Indian English

Current Issues and other TriviasIndian English

Indian GoddessA Dalit (former untouchable) activist called Chandra Bhan Prasad

"She holds a pen in her right hand which shows she is literate. She is dressed well and sports a huge hat - it's a symbol of defiance that she is rejecting the old traditional dress code.

She holds the constitution of India in her left hand which gave Dalits equal rights. She stands on top of a computer which means Dalits will use English to rise up the ladder and become free for ever.

close resemblance it bears to the Statue of Liberty in New York

Inspired by Thomas Babington Macaulay, a British colonial who introduced English as a medium of instruction in India in 1854

She is the symbol of Dalit renaissance and they believe that it will help them climb up the social and economic ladder.

As India globalises the only way anyone, not just Dalits, can avoid being left behind is by learning English. (Prasad)

Linguistic SchizopreniaFirst popular among the first generation of English learnersIndians think and feel in their maternal language but they need to use English in their professional world

A keyboard in ' Hinglish'The first one - a bilingual Hindi- English keyboard was release in January 2010.The usual Qwerty keyboard on a laptop or PC has 80 to 101 keys - more than enough to key in the 5 vowels and 21 consonants in English.

The caps lock key helps switch between English and Hindi.But when it comes to Hindi, the combinations require an additional 100 keys.

Its Hinglish DudeIn India, anyone who mixed Hindi and English was jeered at.Now that is changing. "Hinglish" has become the hip voice of urban India, its influence is reaching far beyond the cities. In a country with 16 national languages and more than 1,000 dialects, Hinglish is turning into a common tongue.

Businesses have been quick to catch on.

Ford has sold the Ikon as the "josh car" (exciting)McDonald's has come up with the slogan "What your bahana is?" ("What's your excuse?").

A fad of no importance?WRONG

Given India's huge population and its industrial and cultural influence, Hinglish could soon become the most widely spoken form of English in the world. David Crystal