Indian literature

Peter (Moderator) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jul 27, 2007, 23:03:

Man Tequila says on Jul 27, 2007, 23:16:

Wikipedia has a great article on Indian English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_English

A sampler...

batchmate or batch-mate (Not classmate, but a schoolmate of the same grade)

cousin-brother (male first cousin) & cousin-sister (female first cousin); used conversely is one's own brother/sister (of one's parent, as opposed to uncle or aunt; English brother/sister): most Indians live in extended families and many do not differentiate even nominally between cousins and direct siblings.

crore (ten million) and lakh (one hundred thousand)

Dicky/dickey the boot of a car

Double-confirm for re-confirm or just confirm.

eve teasing (catcalling - harassment of women)

foot overbridge (bridge meant for pedestrians)

godown (warehouse)

godman somewhat pejorative word for a person who claims to be divine or who claims to have supernatural powers

gully to mean a narrow lane or alley (from the Hindi word "gali" meaning the same).
Himalayan blunder (grave mistake)

nose-screw or nose-ring (woman's nose ornament)

opticals (eyeglasses)

pass-out to graduate from college

to prepone (to advance, literally the opposite of 'postpone').

Ragging for fagging(UK)/hazing(US).

In tension for being concerned or nervous

time pass or timepass to mean something that is good enough for killing time. For example, "The movie was not great, but timepass".

updation (used in out-sourcing to mean to update something, as in "I've completed the updation".)

upgradation (commonly used in business communication instead of 'upgrade')

villi used for villainess, especially in South India.

would-be (fiancé/fiancée)

Slang words used in Indian English

The words below are not generally used in formal Indian English. These are mainly used by the younger generation and may not be used or understood by older English speakers in India.

arbit (a slang term and short for arbitrary. Can be used to mean "vague", "random" or "bad". e.g.: "What an arbit ending that movie had!" Used primarily by college students in the metros. It is pronounced either as "arbitt" or "arbid", usuall with equal stress on both syllables)

funda short for fundamental. Refers to the background behind a concept - "I can't understand the funda of compactness!", "He explained the funda of Newton's Law of Cooling". Used almost exclusively by college students in large cities, esp. Delhi and Mumbai.

enthu, a short form for 'enthusiasm' or 'enthusiastic'. For example, 'He has a lot of enthu'.

'Shag' in Indian English means 'to masturbate' as opposed to the International usage of the word meaning 'to have sexual intercourse with'.

"Deadly", "hi-fi", "sexy" are used in idiomatic ways as adjectives. Deadly means intense, "hi-fi" stylish or beyond the perception of the average person and "sexy" excellent or extremely cool. Examples are "That movie was deadly, yaar; what an action scene!", "Your shoes are hi-fi. Where'd you get them?" and "That's a sexy car, man!"

"Propose", to ask out on a date. Unlike Western usage, it does not imply marriage.

Aunque no me creas/ si me lo propongo/ lograre olvidarte/ porque a fin de cuentas/ no soy tan cobarde./ Y termino todo una de estas tardes/ no sera dificil buscar algún sitio donde refugiarme/ donde nunca mas vuelvas a encontrarme. (Polo Montañez)

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Peter (Moderator) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jul 27, 2007, 23:50:

adrimm says on Jul 28, 2007, 00:27:

Do authors like MG Vassanji count? (A Kenyan of Indian heritage) If so I'm definitely in. I really enjoy some of his stuff.

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Peter (Moderator) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jul 28, 2007, 04:42:

adrimm says on Jul 28, 2007, 09:34:

Highly reccomended - try "The In-Between World of Vikram Lall", it's a great read.

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Man Tequila says on Jul 28, 2007, 10:50:

Not read that. Yann Martel's "Life of Pi" seemed Indian to me. I'll have to check out Vassanji.

Aunque no me creas/ si me lo propongo/ lograre olvidarte/ porque a fin de cuentas/ no soy tan cobarde./ Y termino todo una de estas tardes/ no sera dificil buscar algún sitio donde refugiarme/ donde nunca mas vuelvas a encontrarme. (Polo Montañez)

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Peter (Moderator) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jul 28, 2007, 14:26:

bill230 says on Aug 16, 2007, 07:26:

I highly recommend novels by Rohinton Mistry. A Fine Balance is especially good. But Such a Long Journey and Family Matters are excellent too. He is from Mumbai (Zoroastrian), I think, but lives in Canada.

I've been to India a couple of times and really enjoyed it.

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kalder says on Nov 4, 2007, 01:22:

I loved 'A Fine Balance'. I've seldom cared about a novel's characters so much.

"kalder- have you ever had a woman?"--Sam Salmon

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kalder says on Nov 11, 2007, 08:49:

I have tried, on a couple of occasions, to read 'A Suitable Boy'. I just can't get into it. Is it worth another attempt?

"kalder- have you ever had a woman?"--Sam Salmon

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