Thursday 28 October 2010

The 'Accented' Indian

THE BELOW THOUGHTS ARE MY PERSONAL VIEWS ONLY ABOUT A CERTAIN SECTION.PLEASE DO NOT BE OFFENDED BY THEM.ANY RESEMBLANCE TO ANY PERSON,LIVING OR DEAD, IS PURELY CO-INCIDENTAL. :-)

It is not very difficult to guess the kind of people I am talking about. As a part of my job, I meet various people from other departments. I know nothing about them except their name. I schedule a meeting and meet them. In one of such meetings I had to meet an Indian guy. Glad to see the name, I thought finally some person with whom I might be talking freely right from the first moment. This guy comes in and introduces himself. He looks perfectly Indian till he opens his mouth and speaks his name and i go like what the hell!! What went wrong with his tongue. Can he not pronounce his name properly? Has he forgotten how is it pronounced in India? And he has been in USA for just 10 years.

And you get plenty of such people here. I call them the 'Accented' Indian. These are people who fake the accents to sound more American.Its disgusting when they stoop so low that they stop saying their names properly. Now 10 years here and 30 years in India, which accent should you probably have? You know the best part about Americans and worst part about Indians is that they do what they want and we do what 'they' want. They talk English in an accent which would sound so different from the actual British English. They pronounce most of the words in a different manner. An Englishman would probably laugh his guts out if he hears them talk. He does not do so cause he comes from a place with a culture that respects humans. I can understand Indians trying to fake accent as we need to mingle with them. But Why do we have to change the pronunciation of our name? Its a proper noun. As per the dictionary, a proper noun can be pronounced in the way you want it.

As far as my experience with Americans go, they make me repeat my name 10 times and they repeat it after me to get it right. They would always call you with the right pronunciation that you teach them. But still we have the accented Indians who will avoid it. And who are these guys? They are people who could not make it big in our country. I agree we have conditions that are tough and that's why a few people can make it big. It takes alot of efforts and skill to rise to the top back in India. They chose the easy way out. They know they are not probably skilled enough to make the kind of money they make here in India as easily as they do it here. I call you guys' Losers'. We have people who come here and be what they are and go back. They know they are useful enough that others would tolerate their ways and the way they speak.

Now back in India, I come from a convent educated school. we are taught fluent English but we speak UK English. We Indians speak more pure English than other Europeans and Americans. But guess what, rather than being proud about it, we change the way we pronounce our name. That's desperation to its limits. No matter how hard a Jewish or German name is, no matter what the french pronounce, they will make sure they are pronounced properly. But the lack of dignity in us makes us do things that others will not. I know a few students coming here and then decide to settle here cause they find the work culture better here. Well lets put it straight, they know they are not skilled enough for my country. They cannot survive in the fiercely competitive Indian work culture where survival of the fittest is the key.But to be a part of American culture, you may please pronounce a few words so that the common American understands you but at least get your names right.And to add on to this concept of making them understand what we speak, All the BPOs in India teach their employees to talk in American accent. The fact is none do after they are on job. They use their accent only when they talk to their friends. And I know this for sure as I have a few of my calls routed from other countries to the BPOs back in India.

We talk about India becoming the next super-power. We can with the kind of technology we have and the speed in which we are going ahead. But to make us a super power we also need to have the attitude of being one. We lack it big time. The number of people dying to settle abroad is so huge in certain parts of my country that I am ashamed. Mr Narayan Murthy had to say that young people should not look towards IT as an opportunity to settle abroad. I appreciate him coming ahead and saying this. We need alot more people doing it.

I know alot of people would not agree to my views here. But that's just me. A guy who is proud of his culture and has different ways in life. But with disgust I would appeal to all the people wishing to settle here and the ones settled abroad already. If you cannot pronounce your names right, better change it. We are as ashamed of you guys who portray Indians as desperate wannabes as you are of the country that made you capable of relocating yourself to a better environment. So to all those 'fakers' I say, get some self respect.

Jai Hind!!

12 comments:

  1. I am sorry kapil...i dont agree with your point of view...I am too a convent eduacated girl..i know what is taught n how....u may have ur thinking and every1 else has its own..one has to be open minded n not close...there is alwayz a positive side to everything...cant write all my thoughts here...we both think differently...but yess iam too pround to be an Indian and the same time have the mind to adapt things as they come in life...

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  2. As i have said, not many would agree to my views. Adapatation to a point where you need to change your names prononciation just to make it easy for the people you want to be a part of, is spineless

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  3. Kapil, I read your thoughts here, but I will not agree that you calling these guys are fakers or losers. they are definately not. if there is a simpler way to get the things, why go harder way. the meaing is if you get an opportunity here very easily and which is more benefitial why should i go the hard way ? If someone gets good salary, good workenvironemnt, no micromanagement, deciplined work hours, safe travel home, gets time to spend with family then why one should think abt other options ? you can call it as selfishness then who is not selfish ? about calling name with Accent i think what should matter most is ease of communication and sending the message across, some one has said "What's there in name ?..". You can definetly try to help others pronounce our name properly but if one cannot then adopt to whatever is comfortable. again the approach is go simpler way.....I think we take the approach of culture and sanskar when we cant digest certain things...so i think your approach is also one of it...if you cant digest the fact people changing their names..let it be...why bring culture in middle of it.....i myself tell my name as "James" in starbucks..coz i don't want to spend more time explaining my name is and then spell it for him and then when calls it something different i wont understand that it's for me..so again..go simpler way buddy....:)..dont take it to your heart...it needs to store lot of information...this is tiny...:)

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  4. Hey Umesh, Ya right..selfishness is a part of human nature. But when it makes us fall below certain levels it is not justified. and Mr james, giving a pseudo name is fine in starbucks but if whats in the name, next time try giving the credit for your work to the name of kapil gosain. And i did mention that if people wish to take the easy way out, they can but lets keep the names and self respect intact. remember proper nouns..next time try calling an american 'juan' as 'jon' and you would feel the difference.. :-)

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  5. Dekh dost... Some points I agree while others are your point of view which you cannot force on anyone or vice or versa.

    Lets start here, a guy stayed in America for 10 years. You think its not much but for me it is more than enough to change at least the accent. See 30 yrs lived in India doesn't mean he should not take up American accent for another 30 yrs. It depends on last few years where he spent. If it is in Amarica then it is quiet possible to aquire that accent.
    Also I am sure that the guy doesn't aquire the accent as soon as he lands in America. It is the tendency of human brain to remember things as it comes to it. As the person starts working in american working culture and atmosphere, like you comes across many people over the months and years. Maximum of these must be American. So the mind takes up that accent.

    Now, again even if a person tries to avoid the american accent, it will depend from person to person how far can one stay avoiding it. I believe a guy like you will avoid the accent for longer time (may be years) but that doesn't mean everyone can. This goes down to the ability of an individual.
    Other than that, I agree that the compromize on pronouncing the name is not acceptable. I do make people say my name several times till they get it right. They start with Parshr or Prashr and after 10 odd times they come to Parashar.

    Lets talk about people coming down and settling in America. A taxi driver in India will not earn as much as a taxi driver in US or Canada. Say only person in family has all financial responsiblities. It will be more easier for him to drive taxi in US or Canada and send 4 times the money that he will earn in India. And this will be after his own expenses in US. Same could be with any guy in other trades, like engineer/ technician/ electrician/ and so on... So taking up American job for betterment of his family is selfishness for his family's well being. Thats ok for me, again this depends on ones perspective. This will change when Indian rupee will be stronger than USD.

    I believe, no one wants to leave their country unnecessarily. All this perople will not leave their country if they are paid enough as per their talent. But many move out beacuse fo politics and corruption within the organization as well.

    Changing this aspect of our nation will not happen over night, right? Also the poor people cannot change it and the richer will not do it. Only perople who will do this is the middle class people who are striving to come up in life preserving their upbringing in the race of competition.

    Finally, we talk about all these things. But we put our perspective on paper. Even if you try to think or look into any situation from third person's point of view, still you won't feel that urge or restlessness or necessity unless you are in same shoes.

    Well, I respect my culture and am proud of my nation as well. Also after a year in Canada I (or my mind) hasen't given up yet to aquire this accent. I hope you've noted that I did not change the spelling of words like compromize to compromise... ;)

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  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. Every person has different views.. U r right!!!! but at some points people may not agree..

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  8. Hey para..i agree to a certain level .But faking an accent is not uncommon in Indians. And a proper noun, ur name, which was pronounced coreectly for 30 years in India suddenly changes; is not acceptable. The dictionary clearly says that there is no accent for proper nouns.
    I agree people can be selfish to a certain point for the well being of their family. But then lets agree to the fact that they migrated cause they could not hit it big in india and i am talking about the educated lot.its just the ease right. the mindset needs to change.
    Appreciate your writing

    @bhavna: thanks for the comment

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  9. I totally agree with you on the name pronunciation aspect of the post. No one should at any point of time allow mispronunciation of ones identity i.e. his/her name. When they (Americans) in India do not allow us to either mis-spell or mispronunciation why should we allow it at the cost of our respect & esteem.

    Taking up American accent is sometimes a necessity more than need & showoff. So faking the accent is acceptable depending on the situations & circumstances.

    Also agree to some extent on the migration of the educated lot but still its a very subjective issue. But for the uneducated or the blue colored class taking up American jobs is compulsion & need of time for them considering (their) the circumstances in India.

    Coming to the writing & the post aspect now... I should say the post is excellently, amazingly written & I appreciate it big time...
    Again one of the good posts of your blog although subjectivity is a prospect.

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  10. I totally agree with you on the name pronunciation aspect of the post. No one should at any point of time allow mispronunciation of ones identity i.e. his/her name. When they (Americans) in India do not allow us to either mis-spell or mispronunciation why should we allow it at the cost of our respect & esteem.

    Taking up American accent is sometimes a necessity more than need & showoff. So faking the accent is acceptable depending on the situations & circumstances.

    Also agree to some extent on the migration of the educated lot but still its a very subjective issue. But for the uneducated or the blue colored class taking up American jobs is compulsion & need of time for them considering (their) the circumstances in India.

    Coming to the writing & the post aspect now... I should say the post is excellently, amazingly written & I appreciate it big time...
    Again one of the good posts of your blog although subjectivity is a prospect.

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  11. Hey Kapil, was just going through your blog. You have got pretty strong opinions. :)

    I would agree with you that it's plain stupid to change you name (whether actually or accentually), but then I would say that the accent does get affected a bit. I was in US for 2-3 months and by the time my tenure there ended, I had picked up a slight accent (which got cured when I came back :) ). But the point is like, like Para mentioned above, our minds get attuned to what we hear frequently. I know people from different countries living here who have lost their accents after staying here.

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  12. Hey Kapil... it's Mary (didn't want to take the time to create an account..sorry)

    I just want to say that after reading this, I now understand why it is that after sitting next to you at work for 8 or so months I have began to say things with an Indian accent!

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