Journey from a Keyboard to Published Page

On 6/1/10 10:40 PM, "Sudhir Jain" wrote:

Isaac Chotiner (Globish for beginners, May 31) exaggerates the
importance of English in India. Yes, among the elite classes all over the
country English is the more often used common language. But Hindi has taken over in bazaars, factories, low level jobs in offices and every place where average Indians congregate. On my recent visit to India I was surprised that people in Maharashtra and Karnataka preferred to talk to me in Hindi rather than in English. That is largely due to Bollywood – if most of your entertainment is in Hindi it doesn’t take long to become fluent in it, particularly when there are so many similarities with your mother tongue. While English has long beenthe important second language of the elite, it is Hindi that has taken over as the second language of the masses in non-Hindi areas of South and East India.

Sudhir Jain


From: "themail, TNY" , June 14, 2010 2:35 pm
Subject: Re: English in India
To: Sudhir Jain

Thank you for your recent letter to the editor. It is among those we are
considering for publication. We'd like to confirm that you wrote it, and that the preliminary edited copy below looks acceptable. We
think we've preserved your most salient point, while taking into account our limited space. Please let me know what you think as soon as possible, either by E-mail or by calling 212-286-5450. If your letter is one of our final selections, it will appear in the next issue. A quick response would be most appreciated. Thanks again.

Katherine Stirling
Letters editor

In his review of “Globish” by Robert McCrum, Isaac Chotiner
exaggerates the importance of English in India (Books, May 31st). Yes, among the elite classes all over the country English is the more often used common language. But Hindi has taken over in bazaars, factories, low level jobs in offices and every place where average Indians congregate. This is largely due to Bollywood: if most of your entertainment is in Hindi, it doesn’t take long to become fluent in it, particularly when there are so many similarities with your regional mother tongue. While English has long been the important second language of the elite, it is Hindi that has taken over as the second language of the masses in non-Hindi areas of South and East India.


On 6/14/10 4:55 PM, "SUDHIR JAIN" wrote:
Thank you for your message. I did write the letter and your editing enhances it. I will be happy to see it in print.
Thank you and best wishes..

Sudhir Jain

Dear Mrs.Jain:

Thank you for your recent Letter to the Editor to The New Yorker. I am a fact-checker and am writing to confirm the accuracy of fact-based assertions in the letter, as we do with all printed materials in the magazine. When you say that “Hindi has taken over in bazaars, factories, low-level jobs in offices...,” are you speaking from personal observation? Similarly, what is your source for “it is Hindi that has taken over as the second language of the masses in non-Hindi areas of South and East India”? Obviously, we permit personal opinion in these letters; it is protocol that we ask letter-writers their source of information.

We are hoping to go to press with the letters tomorrow. If you could get back to me at your earliest convenience, that would be wonderful. Thanks so much.

Best,
Jiayang Fan

On 6/15/10 5:25 PM, "SUDHIR JAIN" wrote:
Thank you for your enquiry.
My remarks are based on my observation in my travels all over India. Most 'ordinary' people started conversation with me in Hindi and had problems with English. I heard Hindi in the bazaars and public places much more often and English only rarely. Whenever I asked where they learnt Hindi, the answer was always the same - "From the 'films'." My wife is English and her Hindi is sketchy. Still, most of her conversation with 'people on the street' was in Hindi.
In my experience, even educated Indians have problems with American and British accents just as we do with theirs. I remember many embarassing incidents due to this problem during my first few months in England fifty years ago.
I hope this is satisfactory.
Best wishes.

Sudhir Jain


Hi Mr.Jain,

Thanks so much for your thorough response. That sounds fine. In the sentence “Hindi has taken over in bazaars, factories, low-level jobs...,” we have added an “it seems to me” (so it reads “Hindi, it seems to me, has taken over...”) just to indicate the element of personal observation.

Thanks again for writing!

Jiayang

Thank you very much for getting back to us about your letter. It will appear in the magazine that comes out Monday, June 21, with a cover date of June 28, 2010. Thanks again for your help.

Brenda Phipps

From The New Yorker, June 28, 2010
STRICTLY SPEAKING
Isaac Chotiner, in his review of “Globish,” by Robert McCrum, exaggerates the importance of English in India (Books, May 31st). Yes, among the élite classes all over the country English is the more often used common language. But I found, on a recent visit to India, that Hindi has taken over in bazaars, factories, low-level jobs in offices, and everywhere average Indians congregate. This is due largely to Bollywood: if most of your entertainment is in Hindi, it doesn’t take long to become fluent in it, particularly when there are so many similarities with your regional mother tongue. While English has long been the second language of the élite, it is Hindi that has taken over as the second language of the masses in non-Hindi areas of South and East India.

Sudhir Jain
Calgary, Alberta