If I had a dollar for each time I am asked this question,
I would undoubtedly be a rich person
“How did you learn to speak English so well?”
“So you grew up in India? From your accent I couldn’t tell..”
Many hours I have spent trying to formulate
The best, most succinct reply- I estimate
That no one wants to hear what I have to say
Still, having been reminded of my foreignness, I say something anyway
*
I tell them how we are expected to be
At least bilingual in my parent country
I tell them that many Indians are in English fluent
Despite enunciating words with an accent
I cannot refrain from adding the statistic though
Eighty percent of English teachers world over are not native speakers, you know
*
What I do not say is penned down here
The sentiment is too strong to be expressed easily, I fear-
I am the product of a past inexorably ingrained
In colonialism, many effects of which have not waned
With the passage of time, such as the English language
That permeates the consciousness of those colonized even in this age
Everyone has a desire to imbibe the culture dominant
That belongs to the oppressor, the unexpressed intent
Is to find a way to snatch back the self-esteem
That was lost in colonization and that needs to be redeemed
Therefore we learn English, and learn it well too
It’s the language of success, at least we believe that is true..
Passion...unbridled 