The Uptight Indian

Recently, I had to prepare some slides on Indianism for a speech club that I’m a member of. Coincidentally, around the time I was preparing the material for my slides, I came across this hilarious post via Twitter. I read it on my phone, had a good laugh and saved the link. Later, I was reading the same article at home, on the laptop and I happened to notice the comments (which weren’t visible on my phone due to some settings or whatever)The comments were really rude and angry and stated how the author of the post clearly had no idea about the English language (clearly he/she had a clearer idea than those who commented). Some were outraged and demanded what was wrong if some phrases from regional languages slipped into English. Their words (and I sort of quote) being “isn’t this how language evolves.”Yes, truly, cos “My bhains went charing ghaas this morning, no?” sounds as evolved as Darwin's theory about faeces-flinging chimps and fish that could blow heart-shaped bubbles!Now this wasn’t the case with just this article. I came across other articles about Indianism in language where the author has been verbally bashed by Indians defending their we-are-like-this-only-ness. Which brought me to my question – are Indians uptight about everything? Are they so deluded by their own sense of perfection that any attempts by anyone to point out a minor flaw bring about an avalanche of flak? Are they so tightly wound that they cannot handle a little self-deprecatory humor? If Russell Peters makes fun of the Chinese, he’s funny; if on the same show, a little later he pokes a little fun at the Indians, they fume from their nostrils and say “Somebody gonna get hurt real bad.” (and not in a funny way!)So really, loosen up, people. Laugh. If someone is pointing out minor flaws, take it or leave it, but stop bashing. And don’t call us angrez if we enjoy watching Hollywood movies over Shah Rukh Khan’s pout. Cos seriously, what’s up with that!
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