Lost in translation

Irrfan Khan’s Hindi Medium perfectly sums up the colonial hangover we live with everyday. The film encapsulates a young couple’s struggle to get their daughter admitted in one of the top schools in Delhi. The catch, however, is that the husband (Irrfan) can’t speak in English, and therefore, find it next to impossible to clear the admission process. At one point in the film, Irrfan’s Raj says, “English isn’t just a language in India, it is a class and in order to get into that class, it is essential to get into a good school.”

Even today, knowing the English language is considered a privilege and a status symbol. In fact, even in metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Delhi, where one can build a life for themselves out of scratch, the language is a prerequisite for the first step.

Columnist Aakar Patel, on the other hand, has a different opinion. “It is not a status symbol, nor has it become one. But, it is a language, which the poor have almost no access to,” he says.

Backing up his statement with concrete data, Aakar elaborates that India has an extremely small pool of English speaking population. “Maybe just 2.5 per cent of the population can speak the English language as their first language. According to the latest Census, only one in ten people can communicate in some form of English. And this number includes your Uber and Ola drivers; not all, but many of them,  can only read the basics and make-do,” he says.

Anil Dharker, director of a literature festival in the city, also believes that the language no longer denotes a status symbol. “English is mainly seen as a functional language — even the domestic servant and drivers see the importance of education and the significance of English. It has become a global language. See, there are 2.5 per cent of the population who might be able to speak English and majority of those might be your vegetable sellers, domestic helpers, or drivers, who do not need to speak language, but have a basic understanding of it.”

While it is still largely arguable if the language is a status symbol anymore, one can’t disagree with the fact that it is a language has become a global module of communication. Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, director of Nil Battey Sannata, says that not knowing the language could cause someone to be out of the communication circle and that is something they don’t want. “There is no colonial hangover when it comes to knowing or not knowing English. It is the fear of not being a part of the system — the FOMO (fear of missing out), as kids call it these days,” she says. Recalling an instance where she portrayed this on the screen, she explains, “I had done a commercial for KBC years ago, where a boy from a small town gets admitted in a reputed college. But, is looked down upon because he doesn’t know how to speak English.”

That being said, the director also believes that knowing or not knowing the language doesn’t affect one’s climb up the ladder of success. “Look at Japan. They speak and write in Japanese and produce the highest number of inventions. For us, the way ahead is learning English and getting a better life — a job outside the country. For the common man, the section C of the society, the way to success is making their children go to an English medium school,” she concludes.