Life happened because I turned the pages~~Alberto Manguel

Wednesday, August 06, 2003

What the Spectator article refers to is Inglish rather than Hinglish: the latter has been embraced by the Indian advertising industry in such immortal catch lines as "Yehi hai right choice, baby" and "Don't be a bandar, taste the thunder". Inglish is what's responsible for new coinages: Lawyers mull Ceasework, says a headline in The Telegraph, or dearly beloved turns of phrase not remarkable in themselves, but memorable because of the context in which they're used. (When my grandfather wanted my teenage friends to quit playing Black Sabbath albums and go back to their own homes, he used to shuffle in and remark in mild tones, "Eet eez high time..." Everyone understood perfectly. It can be alarming, as in the apocryphal tale of the good, respectable Delhi housewife who tells the milkman, "You will kindly enter from my backside only henceforth", directing him to the back rather than the front door of her home.

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