Introduction
English is a global language, and the fact has been reiterated by various studies conducted both in native and non-native countries. In India, English, since the British era, has dominated the domains of administration, business, higher education, science and technology and mass media. Post-Independence the visibility and functionality of English increased manifold. English is everywhere on the streets: from billboards to hoardings, from advertisements to road signs, English is omnipresent. Even for petty official works in places such as banks, post offices, hospitals, railway stations, bus depots, schools and colleges, English becomes indispensable.
Of late, it has become a fad in the Indian film industry to use a code-mixed variety of English to influence the audience. The genre of mixing English with the Indian languages is gaining popularity in both advertisement and film production. Ad makers and film producers do not shy away from distorting English for commercial benefits. Caricaturing through English has both advantages and disadvantages. It certainly adds to the amusement quotient of the product. Such blatant use and abuse of English invites fierce criticism from purists who are overly concerned about maintaining its purity (see Prator, Reference Prator, Fishman, Ferguson and Dasgupta1968 for a debate on ENL and ESL varieties). But what they fail to understand is that English, like other languages, has evolved over centuries. Thus, the English used by Shakespeare, Milton and Chaucer would starkly differ from the English of the 21st century. Ferdinand de Saussure, the famous Swiss linguist, remarked, ‘Time changes all things: there is no reason why language should escape this universal law’ (Saussure cited in Aitchison, Reference Aitchison2001: 5).
Talking about the debate between purists and liberals, one needs to examine why the former disapprove of alterations in their languages, and why they are so convinced of the decline in the quality of their languages induced by exogenous sources (Aitchison, Reference Aitchison2001). It was found by Aitchison that much of the discomfort exhibited by purists over language change was based on social-class prejudice. Similarly, for the purists, real English is different from the English used by non-native societies. Further, even among the non-native users of English, class-based variation is perceptible in language usage. Thus an individual hailing from an upper class is quite likely to be using English as his/her L1 or L2, depending upon the frequency of English usage. By contrast, individuals from a lower class are less likely to be familiar with an elaborated code of English. It is quite probable that they would be able to comprehend only a few commonly used English words, e.g., ‘thank you’, ‘sorry’, ‘reservation’, ‘station’, ‘late’, ‘fast’, ‘slow’, ‘drive’, etc. which have become part of their linguistic repertoire.
Mixing of languages is an age-old phenomenon, and often it leads to language change. The use of foreign words becomes so frequent that gradually the words undergo the process of nativisation and become acclimatised to the host language. English in India, over the years, has become embedded in the linguistic repertoire of the natives. On a cline of bilingualism, Indian speakers of English can range from exhibiting native-like proficiency to having functional knowledge of English. Various studies have established that with regard to English, alterations at the morphological and phonological levels are more frequent than at the syntactical level (Kachru, Reference Kachru1983; Baumgardner, Reference Baumgardner1993). Given the limited exposure to the English language, speakers from lower social strata, i.e., the subalterns, react to the problem of linguistic deficiency by mixing some familiar English words with their L1. (Though borrowed from the Gramscian concept of ‘subaltern’, the term has a slightly different and figurative connotation in this essay. Subaltern, here, refers to the socially deprived sections of the Indian society who have no, or limited, access to the formal educational institutions and to prestigious white collar jobs, and for whom the English language symbolises modernity, elitism and prestige.) It seems that these subalterns derive pleasure and satisfaction by using English-mixed words such as ‘merii mrs’ my wife or missus, ‘driveri ka kaam’ job of driver, ‘college ki pardhaii’ college-education, etc.
Mixing with English has resulted in Englishisation of indigenous languages (Kachru, Reference Kachru1986). Non-native users of English tend to borrow heavily from their native codes or languages. English, then, gets influenced by its users, as can be seen from the corpus of work produced in recent times across the globe. The phenomenon of Englishisation is in constant flux (Chaudhary, Reference Chaudhary2009). Both the foreign and indigenous languages appear to be in a symbiotic relation, impacting each other at various levels and in varying degrees. Therefore, the purists who seem to be concerned about so-called ‘impurities’ creeping into the English language fail to realise the fact that even the purity of indigenous languages is influenced by their contact with the English language. Nevertheless, code-mixing with English in India has become the latest trend, irrespective of the debates touching upon the decline in the quality of English. In the recent past, the Indian film and television industry has been constantly experimenting with code-mixing. The phenomenon of code-mixed lyrics has witnessed a meteoric rise, not only in Bollywood movies but also in regional films. Admittedly, it is through these informal avenues, i.e., films, ads and songs, that English, otherwise a language of the elites, reaches the masses, albeit in a code-mixed and nativised form.
In this paper, I have tried to deconstruct one such song, which became a ‘rage’ within weeks of its release. Kolaveri di, a song from the Tamil movie ‘Three’, broke all records of popularity within weeks of its official release. Besides, the song also holds the distinction of being the only one to have mesmerised the people of North India, where Tamil is generally incomprehensible. Another aspect of the song that I examine in the paper is its popularity among the subalterns or the masses, who barely know English. In the later part of the essay, some speculations are made regarding the form and function of this newer, code-mixed variant of English. Does Kolaveri di, then, usher in the arrival of subalterns' English, where the conventional rules of grammar can be defied? Experimentation with the English language for a variety of purposes is not a new development. But what remains to be seen is the impact that such experiments have on the masses.
English: elites' language
The English language in India, since the nineteenth century, has been an important avenue of upward mobility and social advancement (Mahmood, Reference Mahmood1895; Khan, Reference Khan1970; Fishman, Reference Fishman and Kachru1996; Kachru, Reference Kachru1996). The colonised population realised the importance of the Queen's language, and strove to become proficient in it so as to appropriate the benefits accruing from proficiency in English. The British, on the other hand, through English language education, wanted the natives to absorb English morals, without directly placing European religion in conflict with Indian religions (Vishwanathan, Reference Vishwanathan1989). With the passing of Wood's Despatch in 1854, emphasis was placed on creating an English-educated middle class which would serve the imperialist economy and administration. The natives found in English education an avenue to rise above their social stations. But English, being an expensive and scarce resource, was beyond the reach of a large section of the Indian population. Only those who had enough resources to afford English education could think of acquiring it. Thus, the dissemination of English education was uneven, limited only to the elite section of Indian society.
By and large, English education was an urban phenomenon and remained elusive for rural India. After six decades of independence, many believe that the role of English as a language has remained divisive and has only helped perpetuate the centrist development discourse (Dasgupta, Reference Dasgupta1993). Further, the role of educational institutions in reproducing and perpetuating language-based inequalities cannot be overlooked (Faust and Nagar, Reference Faust and Nagar2001). Most government schools have regional languages as the medium of instruction, while, on the other hand, private schools usually are English-medium schools. Aware of the steadily worsening quality of regional-medium government schools, most well-to-do families send their children to private English-medium schools. It is only the poor who, due to financial difficulties, send their children to government schools run mostly in the regional medium. Such a dual system of pedagogy reinforces the ruptures created by English-medium education, and marginalises those who are educated in regional-medium schools. In addition, at the tertiary level, the medium of instruction is mostly English. Given the inevitability of English in professional and specialised courses, employability has become a function of proficiency in the English language. These days, finding a prestigious job without being proficient in English is nearly impossible.
Thus English language in general engineers social fracturing, distinctly delineating the centre, i.e. English speakers, from the periphery, i.e. the non-English-speakers. However, given its increasing pervasiveness in more and more social spaces and its enhanced visibility through films, advertisements, television and print media, English has made inroads into remote rural areas, albeit in rudimentary forms. Television and films have helped change the world view of rural India to a great extent, especially post-liberalisation.
Code-mixing
Code-mixing is a process in which two or more languages are mixed to achieve a specific purpose. The purpose of code-mixing, according to Hudson (Reference Hudson1999: 53), is to produce a ‘linguistic cocktail’ of more than one language in a situation where neither of the languages on its own would be appropriately sufficient. It is an innovative process where the linguistic vibrancy of both the languages is maintained, and can happen at levels of syntax, morphology and lexicon. It can happen within a sentence, i.e., at the intra-sentential level, or between sentences, i.e. inter-sentential code mixing.
In recent times, studies have found that code-mixing English with indigenous languages enhances the aesthetics of artistic expressions in the entertainment industry (Bhatia, Reference Bhatia1987; Kachru, Reference Kachru2006, among others). For instance, in Tamil advertisements, English is code-mixed to virtually hypnotise consumers and to make them believe they are a part of the modern world (Krishnasamy, Reference Krishnasamy2007). In the Indian film industry, mixing with English is done both in dialogues and in lyrics to achieve humorous and satirical effects. The humour element is inherent in the way English is perceived by the masses. It has always been associated with power and prestige, and regarded as the language of the elites. The subalterns, on the other hand, have envied the elites' fluency in English. Most likely they want to imitate the elites, but due to the limitations inherent in their social status they are unable to do so. Also, due to their linguistic limitations and restricted code in English, these subalterns speak English which is far removed from the standard variety. Their English may comprise a few lexical items, with a distorted grammar. To a speaker of ‘proper’ English, these not-so-fluent individuals may appear to be stupid. On the contrary, the song Kolaveri di, with its non-standard English, became a hit even among the speakers of Standard English.
Kolaveri di: a subalterns' English song
Over the past few months the whole of India invariably seemed to be humming the tune of Kolaveri di, a code-mixed song from a Tamil film. The song has set new records in terms of being the largest downloaded song. What is so distinct about the song is its popularity in the non-Tamil regions of India, especially in the northern part of India. In the annals of popular film music, Kolaveri di is the only song to have become equally popular among the Hindi-music lovers. This popularity could be gauged from the fact that, apart from the original song, there are innumerable regional versions being played in social and festive gatherings. According to media sources, Kolaveri di has become popular in Japan, the USA, the UK and many other countries.
The song is written and sung by the lead actor, Dhanush. Aniruddh Ravi Chandran, the music director, is barely 24 years old. Everything about this song is unique, but the most striking thing is the lyrics. The lyrics, code-mixed with Tamil and English, were completed in 20 minutes and the tune was composed in 10 minutes. Within a week of the official release of the video, on 16 November 2011, the song received more than 3.5 million views on YouTube and more than 1 million shares on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
The popularity of the song is unprecedented in the history of Indian music, both pop and folk. In recent times, mixing lyrics in two or more languages has become a widespread practice. Code-mixed songs tend to be more attractive for the younger generation, who find them relatively easy to connect with. Fusion music is something that the MTV generation vouches for. Kolaveri di is an example of code-mixed song that successfully mesmerised music lovers beyond linguistic borders. For any music lover, the most intriguing question is how and why the song became so popular. The answer to the question lies in the lyrics of the song.
Deconstructing the song
Primarily, Kolaveri di is an example of code-mixed song of Tamil and English, where more than 90% of the lyrics are in English. The connotative meaning of Kolaveri in Tamil refers to rage or anger. Examining the lyrics of the song, one finds that Kolaveri di is merely a congregation of English and Tamil words. Despite grammatical inadequacies, the verses make sense and are appealing even to a non-Tamil audience.
Conventionally, songs are written with syntactical coherence because they form an integral part of Indian movies, and are often substituted for dialogues. One would find the verses in mainstream Indian songs to have the proper sequence of subject-verb agreement. Rarely would there be any failure of subject-verb agreement. But in the last few years, the face of Indian film music has witnessed great transformation. Western genres of music such as funk, jazz, rap, hip-hop and rock have had an immense influence on Indian movie-songs. As a result, a whole new genre of fusion music is born in which melody and harmony are de-emphasised and the lyrics comprise a random use of words, which may end in repetitions. Pop music, as the name suggests, aims at appealing to the masses. The lyrics of pop songs are unusual and may lack artistic depth. Yet popular music is successful in mesmerising the audience. Its popularity could be attributed to unusual lyrics, eccentric musical beats and satirical messages caricaturing the real world.
Kolaveri di opens with ‘Yo boys’, which reflects the influence of western hip-hop. The rest of the lyrics in the first verse are in English, with only ‘kolaveri di’ being an exception. The beauty of the verse lies in the use of verbs in each sentence. The verbs are not inflected for tense, e.g. ‘I am sing a song’, yet the sentences are comprehensible. Another unique feature of the song is the innovative application of words with varied connotations. For instance, ‘soup song’ refers to a sad song, which derives its meaning from the phrase ‘in the soup’, which means to be in an unpleasant or difficult situation. ‘Flop song’ refers to the song for people who are unsuccessful in love relations. Mixing of Tamil vowels in English utterances in the next verse is indicative of the influence of Tamil on English. Words such as ‘moon’, ‘night’, ‘colour’, ‘black’, ‘white’ are pronounced with stress on the suffix [u] and they take the form ‘moon[u]’, ‘night[u]’, ‘colour[u]’, ‘black[u]’, ‘white[u]’. In the remaining verses too, words end in short vowels, with Tamil intonation.
Distinctive features of the song, e.g. the absence of verbs, prepositions and other grammatical elements, are maintained throughout, though exceptions are found towards the end (see lines 48 and 49). Despite its grammatical limitations, the message of a heart-broken lover is successfully conveyed through the song. For instance, through lines 11, 12, 13, and 14, the lover expresses the fact that the moon, which is white, is at a distance. Here the figurative connotation is the metaphorical use of the moon, which symbolises his beloved. Out of desperation, the lover mocks at the temperament of girls, which is generally unpredictable. The destitute lover exposes his inner feelings through the song. He became attracted towards the fair skin of his beloved, little noticing that she had a shrewd heart. It was love at first sight, a hastily forged alliance which was doomed to be a failure. Line 23 has two Tamil words. ‘Mamaa’ is a slang term that alludes to buddy/dude, ‘eduthuko’ means to have or to take. He asks his musician friend to take notes, but he cannot, as his hands are engaged. He is holding snacks in his hands. In line 26, the lover further confirms from his musician friend whether the music is proper or not. It seems he is happy with the way the music has turned out. Line 33 has two words, one each from Tamil and English. The Tamil utterance is not held in appreciation and the lover reverts to ‘only English’ in line 34. The subaltern wants to sing an English song, notwithstanding its grammatical inappropriateness. As a result, line 35 has two English words, and so does line 36. The lover laments that life has become meaningless for him since the beloved left.
In line 42, the use of ‘bow’ primarily is to maintain the rhythmic pattern. However, it could mean that the beloved, in the good old days, taught him how to tie a bow. He then swears by the ‘holy cow’, and wonders how the beloved could be happy when he himself is unable to bear the pain of separation. Lines 48 and 49 are the only exception in the whole lyrics, where rules of grammar are followed. Thus, having sifted through the lyrics of Kolaveri di, it can be said that so-called ‘correct’ English is constantly undergoing change. These variants of English may be ‘far removed from the original, and far more accessible to the Indian population than the correct English over which the elite claims proprietorial rights’ (John, Reference John2007: 19).
Conclusion
The popularity of Kolaveri di, a Tanglish (Tamil + English) song, is unprecedented in the history of Indian music. It has not only transcended regional and linguistic boundaries but has also evolved as the English of the subalterns, the ‘soup boys’. Many attribute the popularity of Kolaveri di to its unusual lyrics, where English is used innovatively, making it comprehensible even to non-Tamil and non-English speaking audiences.
English, over the last few decades, has become omnipresent and thus, to a large extent, inevitable. In urban centres, English has witnessed a meteoric rise in terms of usage. According to Montaut (Reference Montaut, Hasnain and Chaudhary2010), this could primarily be due to Business Outsourcing by developed countries, and others where English happens to be their native language. English is now the second most widely used language in India (Government of India, 2001). Proficiency in English is a requisite pre-condition even for frontline jobs in hospitality, tourism, airlines, banking and marketing (Graddol, Reference Graddol2010). Even those who have not been to English-medium schools join coaching centres to hone their skills in English. Proficiency in English depends on exposure and motivation to learn it. By contrast, rural areas still do not have proper access or exposure to English language skills. However, it is through the electronic media that English reaches them in a rather rudimentary form. The rural subalterns pick up a few words in English, and through frequent usage these words become naturalised in the rural lexicon.
Many studies have discussed newer varieties of English proliferating in non-native-speaking societies, but none has touched upon the English spoken by the subalterns. How different is their English from the standard English and why is it different? Such queries can be raised and addressed only when we acknowledge the fact that such English does exist and is intelligible. One can argue that the liberty of subverting grammatical rules can only be taken in poetry and not in prose. But even in poetry, if messages can be conveyed without the conventional use of grammar, should we then assume that a newer variant of English has arrived, with minimal use of grammar?
Lyrics of Kolaveri di
Glossary
- Tamil
English
- Kolaveri
rage/torment/hatred
- Di
babe/girl/dude
- Mamaa
dude/brother/friend
- Sariyaa vaasi
play music properly
- Kaiyla
hand
- Edhuthuko
to take/to have
RAFIA KAZIM has a doctorate in Sociology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India. She did her MPhil at Delhi School of Economics. Her areas of interest are gender studies, educational and health status of the underprivileged sections of the Indian society. She has worked for the improvement of the educational status of Muslim women in Delhi and conducted collaborative research on the implications of Islamic jurisprudence for Muslim women in Delhi on their rights to property. Currently, she is a freelance researcher based in Hyderabad, India. Her present study is based on the acquisition of the English language by Muslim women. Email: rafiakazim@gmail.com
