JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Impact Factor 1.393, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 2, Issue 3, April 2014

HINGLISH THE ‘PASAND’ OF THE NEW HINDUSTAN

MS. VATTAPARAMBIL SHEETAL JOSE BENZY*

*Assistant Professor in English, Dept. of Humanities, Government Engineering College, Valsad, Gujarat, India

ABSTRACT
When we speak English; we express ourselves. But when we speak ‘Hinglish’, we
open out our hearts to say exactly what we have in our mind, correctly, precisely, accurately
and with no fillers. If ‘Hinglish’ makes us speak our minds better, then why not?

INTRODUCTION
India having been under the British Raj for over four hundred years has had a very deep
impact on her psyche. Among other accepted things, we have accepted a language which was
never a part of our culture or civilization. At this stage, where we are comfortable with
English, we do realize that we have molded this language as our own by including words
which are a part of the Indian language system. It may sound paradoxical that we hate our
colonial past but simply love the English language. I do personally believe that the so called
consequences of this imperialism have in a way boosted our status and made India an
undisputed global power. Had we not acquired English as our second language, we would
have been like China or Japan, who are quite cornered when it comes to Spoken English
Skills. But then with their kind of advanced technology and superb manpower, they would
probably not need English language. In our situation, knowing this ‘foreign’ language is
crucial. It is this language that has opened a new window to the world that empowers us. We
are thus able to stand up to global economy and global culture.
Spoken English in India is very different as compared to the same language overseas. Our
Indian languages have significant impact on English we speak back home. The Indian
English – combined with heavy influence of Hindi and other local languages is also called
Hinglish. Those of us raised in India speak very different English than the one spoken in
Europe or North America or Australia. And it is natural, we are creations of our surroundings,
we are always influenced by our mother tongue. As a result, the influence of Hindi language
is naturally present in our English speech, hence the term Hinglish. Speaking Hinglish is not
bad. It is not meant to insult English language as such. Neither is it something to be
concerned about; it is just a habit the way we speak in our own neighborhood. Hinglish usage
is quite common in India, it is natural. No one cares, and no one should, I feel, as long as two
parties can understand each-other. What we have to understand that whether this ‘Hinglish’ is

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JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY
Impact Factor 1.393, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 2, Issue 3, April 2014

as acceptable and encouraged as English or is it considered a necessity which had emerged

somewhere in the corner and may have fear ostracization soon.
In this paper, I would like to defend Hinglish’ and its usage internationally with all its Indian
words. There is a logical reason to this issue. There are certain emotions, actions and festivals
which can be only expressed in ‘Indianised English’. This is just one of the reasons. We shall
discuss in detail prominent areas where Hinglish had overtaken English.
If we have a look at countries who have, like us, accepted this ‘foreign’ language, we would
be surprised to learn that the English that they use is their own unlike ours which is still
‘British English. For example, ‘American English’ is popular, almost universally accepted.
We have to question ourselves whether Indian English is as acceptable as ‘American English’
or ‘Australian’ for that matter.
According to Neelam Raj, a TNN reporter, David Crystal, a British linguist at the University
of Wales, recently projected that at about 350 million, the world's Hinglish speakers may
soon outnumber native English speakers. So what is behind its growing popularity? Firstly
Hinglish is the language of the Add world. Advertising guru Bharat Dabholkar, whose
Hinglish zingers for the Amul campaign became quite a hit says the "chutney" appeals to
everyone. "In India, English is aspirational and the use of the local language creates
empathy," he says. Little wonder that the bilingual banter has generated interest from
advertisers who love to use Hinglish and the perceived street authenticity that comes with it
to sell products.
Dabholkar, also called the Father of Hinglish language in India, uses Hinglish in ads. He
says, “I studied in a Marathi medium school and couldn't speak a word of English till I came
to college. For me, substituting a Marathi or Hindi word for an English one came naturally."
He faced criticism when he first used "hazaar times" in a campaign for Zenith computers long
ago. "People said I was spoiling the language but I am not in the business of language but the
business of communication." So we see that ‘Hinglish’ is a unifying force. An industry such
as Amul, which is well known for its witty one liners has posters hanging in cities all over the
whole country with sentences like: “Nano ya na maano” with the subtitle “Taste drive it”.
This of course refers to Tata Nano, the car. With this ad, Amul has taken a topical issue and
put it in an amusing context to sell their products. Isn’t this way advertising better as it
appeals to a larger audience? Many companies in India promote their products using a
mixture of Hindi and English to reach a larger number of potential customers. What is
indeed surprising is that even people abroad understand the minute nuances of ‘Hinglish.’

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Impact Factor 1.393, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 2, Issue 3, April 2014

This issue has been addressed to a number of times earlier. In a conference held at MICA,
this area was christened ‘Chutneyfying English’. The panel discussion focused on whether
the use of Hinglish meant the emergence of a new language or the decline of the original
languages. Experts acclaimed nationally and internationally gave their opinion on this issue.
All agreed that Hinglish was emerging strongly as language understood by a global audience.
Devyani Sharma lecturer at Queen Mary University of London said “Hinglish is spoken by
privileged people because they have knowledge of both languages, also by lower class people
because it their only mode of survival”. Thus we could put it in this way that Hinglish had the
potential to replace Hindi if it took over as a popular mode of communication. . Rahul
Kansal, chief marketing officer of ‘The Times of India’ said “When I was in college, there
were two distinct groups – the English speaking group and the Hindi speaking group, but now
I notice that the distinction is blurring and there is a clear coming together of the two that is
‘Hinglish. I feel that this is a great development.”
The contemporary generation of youngsters uses Hinglish even more than their mother
tongue. There are two variants of Hinglish; either you reshape the English syntax with Hindi
words or simply the other way round. Doing this you get unique phrases like: “I'm going to
for vaastu at a friend’s house yaar’ which basically means “I’m going to go for a house
warming ceremony at a friend’s house buddy”. For some it might be only a habit, for others it
is an opportunity to express themselves in the best possible way by using English words like
computer, cinema, phone etc. Hindi words for such words do exist but even native speakers
hardly use them.
The culinary world has also accepted Hinglish. The British and the American kitchens have
greedily embraced ‘Basmati’ ‘Chicken Tikka Masala’ ‘Indian curry’, ‘Bhindi Masala’ and so on.
Again though Hindi is (together with English) one of the two official languages of our
country, it is the mother tongue of only about one in five Indians. That is why English
continues to play an important role as a lingua franca among the Indians. A Sikh from Punjab
can communicate with a Tamil from South India using Hinglish. A conclusion could be that
Hinglish as a combination seems to be the easiest way to strike a balance between the two
languages. So in future we can hope keep on hearing phrases like: “Wow, lagtaa hai ki there
will be a chutti tomorrow”, “Mom brought us a lot of mithai yesterday.”
Even the latest edition of Collins English Dictionary offers some examples of words which
are globally accepted. Several distinctly Hindi words that form the vocabulary of a large
section of English-speaking Indians have been incorporated in this dictionary. They include
aunti- ji and uncle- ji, filmi (dramatic), kutta (dog) yaar (friend), Adda (local joint), langar

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Impact Factor 1.393, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 2, Issue 3, April 2014

(community eatery) and dicky (car) which have become official ‘English’ words. In a
statement the Dictionary has officially acknowledged the role of Hinglish in the evolution of
English. According to a statement by Collins, "the inclusion of Hinglish words in the
Dictionary marks an exciting development and a new phase of borrowing by English." This
denotes an amalgamation of cultures.
Thanks to Bollywood, the most lucrative and followed industry in India has now popularized
‘Hinglish’ even in the U.S, U.K and other countries in the western hemisphere.
Prasoon Joshi, who has penned some of the most beautiful songs like ‘Samjho Na, Naino Ki
Bhasha Piya’ or the ‘Taare Zamin Par’ and ‘Delhi-6’ songs in chaste Hindi, prefers to mix
English words for ‘Rang De Basanti’ — “Talli hoke girne se samjhi hamne gravity, ishq ka
practical kiya tab aayi clarity’ - it becomes obvious that creativity can take place even in this
genre. Addressing the issue Prasoon said “This is just a beginning. The ‘crosswordisation’ is
happening because people can relate or connect with it. The reason why hybrid literature is
emerging is perhaps due to a sense of urgency with the young generation today. Youth is not
averse to good words or language but it has no time for the more sophisticated, delicate
expressions.”
In a scene in Rang de Basanti (2006), a young man in contemporary Delhi, faced with a letter
which says, “Maine azaadi se shaadi kar li hai”, can only respond in bafflement. No one talks
like thi.“People in non-metropolitan centers in India do, but they are not the ones projected as
templates for modernity,” responds academic Rita Kothari in an essay published in the
anthology ‘Chutnefying English: The Phenomenon of Hinglish’. Not only are people who
“talk like this” perceived as ‘not modern’, to the young urban metropolitan upper middle
class, they are practically invisible.
We rarely say ‘Kya samay hua hai’ or ‘bike ki hawa nikal gayee’ or ‘vyavastha kar lenge’. It
sounds much colloquial when we say, ‘kya time hua hai’ or ‘bike puncture ho gayi’ or
‘manage kar lenge’. The idea of speaking full sentences in Hindi is now so anachronistic that
it automatically becomes funny. So much so that we create caricatures of people who do so.
The classic film of the yester years, ‘Chupke Chupke’ exhibits such a character with great
humour. ‘Om Praksh believes is speaking ‘Shudhh Hindi’ but loses his temper when he meets
a young Dharmendra who is worse (a better Hindi bhashi) than him. This is apparently
hilarious, not just within the upper middle class world of ‘Chupke Chupke’ – but also to
members of lower strata of society outside the family. For large numbers of speakers, Hindi
words for relationship terms, colors, left/right directions, parts of a house, garments, time and

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a vast number of items have been “all but displaced by their English equivalents,” argues
Professor Rupert Snell. It is definitely not due to lack of vocabulary in Hindi or any other
vernacular language but because we have absorbed English into our systems.
Whether it is a phrase like “Lock kiya jaaye” from Kaun Banega Crorepati, advertising
slogans like “Hungry kya?” or “Life bane jingalala”, ‘KitKat break banta hai’, or the title of
every second Bollywood film like ‘Love Aaj Kal’, ‘Jab We Met’, ‘Bheja Fry’, ‘International
Khiladi’....the list is endless. It is really heart-warming to hear even native speakers of
English speaking heavily accented Hindi in foreign channels telecasted for the Indian
audiences, which again reiterates the fact that Hinglish is acknowledged even abroad.
The puritans in both Hindi and English language believe that Hinglish curbs the identity of
the respective languages. But do we only have one fixed identity? I think we can step in and
out of different identities - and we can do the same with languages.
People might say this is my language, this is way it has always been. Well, it hasn't. Robert
Browning’s English was different from Shakespeare's English and Shakespeare's English was
different from Chaucer's. The evolution of language is never going to stop. Is it good to
corrupt any language? And what is the correct thing to do? ‘Correct’ keeps changing with
time. If Americans can speak American English, why can’t Indians speak Hinglish?
As George Orwell wrote in 1984, “the fewer words we have, the more restricted our thinking
becomes. With this in mind, I embrace the evolution and expansion of any language. Adding
words to your language, allows for more freedom of thought and expression.” Language
should be alive and to be alive, language has to grow. When something grows, it changes.
English is so rich because it has never been crystallized like German or French. As long as it
keeps growing and developing it will remain predominant as the most democratic language of
all. Hinglish really is a socially unifying force in a deeply stratified society, reducing the gap
between a once “hoity-toity English-speaking elite” and the “vernaculars” Wishing Hinglish
a long life filled with newer nuances.

REFERENCES
1. Article by Devyani Sharma: “HINGLISH MAKES ITS DEBUT IN ENGLISH
DICTIONARY” in ‘The Independent’, June 2005
2. Article by Neelam Raaj: “JAB WE SPEAK “in ‘The Times of India ‘, Jan 2009

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