'We speak Indlish - and we're proud of it'
Young Indians readily embrace the charming variant of the language

NEW DELHI - It has taken decades of struggle, but more than half a century after the British departed from India, standard English has finally followed. Young, educated Indians regard the desire to speak English as it is spoken in England as a silly hang-up from a bygone era.

Homegrown idiosyncracies have worked their way into the mainstream to such an extent that only fanatical pursuits question their usages.

Now Penguin, the quintessentially British publishing house, has put the nearest thing to an official authority on the result by producing a collection of some of the most colourful phrases in use - in effect, a dictionary of what might be called "Indlish".

Its title, Entry From Backside Only, refers to a phrase commonly used on signposts to indicate the rear entrance of a building. Author Binoo John said young Indians are embracing the variant of the language as a charming offspring of the mingling of English and Hindi, rather than an embarrassing mongrel.

"Economic prosperity has changed attitudes towards Indian English," said Mr John. "Having jobs and incomes, and being noticed by the rest of the world, have made Indians confident - and the same confidence has attached itself to their English."

The 50-year-old journalist said he was inspired by the success of Lynn Truss' guide to punctuation, Eats, Shoots & Leaves, and by years of reading newspaper reports of politicans "air-dashing" to a destination "issueless" couples (those without children) and people "preponing" (bringing forward) meetings.

But such phrases are entrenched. Housemaids on their way to buy vegetables say that they are going "marketing". Receptionists ask callers, "What is your good name?" before informing them the boss has gone "out of station" (out of town) with his "cousin-brother" (male cousin).

An official urged farmers in Rajastan to grow "herbs in their backsides" (backyards).

"Everyone is breaking the rules and being creative about how to use English," said Ms Rukmini Bhaya Nair, English professor at Delhi's Indian Institute of Technology, "It is finally claimed by Indians as their own, instead of a relic of the Raj."

Despite the changes, English has enjoyed phenomenal popularity over the past decades. The ability to speak standard English can transform the lives of the impoverished - leading to a better job, a rich spouse, a more exciting social life and social superiority.

Couples who live on less than 25 pence (76 cents) a day will skip a meal to pay for their children to attend a school where they will be taught English. The English-teaching industry is estimated to be worth 150 million pounds ($450 million).

For the better off, fluent English and a "good" accent convey status faster than titles, names, addresses or offshore bank accounts.

A 1997 survey by India Today magazine estimated that about a third of the country's population of more than 1 billion could carry a conversation in English.

Columnist Anjali Puri said pride in Indian English also stemmed from the success of writers such as Arundhati Roy, Vikram Seth and Salman Rushdie. "These writers have used English to portray Indian reality and it has given people the confidence to try out new words and play around with the language without being scared about whether they are correct."

But employers in India complain that the standard of English is so abysmal that recruits cannot write a sentence without three grammatical mistakes. One call centre executive in Mumbai said a recruit wrote and email that began: "I am in well here and hope you are also in the same well." - THE TELEGRAPH