Thoughts on Language and Sly Stallone

The difference between a westernized Indian accent and a true Indian accent, I think, is encapsulated in the pronunciation of the letter "R." An Indian with a western accent will pronounce it fully, whereas an Indian without the accent will add a very soft "d" after every word ending in "r" -- making it sound as if they said the "r" but then lassoed it back into their mouth at the last second and replaced it with a "d" ("Yes, sir(d)").

This dawned on me when I hopped in a tuk-tuk on my way back from Khan Market one day.

The driver, Rakesh, was trying his best to get some recurring business with my deep, non-discerning American pockets. To do this, he spoke in the best American accent he could muster, faking a very deep voice and over-pronouncing his "R"s. "Yes sir(rrrr), I would be happy to take you back to Sunder(rrr) Nagar(rrr)," he said after I asked him for a ride.

We chatted for a while, and I figured that his familiarity with English could be an asset one weekend if Titou were unavailable to take me out. So I asked Rakesh for his name and number.

"Oh, thank you sir(rrr). I would be happy to give you my number(rrr). It's [blah blah blah]."

"And your name?" I asked.

"Rocky."

"Rocky?" I asked. "Really?"

"Yeah, like the movie."

Rocky and his silly accent have my business.