a jist of the things that were.
From walking everyday to the local train station to boarding the train back during rush hour, I have enjoyed the daily humdrum of Mumbai to the fullest in this one month. However, one thing that irked me no end was the constant use of the English language throughout the city. It is not that meri angrezi se koi poorani dushmani hai, or not that I don’t want people to learn English. It is just that English seems to have taken over every aspect. Sure this blog is in English and someone who did not know it might not be able to blog or even read this, but I think it is given way more importance in the city than it should get! And it is not so much the case in several other cities.
Every big store in Mumbai (and in Bangalore for that matter) has more salespeople than there are customers. Thats not the issue though. Was at Shoppers Stop the other day with two of my friends. One of them is a staunch advocate of Hindi! So we are looking at this display of shades at SS and B asks them in Hindi about its specifics and costs etc. The guy replies back in English. Okay no big deal. B asks some further questions in Hindi and the guy replies back in English. OKay again no big deal. But this went on throughout the store. Then all of us purposely talked to salesmen and women in Hindi and ALL of them replied back to us in English! Arre baba pata hai sabko angrezi aati hai but whats this dushmani with talking in HINDI!
At checkout, me with my jhola paid with my credit card. Had a conversation with the guy in Hindi and needless to say he replied back in English. Then when the transaction was done, he looked at the credit card and then at me, then at the card and at me and asked are you so and so? I was like jee haan mera naam hi so and so hai. And he was like “Can I see your ID?” Okay sure….and I said jee ek minute rukiye and then I pull out my license and showed it to him. He seemed to be dumbfounded when he saw a US drivers license. He actually had the nerve to ask me “Aap Hindi main baatein kar rahi thi isiliy” and then he mumble something incoherent! I dont understand! Me and B and this other friend F were just standing there gaping at this guy. I did not know if this was a situation where I would laugh or cry or get angry at this man!
Another instance was when I was in a taxi lost somewhere in Bandra. The taxiwalla asked a rickshawalla at one of the signals “Hill road kidhar se jaana hai” The rickshawalla asked the passenger, who seemed to be a nice man. The three talked in Hindi. The rickshawalla then confirmed the place and I replied in Hindi and then when the passenger talked to me he started in English “where did you want to go?”
The NGO I worked with had a strict English speaking policy for the children. I did a lot of my sessions with the kids in English, using Hindi where they did not understand. The NGO argues that they would prefer teaching the kids Hindi if given a choice but to get by in Mumbai one has to know good English. The goal is to prepare kids to be good professionals and if two people with the same skills come forward, and one of them spoke English fluently and the other one did not but was actually more eloquent, it did not matter!….which is why the kids at the NGO learnt English!
Now, friends have argued with me numerous times saying “What is the big deal? So what? Not everyone in India knows Hindi so they presume that you might know English and thats why they start off that way.” I object! Isn’t Hindi the national language of India? How can you be Indian when you don’t want to use your national language? And for me it is a big deal!
Others have argued that now to work in the international market you need to speak in English. Ya sure! Agreed but thats in the international market. Why is there so much importance given within the city? France, Germany, Russia, China….all of these have huge international markets but the conquest of English isnt noticeable at all in these countries. The French, the Germans, the Russians and the Chinese all know how to speak, read, and write english but they use their language more than any other.
Now this is not a problem in all of india …..but only in Mumbai. Now not all of Mumbai but MOST of Mumbai! I don’t know if I got my point across in this post or if my arguments even came out right, but this is how I feel and had to vent it out. Even on the local trains, I had women replying to me in English. I do not have an accent when I talk in Hindi, I do not look white or american in any way nor did I dress that way…but EVERYTIME i talked to someone in Hindi they replied back in English even though they knew hindi! Just frustrated me a whole lot and had to pen it down.
Does anyone else think this is a problem in Mumbai or is it just me?
me first…..*stamps his authority*
aaah th devil is here! gold hunter!
oh buddyz u moved here.. ok thanks for sparing me from trouble of handling the riddle. i been to mumbai only once & i avoided hindi as much as i can (for reasons which most of u knwo hehe)so i feel english & mumbai is a blessing for ppl like me !!
hahaha how could i forget that special pic of urs on ur driving license.. no wonder that the guy double checkd ur identity .. hehe
lady. Decide -
devils - dont come for gold. they come for ur soul.
it is the robbers who come for gold.
so which one do u want me to be .*evil grin*
Correction - Chinese dont know english. ( hehe, sorry had to point it out. it was an itch ).
and no its not a problem with u. and its not a problem with mumbai either.
fact of the matter is - speaking english is “probably” considered to be a sign of sophistication.
and i wonder why didnt u ask those fellows to speak back in Hindi - that would surely have been fun.
and what pic is chandu talking about. did i miss something ?
aaah Chandu I see…but dont you think hindi being the national language should indeed in the true sense be a national language. As it is, india has so many different languages and cultures within the country. So essentially Hindi would be the binding factor among all these regional languages…why pick English to be that factor?
And LOL my picture in teh license is a GOOD picture okay? hahahaha…
Lets have you be both Vicky…suits you well both the names! and well yes true..now that i think about it….most of em dont….and yes speaking english IS considered a sig of sophistication and thats exactly where it irks me! hindi is also such a rich language…in fact much more complex and sophisiticated than hindi then why pick English! And yea next time…I shall ASK them to talk in Hindi. I had thebest time with roadside sellers…they talked in hindi! haha
And chandu is talking about the picture on my license! you did not miss anything but meeting me
the great me that I am! Chandu had the extreme good fortune of kaush devis darshan you see….:P
hey kaush…nice to see u back…had good fun cracking the clues..the first one was good, i think i came across a dozen possiblities b4 i scrolled down and saw that u’d left a second, much simpler clue!!
) nice template too…reminds me of all the things i’m supposed to avoid, now that i’m on a diet *sob, sob*
hello….
hmm….i dont think its just mumbai its everywhere.i know coz most of us in coll speak in english at times……rather than in mal…
i think its an issue with the whole indian mentality towards the english lang. u have to master it n once u do u have to speak it….kya karen?
lookin forward to more india posts….:)
Divs
PS. agreed with u ke vicky is both the devil n a robber!!hehe!!:)
haha chips! thanks for stopping by here and yes the second clue is much much easier..so put it up there..and lol dont let the icecream stop you from coming here! and yes the fact that I am supposed to avoid it is precisely the reason why they are up there!
Divya sahi baat hai its the Indian mentality and i guess my nani’s freedom fighter blood has been passed on to me which is why i get so worked about things like these! kya karen ! really!
and LOL chalo someone agrees with me on Vicky!
hmm.. I’d say one primary reason is lots of languages and cultures here in India.. and all of them donno Hindi.. I mean majority of South Indians atleast donno.. but situations r changing now.. ppl r taking interest in learning Hindi. But, when it comes to English, it jus overpowers Hindi completely… cos thts the universal language and one must know tht to get a job nowadays..
)
Oh god.. am blabbering alot.. but,i agree with the fact tht one must know one’s national language too…
and I agree with Chandu.. reg the licence foto.. no wonder he cross examined
This reminds me of an incident that dad keeps telling about - when they were on europe tour, they lost their way somewhere in France. To ask the way, they asked a cop. He did not reply. My sis, who was young and had learnt French, stepped in and asked the way. She got the directions. While leaving, the man spoke in perfect English, “Sir, your daughter speaks excellent French”
The love for our own language is not inculcated in us. Perhaps some colonial thing still lingering on. But also, that Hindi is also NOT taken in as a national language by many groups/cultures/states. That’s also an issue.
IN that case, English does become a unifier.
And *maintaining a straight face* how about people who speak Hindi in English accent ?
*Ducking*
But yes i agree on one point…its bad manners to reply in English if the other person is talking in Hindi… just shows immaturity nothing else.
Waise, i luv Hindi - thats why i listen only to Hindi songs and see only Hindi films
@PRASAD—true India has a lot of different languages and cultures..and hindi is not my mother tongue either ..and like you said there has to be some language that is common among all for commmunication..then why let it be english? I mean i have no problem with english..but why not have some language that is a part of our country as the national language?
and LOL…that is so not fair! the picture on the license was not bad at all! hehhee
@ DEEPAK — wow…see the french, the germans, the russians, the chinese..they all do it! why not us indians? anyways it sounds ironic coming from someone who is away from her own country..but I feel strongly about it anyways….you are right..love for our own language has not been inculcated in us..atleast its not as strong as it should be. and sure there is no way getting around english as the unifier..but its just so annoying that some people HAVE to use english all the time! and I knwo this family in mumbai where the mom is gujju and the dad is bengali..now BOTH languages are spoken widely…but the family choses to talk in english at home and they live in mumbai!! arrgh!
and OYE! who talks in hindi with and english accent haan haaan? who exactly are ya trying to point at????fess up!
and yes dont we all love our hindi songs and movviessss!