Raima Sen, one of Moonmoon Sen’s contribution to the tired-world, gives us an interesting insight into a modern “Bengali” upbringing.
However, Raima identifies more with the spunky, modern Sheila of The Bong Connection. “We’ve had a very modern upbringing. We didn’t do pujas at home. We speak in English at home, not Bengali. Most of my friends have been Anglo-Indians.”
There is a lot to be said here — about self-loathing, about the perceived downmarket-ness of speaking in one’s vernacular or of participating in religious ceremonies, about the sense of shame felt by certain elements of the Bengali “high society” in “not being English”, the association between faux-Westernism and “modernity” and finally the connection between a “modern” upbringing and the au naturale look in a naughty MMS (yes I know that was the other baby Sen—but they all had the same upbringing).
But then again, why bother ?
Instead all I shall do, while keeping in the spirit of the “Partner” season, is to quote Govinda from David Dhawan’s Banarasi Babu where he defines modernity in a way Raima Sen would definitely approve.
Govinda (in chaste Bihari accent):
Ab tumhare pyar ke khatir dekhna hum kaisa “maadern” ho jayenge. Tumhare mummy ke saath baithke puff marenge, patte khelenge, tumko disco main le jayenge, jeans ke pant pahenenge tight aur inko aise phaar dalenge aur unke andar likh denge “Take it easy” aur kaan ke andar baali pahenlenge aur chuha cut baal kaatke pura sahar mein ghumenge tum bhi kahogi kya chuha pai hoon..”
[Rough translation: Now see how “modern” I become for the sake of your love. I will sit and smoke with your mother while playing cards, I will take you to the disco, I will wear really tight jeans and then rip them and write “Take it easy”, I will wear ear-rings and get a “mouse”-type haircut and even you will realize what a mouse you have….]
The theme deserves to be elaborated upon. Go to it, sirrah!
J.A.P.
Very ‘Sen’sible analysis!
Bengali intelligensia has time and again found ways to find its way back to vernacular culture and re-invigorated Dharma inspite of going through such bouts of so-called “Raima type modernism”.
We have to remember that the self loathing, Hindu hating, “brown sahibs” of the past, eventually ended up throwing a Vivekananda, a Aurobindo, a Shyamaprasad or a Tagore amongst our midst.
Its just a matter of time before from amongst the Govinda described Chuhas will rise the behemoth of a Vivekanand from Bengal again (or whatever will be left of it).
Methinks Ms. Sen is the exception, not the rule. The Bengali upper class is distinguished from other Indian regions by its devotion its mother tongue. A colleague of mine who had grown up in Bombay and spent a decade living in Calcutta told me how much she envied the fact that the Bengali upper class took such pride in speaking in Bengali.
Contrast this with the pan-Indian upper class in cities like Bombay and Bangalore and their English-only upbringing and you’ll know what I’m on about. And given the fact that there is a very robust tradition of modernity and reform that has been carried on in the Bengali language and is indigenous to Bengal, I don’t think people, even the snootiest of Bengali upper classes think of it as somehow anti-modern.
And given how Ms. Sen’s mummy mutilates the Bengali language with her part-Anglo part-nyaka accent, would you really trust her progeny with “A mori Bangla bhasha”
Rishi, have you ever read anything written by Swami Vivekananda? As someone who’s read the complete works of Swami Vivekananda, let me state that he was a Vedantic Advaita follower who didn’t care two hoots about what passes for Hindu rituals and practices in contemporary India. He was a very great man, and I strongly suspect his way of reinvigorating Dharma is not something you’d necessary want.
Edit: My last sentence should read - “………not something you’d necessarily agree with”
(though I personally am fine with it, as I see Advaita as a more complex, philosophically rigorous way of approaching metaphysical thought)
@JAP: Methinks I have said all that needs to be.
@Vasuki: How Sen-si-tive.
@Rishi: Its just a matter of time before from amongst the Govinda described Chuhas will rise the behemoth of a Vivekanand from Bengal again (or whatever will be left of it).
Well not from the Sen family, it seems.
@Thalassa: “The Bengali upper class is distinguished from other Indian regions by its devotion its mother tongue”
Having not seen the “upper crust” in other Indian regions I cannot comment on a part of your statement. However I have, while growing up, seen quite a few people for whom anything Bangla was downmarket: whether they would express their distaste as clearly as Raima is of course debatable.
Dear Thalassa
I have read the works of Vivekananda too.
He was Advaita Vedantic and didnt care two hoots about what passes as Hindu rituals.
Nor do I.
But I am not sure if you happen to know of Hindu practices in contemporary India.
I think I necessarily agree with his way of re-invigorating Dharma and I am sure if you understood Vedanta after reading his works, you would too.
@ Thalassa
And what passes as mundane Hindu rituals in Bengal (and Assam ) are derived from the Poorva Mimansa school of Hindu philosophy, something that Swami Vivekananda’s teacher Sri Ramkrishno himself practiced and preached.
He however adviced Vivekanand to walk down the path of Advaita Vedanta, (a la Shankara way), because he felt that Advaita was a more evolved and consolidated system more suited for the times. (and still is)
@ Thalassa
I would have hoped that you shed some thoughts on Sri Aurobindo’s work as a corollary to Swami-ji’s work. He sure took Vivekananda’s ideas to the next level, in continuum. Together, their body of thoughts are certainly the seed, that I would see be used as a basis of re-invigorating Dharma.
Yup, English is the language of the ‘modern’ people, where modern is of course equivalent to western culture. Things are pretty disgusting Bangalore … I see parents talking to tiny kids in English.
Sometimes I wonder if there is something wrong with my circle of friends, we seem to be most comfortable when conversing in Hindi, although all of us come from English-medium education backgrounds. Perhaps our upbringing was not ‘modern’ enough!
The other extreme end of the spectrum are the politicians who want to banish English from the education system, while at the same time ensuring that their kids study English. My 2 cents here:
http://khabri.blogspot.com/2007/02/language-rant.html
Rishi, I am an agnostic bordering on atheist (the only reason I don’t say atheist is because I can’t be bothered to construct an argument defending my atheism). My interest in Advaita is purely as a school of philosophy, not as part of my religious practice.
And I fear I may have come across as sounding contemptuous of local religious practice - far from it. I feel that both Advaita and the local traditions drawn from eclectic sources have their place. What does not have a place is a forcibly homogenized anti-reform religious orthodoxy or religion as a political construct. Both are loathesome to me.
Anyway, enough digression. On to Ms. Sen. Arnab, I’d defer to you on this as far as Calcutta Bengalis are concerned. Most affluent Bengalis I know from Delhi or small town Bengal (mostly Bardhaman district) are more than happy to speak Bengali at home.
@ Thalassa
Not that there is anything wrong with being a atheist or being a agnost…to each our own.
But Advaita Hindusim as a school of Philosophy is incongruent with Atheism.
The very basis of Advaita (or Dvaita or Vishistha Advaita), stems from the belief in the Universal Brahman.
Vivekananda’s genius does not lie in his wonderful thoughts on Advaita but in his quest of Moksha as a true Karmayogi.
Beginning with Aadi Shankara (charya), there have been greater philosophers of Advaita Hinduism before Swamiji and probably and hopefully be greater ones after him. But it is in Swami Vivekananda, that Hindu Dharma saw one of the greatest Karma Yogis of the past several centuries, both as a social reformer and as a political invigorator (i recall u being loathsome of the latter).
To look at Vivekananda’s writings as a bunch of esoteric and complex thoughts in the service of metaphysics is a big mistake which many of us make. What lies behind is the Karma the he derived from it in his practice of Hindu Dharma.
PS for the atheists
Please do not confuse Brahman (absolute) with Brahmin (a varna)
One is a nomenclature for the Eternal Absolute, the other is a varna found in the Purusha-suktas and many Hindu Smritis or time bound commentaries (including the infamous Manu Smriti)
its just a matter of time before ppl ask: “How are you?” without really meaning it right? a la american “courtesy”
I’ve never really been to bengal so i admit to not knowing the locals intrinsically. However, my 1st two girlfriends were,coincidentally, both bengali. And that’s something i’m proud of. “Modern” or “Local” upbringing, i love them all!
Don’t know about Vivekananda or Aurobindo, what seems more likely is the revival of the army of brown babus due to whom the empire ran in its glory days. Now don’t get into the khudirams and netajis, I am talking of the army of english mosahebs, who adopted to the English ways with full vigor. Some of it seem to have seeped in to the DNA of this class and have been passed on to the generations who “didn’t do pujas at home” and “speak in English at home, not Bengali”, lest that make them “less modern”. What is amazing is that Suchitra Sen is reportedly a regular at Belur! The difference between sane and Sen
“Having not seen the “upper crust” in other Indian regions I cannot comment on a part of your statement. However I have, while growing up, seen quite a few people for whom anything Bangla was downmarket”….
But I think, Thalassa is quite right in her/his observation. I have never lived in Calcutta ( from a district town of WB) , but have lived in various places around India for study/ work. And I agree with Thalassa.
Do not know about the High Society types, but yuppie/dinki types from other states generally abandon their mother tongue righ at the primary school. Very few of my friends can read in their native language( strange yet true). And most of the people(not all) who could , they abandon the use of that in written communication ( and even in oral communication when talking with a peer coming from same state) the moment they enter any moderately famous institute of learning.
But generally in the case of Bengalis, whatever their upbringing have been, if two of them meet up, they will typically start speaking in Bengali ( again , I do not know about Kolkata, but am talking about other parts of West Bengal and India)
Miss Sen. I would strongly recommend you to read Mark Tully’s “No full stops in India” to understand how the English people feel about Indians speaking English.
It rough translate as follows, “If a Frenchman speaks bad and mutiliated English we are still elated that a Frenchman has agreed to speak English, but if an Indian speaks English we will only sneer and make fun of him.”
My teacher once told me - go tell a German, a Frenchman, a Russian or even a Japanese that you want to put his son in an English medium school you will get a bloodied nose. Go tell the same thing to an Indian he will start dancing in joy.
What really comes out of these comments (apart from Advaita, Brahman and assorted great sages), IMHO, is the age old question of the educated Indian middle class: Are we the right shade of brown, in our attitudes as well as our skin tone? The Anglicized and the Sons of the Soil…the middle path is something the middle class has been trying to find, and perhaps that’s why we find it necessary to react to Raima Sen or Balasaheb Thackeray …both say some things that are abhorrently appealing to our schizophrenic personalities
(Going back to listening Marathi Natyasangeet mp3s on my mobile phone, not fully understanding what the heck was bombasted by self above…)
GB,
Raima Sen’s comment actually tell a lot about the times we grew up in. It was the 80s Calcutta when India has not yet seen the winds of globalisation. And great people like J Basu and B Bose at A Street came up with the brilliant idea of introducing English at Grade 5. It seems to have affected a lot of people of our generation. By design or by accident, there has always been an ‘Xtra’ respect accorded to the English language in Bengal. In Satyajit Ray’s “Pratidwandi”, a tense candidate asks Dhritiman in the waiting room, “Interview ta ki English e hobe?”. This might have been a statement from Ray.
I have had plenty of Bengali medium friends who grew up with a slight inferiority complex about their English skills. Similarly I have seen many guys who were from English medium schools who thought that they are somehow superior to ones who lacked English speaking skills. Somehow, the ability to speak a fluent version of Indian English was considered as an asset. So I grew up thinking that I had lacked something. When I went to Rotary club parties, I felt ill at ease as I could not speak out sentences which had such a plethora of “You know” and “I mean” ’s spoken by the upper crust. Also people from every part of India think that the other’s English accent is somehow funny. Bengali accent, South Indian English, Delhi English and every other version is somehow funny to the others ears. The funny thing is that to someone who is not Indian, it all seems weird.
Example: “Ishh I am so foolis” (Bengal), “O cmon…lets go to the club…arree chalo na…o tujhe pata hain bhainchod..you know…i mean…shes so hot (Delhi), or “What Ra…finish your curd rice quickly…swalpa wait madi….what man…its bullshit..en macha…en maga” (South) are actually all hybrid versions.
So what Raima is actually saying here is that “From an early age I was taught by my mom that talking in Bengali and attending bengali festivals is gauche. My mom especially made me to speak the Delhi version of Indian English in front of Non bengali guests and basked in pride when i didnt utter a single word in Bengali. Once she caught me talking to a friend in bengali. She dragged me home by my hair and said, “Shame on you Raima. Talking in bengali to that uncouth son of a govt office clerk. What will he do in future? Smoke bidis at the street corner. You are a firefly. You have to maintain my image.” Last year I heard was that the uncouth boy was working in Bay Area, CA and he still reads Tagore. But thats OK. There are still enough people here who overtly respect people with that ‘xtra’ english skill. Also the ability to insert several “you know”’s and “i mean”’s in a single sentence is a great skill which few women are fit for but one that I was born for; a skill that cannot be accrured/substituted by reading a Chaucer or a Hemmingway or a Chandler or a Naipual or the history of the English Langauge or the etymology of words. Once I went to Calcutta Book Fair and met a friend who was buying some books by Shibram. He also had a copy of Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”. My mom proudly said to his dad that I read nothing but the highest class of English literature and not cheap Bengali books- like the complete works of Sidney Sheldon, the complete Mills and Boon series and the works of the remarkable Jackie Collins. “Keep away from that creep, he speaks in bengali and was staring at your legs”, was her advice to me on the way home. The same evening an Anglo Indian boy looked at me the same way and even kissed me while squeezing my ass, but mom didnt seem to mind. Perhaps it was because of his “Hello Auntie” and “Oh jesus” type ejaculations (pun not intended).”
Now if I understand correctly most Anglo Indians of Kolkata are Christians and many of them are Catholics. So Raima disliked pujas, which is fine. But is she an atheist? Or is she more attracted to ahem Jesus or God. Did she feel ‘modern’ in one of those churches where her anglo Indian bfs took her too? Was she blessed by the divine light? (cough cough) You must listen to the great Tom Leykis if you dont believe that religious bigotry exists in the Western world: http://podcast.971freefm.com/klsx1/7515.mp3
http://www.971freefm.com/episode_download.php?contentType=36&contentId=893722
I am not even sure if shes aware of it, but this comment was her was nothing but as you say,” “faux-Westernism and “modernity” “. I could have understood if she was an adolescent, but I believe that she is in her 20s. It could be that she used to accompany Anglo Indian boys to back alleys; but unless he clarifies her stance on her religion and language, she just sounds like a stupid ass.
This is strangely pertinent to smthing that never ceases to surprise me, no matter how common a phenomenon it is amongst indians staying abroad. among our acquaintances, my daughter is perhaps the only one who is not fully proficient in english yet (shes 2.5) as our chief medium of comm. at home remains the vernaculer. this is in sharp contrast to the rest of the bengali, marathi, punjabi, sindhi, gujrati kids i know whose parents have never exposed them to the mother tongue & speak with them in eng(while the couples stick to the mother tongue). frankly, i find the entire thing quite unnatural & when asked, most of them opine ‘learning mother tongue will not help them anyway as we are settling here.’ ho hum!
strangely enuf, most south indian parents i know instruct their children to speak in tamil, telegu or their respective language.
check this out. Its the preview of Rush Hour 3.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe3WibMu780
GB, I completely agree with Tucker’s last comment in the video: “U asians, stop humiliating urself”.
Being from a culture (Oriya) that is quite close to Bengali I would say of all Indic cultures it is the Bengalis who have set the intellectual, cultural stage for India. The point that I will be making right now is a bit along fault lines but it is being made with only positive intentions.
It might sound mushy, but look at India’s classical musicians, filmmakers, Nobel laureates, &c. In fact Rabindranath Tagore is, I believe, the only Nobel laureate for literature who wrote in an Asian language. Apart from South Indians (more so Tamils and Malayalees, and less with Telugus and Kannadigas), most other communities tend to be the yuppie, “maadern” kind. But then I often find South Indians to be quite regionalist, self-centered and inward looking. On the contrary, it was the Bengalis who gave India the idea of one country - despite being the first people in India who came in contact with the British and opened up to English education, and hence their general Anglophilia.
In Delhi, for example, Durga Puja is quite a big deal and it draws people from all over the city, most being non-Bengali. On the other hand, barely anyone hears of stuff like Rath Yatra. Instead, all the Oriyas end up doing is bickering over caste issues (the infamous Das vs. Dash), back-talking, &c.
Reminds me of my two batchmates, both Probashi Bangali(non-westbengal resident bengalis). One, the daughter of a ‘big shot’ officer of a large PSU blurts out ” Ami Bengali’te kathaa korte paari naa “..oter, the son of a Foreman had Anandamela and Suktaaraa (bangla teen magazines). It depends completely on how one’s brought up, as in how exactly parents decided to bring up their kids. And offcourse, after a few years , the onus is totally on self to discover.
Raima’s father happens to be prince from the Tripura Royal family with links to the Jaipiur royal family, .. so it would be wrong to assume that Raima to be a Bangali.
GB,
The discussion I believe is not whether or not to get admitted in english medium schools and start speaking english all the time. I think the general trend of thinking vernacular languages are downmarket is the issue here.
We simply can not live without english. The majority of office going Indians basically get a job if they speak english well and otherwise you can rot in hell. So we have to be profficient in english to live and earn a living. this can not be put in the same line as germans or french refusing to speak english. Our situation doesn’t allow us to be so much choosy about which language we speak.
But the real turn down is with this target in our minds we often forget that to speak english well we need no demean our own language. Some of bengali parents do take pride in the fact that their kids cant read bengali and i am sure this is true in other languages speaking communities in india too.
My own cousins who used to live in bengal ( just in a cosmo township where they could mingle a lot with different ppl from other states), didn’t know to write and read bengali for quite sometime. THey were very happy with their hindi capabilities. I had no objections about that only thing is I humiliated them everytime i wrote a letter to them. I would write that in bengali and used to find words from Bankim’s books to fill them in. Now thats mean but thats how i felt about those who humiliate their mother tongue and believe me I still do.
Regards,
Ankan
So we have to be profficient in english to live and earn a living….Our situation doesn’t allow us to be so much choosy about which language we speak.
Wonder why ? Did Japan need the Engish language to rise from ruins to an economic superpower? How about Korea? What about the resolve of Israelis who resurrected a dead language (Hebrew)to a thriving language?
Only we Indians look down upon our own languages.
“However, Raima identifies more with the spunky, modern Sheila of The Bong Connection. “We’ve had a very modern upbringing. We didn’t do pujas at home. We speak in English at home, not Bengali. Most of my friends have been Anglo-Indians.” …
Went to the link and read the actual cote… came back and re-read your write-up…
“…and the au naturale look in a naughty MMS (yes I know that was the other baby Sen—but they all had the same upbringing).”… probably being the line that stood out most…
Not sure I agree with GB’s assesment of what Raima Sen really meant to say… definitely sure I dont like the au naturale part…
The word that really stands out is “modern” upbringing… and I do get a sense that the word is not used condescendingly… I count among my friends a lot of people who didn’t do Pujas at home (for religious reasons or otherwise)… what would you call such an upbringing… “atheist”… maybe… “different”… maybe… “modern”… also maybe…
And yes the average Bengali of our generation is more comfortable thinking and expressing him/herself in English… a phenomenon that you might choose to term unfortunate (though a lot of people, me included, wouldn’t necessarily agree)… but definitely something you can’t deny…
Anglo Indian friends… !!! thats a bit of surprise… growing up as I did in Salt Lake, amidst Bengalis and Marwaris, my only association with Anglo Indians were the teachers at school… but my memories of them remain fond enough to assume that their children could have been entirely befriend-able… anyways not having Bengalis for friends is hardly a sin that can call for the kind of strident criticism that I read above…
or am I really missing the point… the comments above seem too indignant… which leads me to believe that maybe, just maybe…. I should not be totally ignoring the fact that the bulk of the criticism seems to be coming from people who have, for whatever reasons, happily chosen to leave their country/culture behind… (not really getting into a debate about that… but it could explain a lot of the ‘indignation”)…
Raima “Sen”, isn’t she supposed to be Dev Varman, after the Tripura royal family that she belongs to.
We don’t need English just to survive in the world… we need English to survive in the country. How many south Indians can speak Hindi? How many Bengalis, brought up in West Bengal can communicate in it? (I know a couple of Bengalis from Delhi who cannot…) Maharshtrians and Gujratis have less of an issue, given the proximity of their respective tongues to Hindi, but for inter-state communication, we need a common language. and by default, that is English.
My parents both went to a vernacular Medium-of-Instruction school. English was taught from 8th std onward. But Indian languages don’t do technical and scientific instruction well at all. So both of them (tech degrees) were taught in English for their degrees. Dad coped well, mom had a torrid time. And so she put her foot down when the time came to choose the language of instruction for us kids, we would learn in English from the word go.
In hindsight, I believe she made the right choice. I don’t like the fact that I am not fully conversant in my native tongue (though you may not even notice it when I speak, I can switch through both and Hindi very easily) but I would not choose it over having a command over English.
Someone up there (DV?) said that Japan and Germany did not need to adopt English to become successful, well, neither country had to deal with Nehruvian socialistic policies, half a billion people in the middle of the century itself, absolutely no history of industrial development and sudden liberation from foreign oppression like we did. You just cannot compare. You want a fair comparison, look at the disaster that was East Germany. They went from Hitler’s Nazis to soviet-style communism overnight, and till the Berlin Wall fell it was reminiscent of India up to the 80s - waiting lines for rationed food, months before you’d get a car or telephone and what not.
That said, I’m not disagreeing with what you (GB) have written. There is too much of a tendency for some English speakers to look down with distaste at ‘vernacs’. It grates on my nerves too, and I can’t entertain it around me.
(Sorry for the long post, but DAMN it feels good to have written that!)
@Sourav:
“Being from a culture (Oriya) that is quite close to Bengali I would say of all Indic cultures it is the Bengalis who have set the intellectual, cultural stage for India.”
I don’t want to start a war on which culture is better .. but it is apparent that you have no idea of what other cultures are like.
“It might sound mushy, but look at India’s classical musicians, filmmakers, Nobel laureates, &c. In fact Rabindranath Tagore is, I believe, the only Nobel laureate for literature who wrote in an Asian language. ”
classical musicians are aplenty all over india, not just bengal.
film is a new medium in which the bengalis have excelled, i agree.
the Nobel prize is just a prize .. get over it
“Apart from South Indians (more so Tamils and Malayalees, and less with Telugus and Kannadigas), most other communities tend to be the yuppie, “maadern” kind. ”
it is amazing how easily you have generalized about ENTIRE CULTURES in one sentence. i envy your ability.
“But then I often find South Indians to be quite regionalist, self-centered and inward looking.”
Sigh! Again, generalizing entire cultures.
I seriously don’t understand this attitude of Raima’s. While I agree that to succeed in today’s business and social circles you do need to speak English and speak it well …..but there is absolutely nothing modern about not using your own language….especially a language as serene as Bengali.
I was myself brought up in Jamshedpur , primarily a Hindi speaking city, my Bengali is self taught….. hence I started off by reading simple “Feluda” books while my cousins in Calcutta were already reading Tagore and SaratChandra….took me a while to graduate on to the masters and I felt so good about it that day ……even these days I sometimes take a train to Jackson Heights to check out the new Bengali books out in the market ….
I am not sure if speaking in English (and particularly not speaking in Bangla) or having Anglo-Indian friends (by the way, are there still Anglo-Indians left in India. I thought all of them have migrated to some white country. May be Raima’s friends are from abroad, then why Anglo-Indians and not whites) makes one modern (What does this term mean anyway).
But in one point I agree with her. You cannot be modern (I am assuming this means being liberal in thinking) and do puja at the same time.
@ Subhendu
“But in one point I agree with her. You cannot be modern (I am assuming this means being liberal in thinking) and do puja at the same time”.
How is “being a liberal thinker” inversely related to “doing Pujo”?
Could you please elaborate.
We speak in English at home, not Bengali - quite natural if that is her mother tongue - and perhaps Moonmoon did do her pujas regularly - but the hushed-tone mantras were misinterpreted by her daughters as signs of uber modernity…
Er– we do know a few from the ‘high’ society of Calcutta and boy— they ARE funny!
Anything foreign, is OK (be it toilet paper or even — a toupee). You will be constantly reminded that their great-great grandfather was a member of the Calcutta club, while dear Uncle Henry (Harisadhan to you or me) became the president of the Bengal Club.
Dear, dear distant cousin Minny (Minati) did marry a scion of some minor royal family, Tripura or Natore. What is glossed over is that the scion promptly ran away with an actress from the Star Theatre.
These wonderful beings do not have daal-bhaat.
They have soups, salads, a cutlet with a pudding or a quiche.
Spices are absolutely -UUUGH, unless recommended by dear Tony (Antony Bourdain, no less).
Though these creatures live in Ballygunge, Gariahat is unknown. Knightsbridge, Harrods– even the Camden flea market– is where they go to shop.
(It is another point that inspite of their bi-annual visits to other shores, they do not visit the Tate, or the MOMA. One of these creatures did stand in front of the Mona Lisa, but more as to say — been there, done that. These people are not rich enough to own haute couture, desi or foreign. I suspect they wear reduction sale items fom Sainsbury/Walmart.)
And if I am proud to live across the kerosene shop and witness long queues and humanity at its squabling best, these people are PROUD that they live in an apartment where the consulate staff stay. Nigerian? No, came the sniffy reply, German.
And if they look at vernacular literature with disdain, they are just literate enough to flip through the HELLO magazine. Whenever they feel the need to read cerebral stuff, they peruse the latest Mills & Boone. They do buy a Coelho or two, but it is to grace the coffee table.
These people haven’t heard of the luminous beauty of one Miss A. Rai. One of the fond mothers, was heard to say in public that her da-hling daughter was so very very pretty. It was because she resembled dear princess Anne!
@gb–quick — post a link which shows Anne at her horsy-faced best.
South Indian culture is the best culture in the whole world. Nothing can match it.
Three cheers for idly-sambhar, as dished up by the Punjab Tiffin House near Barrackpore Railway Station.
@ Swati di
Three cheers for idly-sambhar, as dished up by the Punjab Tiffin House near Barrackpore Railway station.
hehehehe….bhalo bolecho…priceless.
@DV
I would like to know what you do for your living… Do you do a job, or a business or whatever
Just look around my friend. I am a poor software engineer and I know had I not known English as good as i can speak today I would have been jobless. And trust me I know a lot of those who in spite of being fully conversant with their respective languages are jobless due to the simple fact that they don’t know good English.
Also Japanese need to learn only Japanese and Israelis would need Hebrew alone. Unlike them do you propose we learn Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, gujarati, Punjabi, Assamese, Bengali dadi da dida???
That’s a wonderful proposal i would say !!
Its our necessity to learn English and we have to.
Having said that would like to mention a fact that even before a few years in WB govt schools started teaching English only at sixth standard. I myself learnt all the English i know today after sixth standard only.
Regards,
Ankan
“or am I really missing the point… the comments above seem too indignant… which leads me to believe that maybe, just maybe…. I should not be totally ignoring the fact that the bulk of the criticism seems to be coming from people who have, for whatever reasons, happily chosen to leave their country/culture behind… (not really getting into a debate about that… but it could explain a lot of the ‘indignation”)…”
I would say that is a nasty attack.
@Anonymous Coward: For the politician’s thats just the worst expression of vote-bank politics. This “Amra Bangali” policy of CPM, the abolishing of teaching English still Std VI in government schools has greatly handicapped Bengal candidates in all India examinations.
@Rishi and Thalassa: Very interesting comment thread. Its very rare when Raima Sen and Advaita Hindusim occur within the same page.
@Arun: My objection is not in people saying “How are you” as opposed to “Jai siyaram”. It’s in people saying the first somehow thinking themselves superior than those who say the second.
@Rohit: And so do I. Love Bengali girls that is.
@Bhopale: Which is fine. I am sure Raima thinks grandma is not modern.
@Dodo: Experiences vary, my friend. Let me say that this sentiment of Raima—I have heard that a few times before. From Bengalis.
@DV: Let me repeat.The problem is not in preferring an English education to a vernacular one. There are several practical reasons why one would want to learn English, however the commonly-held association between English and “modernity” and vernaculars with “medievalism” is what I am talking about here.
@Nandan: :-). Your last sentence took the words right out of my mouth.
@Yourfan2: “So Raima disliked pujas, which is fine. But is she an atheist? Or is she more attracted to ahem Jesus or God. Did she feel ‘modern’ in one of those churches where her anglo Indian bfs took her too?”
That’s a good question.
@Driftwood: I have heard of Bengali kids not being taught Bengali in the US because two tongues would, apparently, confuse them.
@Saurabh: Yes I loved that line too !
@Sourav: Hmm.
@Dipanwita: I am sure English is not the mother tongue of the Tripura royal family. Again Raima may choose to speak English and reject her mother tongue—that’s her choice; however to think that doing so is a manifestation of modernity is where the delusion lies.
@Ankan: “I think the general trend of thinking vernacular languages are downmarket is the issue here.”
Right.
@DV: That is not really my point here.
@Kunal:
I count among my friends a lot of people who didn’t do Pujas at home (for religious reasons or otherwise)… what would you call such an upbringing… “atheist”… maybe… “different”… maybe… “modern”… also maybe…
Just atheist. It has nothing to do with “modernity”. You seem to confuse being religious (faith in God) with being fundamental (an adherence to religious chauvinism and the use of religion as a weapon to oppress a group of people). A person who prays to Shiva or does namaaz five times a day is not necessarily medieval. Nor does being atheism imply modernity. They are simply different points of view about the existence of a superior being—anyone who thinks he is “modern” (and by extension of that superior) just because he holds one of those points of view (namely atheism) is actually being fundamentalist. Remember that Stalinists were not “religious” but they were “fundamentalists”—torturing and killing many simply because they were “religious”—would you call Stalinists modern?
Intolerance is medieval. Religion itself is not.
“not having Bengalis for friends is hardly a sin that can call for the kind of strident criticism that I read above…”
Yes I do feel you are missing the point here.
“I should not be totally ignoring the fact that the bulk of the criticism seems to be coming from people who have, for whatever reasons, happily chosen to leave their country/culture behind… (not really getting into a debate about that… but it could explain a lot of the ‘indignation”)”
I was waiting for that. Kindly note we “who have happily chosen to leave their country/culture behind” do not claim to be more “modern” than those who have not.
@Red: So she is.
@Aditya: Hmm
@Dibyo: I do not find it tough to understand. It is entirely expected—Moonmoon Sen , daughter of Dibanath and Suchitra Sen speaks in the most put-on accented Bangla…
@Subhendu: But in one point I agree with her. You cannot be modern (I am assuming this means being liberal in thinking) and do puja at the same time.
I think I have replied to this already in this comment—the difference between being religious and fundamental.
@S.Pyne:”the hushed-tone mantras were misinterpreted by her daughters as signs of uber modernity”
Hushed-tone mantras? Do explain.
@Swati: Oh lord…here’s princess Anne.
Feel sorry for the daughter.
@Kishor: Yep. That we all agree on.
@ Arun:
The nature of this conversation is one of generalization. I admitted right at the beginning that I am treading along fault lines.
As for other cultures, I am not uber knowledgeable about other cultures (since I haven’t actually traveled a lot in India) but I wouldn’t call myself ignorant either since I’ve known people from all over.
Swati - hello namesake! Please to be discussing such glorious specimens of Bongness some more - I thought such batshit crazy Anglophiles had decamped to England a long time ago.
Though how odd that they are such avid followers of Tony Bourdain - do they know Nondon Bagchi took Tony to Maidan and fed him alu-kabli? And to think they could have invited poor Tony over and fed him their fourth-rate rendition of Brit food.
and i always thought the other sister was the bimbette.
@GB…
“anyone who thinks he is “modern” (and by extension of that superior)..”
Thats exactly the point I’m trying to make GB… that when I read Raima Sens’s cote in the context of the article… I get the sense that “modern” implies “different” as opposed to implying “superior”… call it semantics if you will… but the criticism does seem slitely strident…
@GB and Ancient Mariner…
“I would say that is a nasty attack.”…
In hindsight… agreed (slitely sheepishly)… tho like I said I never really wanted to get into the pros and cons of that debate… I was just meaking a generalized statement that the NRI is typically faster to take umbrage… and a stouter defender of “Indian” values….
@ Ancient Mariner
I am an accountant.
@ Aditya
But Indian languages don’t do technical and scientific instruction well at all.
Has anyone ever made a genuine effort to translate (correctly) scientific literature into Indian languages?
Look at the Iranians. Every good book (technical or otherwise) published anywhere in the world gets translated into Farsi withing a short frame of time. This is despite the fact that they live in a oppressive theocracy. Compare this to India where we make no effort at all. We are happy with English translations ! (Although some good books get translated into Bangla - I must admit)
Tagore and Bose made a genuine plea to do scientific liteature in Indian language. But alas! It all fell on deaf ears.
@ everyone
Stop using the word vernacular to describe INDIAN LANGUAGES!! In Latin “verna” relates to slaves.
@GB
These kind of people exist everywhere!! To hell woth modernism and whatever. I have always enjoyed pooja and I am not a bengali.
I agree with what you say great bong.But I wouldn’t lose lot of sleep over what raima sen has to neither would I come to any conclusions based on that.I have watched couple of her interviews.I dont think she is the brightest.
Whatever raima said is not nearly in the same league as what her fellow bong actress Rima sen had to when asked to describe the director of golmall”HE CAN EVEN MAKE A BLACK AFRICAN WOMAN LOOK BEAUTIFUL”
p.s.really admire your blogs.Keep them coming thick and fast.
Arnab: You state that an atheist who thinks relegious people are not “modern” is being fundamentalist. Then as an example of such an atheist, you talk about Stalinists. But isn’t there a big difference between an atheist who considers relegious people not modern versus one who murders them for being relegious.
GB, I am looking forward to RTDM in Bengali!
Hey new Aby, this is old Aby.
Sincerely request you not to be Aby, else it would cause an identity crisis for both of us.
Thanks in advance!
@GB
It is such a tragedy that Suchitra Sen miserably failed in the upbringing of her daughter.
We all are aware what MunMun Sen is all about. The latest shoe-string budget flick Bow Barracks Forever is just another proof of it.
Both of her daughters are an enlarged copy of her own character.
Coming to her accent; recently in a television interview, Koel Mullick did a caricature of Munmun Sen that was confirmed by Ranjit Mullick in the same show. It was really hilarious!!!
GB, I had sent the links of Minister Fatakeshto in the Gunda post. Did you like those?
Here’s me sticking my neck out in support of Raima. ( I owe it to her at least for the sake of happiness she and her sister together have brought me on countless occasions ;))
Wading thru the comments, am a bit flummoxed as to what the issue is here.
1. Is it wrong that MoonMoon didnt preach her daughter on what it is like to pray?
2. Is it her coining of “shunning religion/pooja and speaking in English” as Modern?
3. Or is it her friends circle being thickly populated with anglo-indians?
Which of the above is offensive, may I ask? Since when did we become expert nannies to tell Moonmoon how she should/could have brought up her daughter?
I have seen my fair share of parents swelling with pride when their little one held a conversation in a language other than the regional one (english on most occasions). Ditto may parents and ditto may parents when they heard me exchange pleasantries in Arabic (Courtesy sometime I had spent in North Africa)
Its not a British Raj hangover. Its an affirmation to them that their kid is sharp enough to figure out what works. Its an affirmation that their kid can survive in alien conditions. And more importantly its a relief that their kid is not a “frog in the well” as they were forced to be in their youth.
@Mani
The problem is the 2nd point which you state. Did your parents think that you had a ‘modern’ upbringing when you spoke in Arabic ?
The problem here is that Indians equate modernity with Westernization.
Dear Thalassa,
I am a little intrigued …. You wrote that Vivekanando didn’t care two hoots for “Hindu rituals” in contemporary India. Please enlighten me as to which “Hindu rituals” in particular the Swami didn’t care two hoots for, and possible references to such rituals in his writings/speeches.
This is an extremely interesting discussion.
Living in Europe for close to nine years now, I always squirm with embarassment when my non-Bengali compatriot friends/colleagues speak in English with me (and other Indians)– I have often had Europeans wonder with amusement that although we are both from the same country we communicate in English. With Indians who are not from southern India, I do insist on speaking Hindi often resulting in funny bilingual conversation.
However, comparisons with Germany, France, Japan, Iran, or even if one cited Bangladesh, are rather unfair. These countries have a single language each (ok, France did have a few, but has successfully wiped out most of the others), and absolutely everybody in that country speaks that language. However with our numerous languages coming from at least three distinct language families (we shouldn’t forget the NE), one has to settle for a compromise. Since Hindi (or as Gandhi had suggested, the Hindustani dialect) didn’t work out for various reasons (legitimate or not), the popularity of English in India is understandable.
Of course our colonial mentality contributes in a big way to this as well. On the other hand with globalization, few of us would deny that our fluency in English is very useful. Imagine if the major colonial power in India had been Spanish/Portuguese/French/Dutch/whatever, and we’d have to learn their language at school and then again English as an adult because of globalization… quite a nightmare.
I may be wrong, but I would have thought Bengali is commonly spoken in Tripura, so Raima’s father would be very likely to be fluent in Bengali as well. However this is a problem some of my friends face too. They come from different regions in India, and don’t speak much of the others’ language and instead communicate in English, which would thus be what their children encounter most often at home.
I was shocked at a few kids in their early 20s from B’lore (must be rich kids as they had come all the way to Germany to attend a Heavy Metal concert, and then were travelling around Europe) I met recently, who claimed that although they had lived all their lives in Bangalore, they didn’t speak Kannada, but only spoke English and a decent bit of Hindi!
On a personal note, I grew up in various parts of India. In the beginning I had to learn the local languages at school until my parents decided that this was crazy and put us in the Kendriya Vidyalayas. From then on it was Hindi and English. We learnt Social Sciences in Hindi and Science and Mathematics in English. I hated the former because of it being in Hindi, but with hindsight I think it was a good idea. I have always been fluent in speaking Bengali because we only spoke Bengali at home. However reading and my embarassing writing skills were self-taught. Bengali books were read out to us, we read English and Hindi books ourselves. In fact I am kinda ashamed to say that it was only recently that I finished *reading* my first novel in Bengali, Sei Somoy.
@Hujur
Without trying to put words into Thalassa’s mouth, from her response, I understood them to be the philosophically Mimansa driven, ritually Pauranic Shakta traditions, practiced in Eastern/North eastern India and Hindus in Bangladesh.
Not to mention the integration of post-Pala, Buddist “Tara” into the Shakta language.
Also includes, the plethora of Hindu Aagama rituals, prevelent amongst the Vanavasi tribes like the Santals and other groups like the Chandals of Bangladesh, in the form of “Monosha Devi”.
Thalassa can correct me if I am wrong.
@ Hujur
Forgot to mention the, I believe, Vishista-Advaita based Gudiya Vaidhnava Bhakti traditions from Nadia and Krishnanagar region (a reflex response to violent Sufi Islamic preselytization originating from that region).
Hujur, you will find it interesting that rise of Vishishta Advaita (beginning with Ramanujacharya in the South) was the reflex response to Islamic proselytization.
Similarly, rise of Advaita was the reflex response to Christian proselytization (in Colonial India).
Something you might want to analize.
Sorry forgot to fill the boxes, please delete the above comment.
I think most of Indian languages are becoming obsolete, they are not able to catchup with english.
In a normal Indian language conversation 50 % of words will be english.
I don’t know hindi equivalent of bathroom, latrine, train, bus, car(vahan !), telephone, cell phone, TV, TV serials, films, video games, computer, email, soap(sabun), shirt, toothpaste etc.
How about all medical terms ? well we use them in normal conversation.
No matter how hard you guys try hinglish will take over.
Secondly we do not have common front against english, hindi can never become a national language.
Er– I was just thinking.
Which school did the two litle ‘princesses’ attend? La Marts or was it the Modern High? Or Loreto?
Where did they find all those Anglo-Indian friends? I mean, in Cal, except for the O’Briens, Claudius’and the Mellos, there are hardly any Anglo-Indians who can be called ’society’.
While there are hoardes of Bengalis who can tinker a imon-kalyan on a sitar as well as play a lieder on a piano. Who can quote the Upanishads and the Zen Avesta and the Kalevala, if not Ginsburg and Nabokov.
Now these Bengalis would be dead than being seen hobnobbing with Moonmoon Sen’s daughters. So,—
the little miss Dev Burmans were left to make friends with …….
I mean, come on All You Anglo Indians— PROTEST!
I mean, even glow-worms have more brains than the Sens of Tripura House.
PS.
The Dev Burmans must be delerious with delight that Reemah and Raima are passing themselves off as Sens.
My husband has pronounced his judgement– any family, Anglo-Indian or otherwise, if it has a grand piano, IS –irrefutably — SOCIETY.
No, I am no social climber. There is only a harmonium and the tabla at home.
Dear Rishi,
My questions to Thalassa are clear:
1) Could you mention which “Hindu rituals” specifically Vivekanando cared too hoots for? Please mention the rituals specifically.
2) Are there any of his writings/speeches that attest to these views?
Or do we “modernists” simply assume that Vivekanando, like us, must have cared too hoots for Hindu rituals, as he seems “cool” otherwise. I wonder if a “modernist” would unconsciously try to put his/her words into the Swami’s mouth post-mortem.
I have been through a similar phase during my “hip” teenage years where I’ve considered “Hindu rituals” simply meaningless – which in hindsight, I feel a hasty conclusion I derived without bothering to check first on the symbolic, spi-“ritual” meaning behind the ritual. I did grow out of it, once I
An inherent loathing for “Hindu rituals” is second-nature to an “Indian modernist” (Bengali or not), particularly among the Hindu-born. In stark contrast, I have observed that Indian converts (and their descendants) to Abrahamic cults, “modernist” or not, would dare not be skeptical or cynical about their co-cultists steadfast grovelling on all fours, 5 times a day, in the direction of a pagan, black stone (as a ritual) .. or for that matter, getting down on their knees to something akin to a hangman’s noose, used by Roman executioners (as a ritual).
Ask the Hindu ritual-loathing Indian modernists what they feel about their observations of the Abrahamic rituals and you will hear flowery descriptions of “impressive display of a military-like drill by thousands of identically robed believers” or “I love Mass – its so cool”.
Correction in the third paragraph:
I did grow out of it, once I dug deeper and read up adequate explanations explaining the symbolism behind the rituals.
@ Hujur
Ask the Hindu ritual-loathing Indian modernists what they feel about their observations of the Abrahamic rituals and you will hear flowery descriptions of “impressive display of a military-like drill by thousands of identically robed believers” or “I love Mass – its so cool”.
Again, just expressing my opinion.
Well thats the beauty of Hindu Dharma.
A Charvaka and a Jaina, representing two contrasting views on the material world, can cross intellects under the same roof.
A Vishistha Advaita and a Bouddha, representing opposing ends of theism can bull their way into oblivion. Hindu Dharma is all about different “strokes for different folks…”.
But to me personally, it still boils down to Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah.
My fight is against the threats to the very ideas i mentioned above.
Unfortunately, the Abrahamic cults you talk about happen to be two of them and have historically proven themselves to be quite adamant at it.
@ Hujur
sorry …replace Bouddha with Dvaita…my bad.
Rishi and Hujur, before I get drawn into a pointless internet slagfest (which is as far from the “neti neti” of our gyan yogi ancestors as you can get) I’d rather read my copy of the Rig Veda a hundred times. Do me a favour, go read some Carvaka pronto.
Now let us revel in the absurdity of Ms. Raima Debburman Sen. By the way, when she acted in Chokher Bali, did they dub over for her voice? Because you know, since she cannot speak Bengali and all that………..
My husband has pronounced his judgement– any family, Anglo-Indian or otherwise, if it has a grand piano, IS –irrefutably — SOCIETY.
No, I am no social climber. There is only a harmonium and the tabla at home.
Start your own blog. Now!
I don’t know hindi equivalent of bathroom, latrine, train, bus, car(vahan !), telephone, cell phone, TV, TV serials, films, video games, computer, email, soap(sabun), shirt, toothpaste etc.
Compare this with France. They wouldn’t even want a widespread word like E-mail. So the Académie française decides that E-mail nust be replaced by “courriél” (courrier électronique)
Surprise ! Surprise !
Everyone follows what the Academy says!
Good post GB!
I find this dis-owning our own culture has become a trend these days. Most of Indians (bar Tamilians, Gujratis, and I used to think Bengalis) feel ashamed to talk about their Indian roots.
In my frequent conversations with foreigners, I find that those people are really interested in knowing about India, its culture. And its ironic that these people, with so-called modern upbringing, who try to represent modern India, fail to talk about India, as they know very little thanks to their upbringing, really bring shame to India.
@Kujur:
“Something you might want to analize.”
Was that a polite way of saying, “Up yours”?
@GB:
Actually the only difference between many of us and Raima is that we don’t take the overt pride in being in the same situation. I have been born and brought up outside Bengal, and while my spoken Bangla is okay, reading is barely passable and writing, almost impossible.
However, this fills me with a vague sense of regret, primarily because I am not able to understand many of the lyrics to songs that otherwise sound so beautiful. (Aside: Someone sang the beautiful Bangla version of “Phoolon ke rang se…” the other day - “Borne gondhe chonde geete te hridoy e diyecho dola…” and I had no clue that even existed!)
At the same time I am proud of my abilities in English, and yes, I do consider those who don’t know English as being disadvantaged, simply because that’s the truth. And on the whole, I feel I am better off the way I am. Meaning I’d rather know English well, than the other way around.
Taking the examples of Japan, Germany etc, us simply stupid because we are a heterogeneous nation, quite unlike them, and without a common language.
What seems to have gotten some of the fundies’ goats is the faux equivalence that Raima ostensibly drew between religious rituals and medievalist thinking. Relax. We use those sort of terminology everyday without meaning anything more than just a generalization.
Besides, religious people are not all necessarily fundies. But they all are definitely irrational.
Mirroring the views of Shan which he wrote above. Cant agree with you more..
@ Shan
“Something you might want to analize.”
It was addressed to Hujur and not GB.
Hmm… very interesting. I think we are associating too much significance with Ms. ScatterBrain Sen and her statements. I think the following describes her condition most appropriately:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ignoranus&defid=65093
She is as representative of the modern Bengali as Sanjay Dutt (post Munnabhai MBBS) was of the medical fraternity. Her type were always on the fringes of everything- society, career, even nobility. And I suspect over time they come to admit it. They only exist for comic appeal in their real lives, and a rare memorable performance on the reel.
(Sigh I had such hopes… she appeared to possess so much more acting prowess than either the slutty Mom or Sis)
Anyway, the debate though is very interesting. I am the probashi variety, and till very lately had litle notion of any form of Bengali-ness (though we spoke Bengali at home, and my parents did do Puja everyday, but I found it all a little stiffling, that’s it).
I have never lived in Calcutta, or even anywhere close. Though I used to date someone who like me was the probashi variety, both us could have been Greek, and it wouldn’t have mattered at all.
But then recently we came across some people from Calcutta in Bombay (which is home for the last 6 years or so), and it was quite a motley crue- schools ranging from La Marts and Modern High to Bhagini Nivedita; from Xaviers to Bangabasi; from the corridors Tolly Club to well, whatever. They speak English well, but they speak Bengali even better. It is just so delightful speak to them, and realizing that the lingua franca of Calcutta is so entertaining (and expressive) that I myself have started speaking the same. And I realize that while I have not missed on much, it is so much more fun to speak in your mother tongue with your friends. I have been in some majority Tam groups and have realized that even they enjoy slipping back to their mother tongue, every time decency permits.
Anyway, without extending this discussion to Advaita and drawing parallels with Japan, Germany and the like, I can say that conversing in vernac is cool.
(Oh there are these real turn-offs too, the Nyeka variety- and which other language has as colourful a word as “Nyeka” for snob).
Incidentally, through the same people, I happen to know the producer of the Bong Connection socially. If he can manage to stand still for ten minutes, given the alcohol induced stupor he always is in, I might consider the lot worthy of comment. The wastrels!!!
T.O.
@ Thalassa
Do read your copy of Rigveda a hundred times…while me and Hujur oggle our way through Charvaka
@ Shan
Agree with you mostly…
“Besides, religious people are not all necessarily fundies. But they all are definitely irrational.”
I think, a more charitable explanation is that most of us exhibit schizophrenic behaviour; we are perfectly rational in our everyday lives, but we return to primitivism and retrogression when it comes to religion. Probably a defense mechansim against the chilling alternative- that we are not created in the image of God, but are products of Darwinian natural selection, there is no higher purpose to life, merely pitless, cold indifference.
@ GB
“Remember that Stalinists were not “religious” but they were “fundamentalists”—torturing and killing many simply because they were “religious”—would you call Stalinists modern? “
Are you saying that Stalin did what did because he was an atheist? It’s not clear if people can actually murder anybody in the name of atheism? Atheism is not a belief system, it is a point of view that is skeptical about some (OK, all) of the extra-ordinary claims made by religious believers. Demand for proof in itself cannot become a conviction. On the other hand, it’s abundantly clear, that religious can & have murdered in the name of religion. And religious books had given express consent in this regard- whether it was the ‘Dharm’ Yudh in Mahabharata (Krishna gives express consent to kill millions in the name of Dharma- in modern parlance-‘either you are with us or against us’), Koran of course & countless crusades done by Christian missionaries.
If ‘modern’ means subscribing to contemporary scientific thought, clearly doing pujas cannot be called a ‘modern’ thing.
Whatever u say……….
the truth is this…………
people who speak english at home always having advantage
over the people who doesn’t get that opportunity (in India ……..(like me kind…)
english become their second mother tongue whereas others r trying to hard to pronounce “was”(bus) than “baass”