Language is something we use every day. It is essential to our everyday lives. In India there are so many languages that choosing which language one needs to communicate has become a part of everyday life. In a single day, an Indian may use four or more languages. Indians can become linguists by the time they reach college, and still not be able to speak to their fellow Indian citizens. Whereas, in the United States we may learn a second language for three or four years and forget it by college graduation due to lack of use.

Just because English is the national language in India doesn't mean that's what everyone speaks. A student may use English in school, Hindi to catch an Auto (three-wheeled taxi), Telugu in the market, Tamil with the family, and Bengali with a friend. Big cities like Hyderabad attract people from every nook and cranny of India, resulting in a melting pot of languages. Hence, people who come from different areas may not be able to understand one another, even in terms of dialect. A Northern Indian who speaks Hindi may not understand a Southern Indian who speaks the same language.

Even so, the mix of Indian languages is a part of everyday conversation. Indians are constantly incorporating Hindi or another language into their English, making speech almost like a puzzle where all varieties of words are put together. Another aspect of this situation is that only the upper and middle class really only speak English, whereas the lower classes may know the state language and Hindi. In America, all that Americans may do is imitate the "southern drawl," or a New York accent, and so on, but throughout America, English is universal no matter what class or social standing one has.

Even with the ongoing confusion of languages, the people of India find ways to work around it by learning two or three languages used where they live. They accept it as a part of life and acknowledge it as part of the complexity and uniqueness of their culture that sets it apart from others. India's diversity in languages represents the vastness of cultures and traditions, which is something a place like America can't give.

Namaste,
Anne