Sahitya Akademi

Ezekiel's "Miss Pushpa T.S." and Her Friends

Author(s): C.J. George
Source: Indian Literature, Vol. 54, No. 1 (255) (January/February 2010), pp. 230-239
Published by: Sahitya Akademi
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23344204
Accessed: 19-03-2019 04:37 UTC

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 LITERARY CRITICISM

Ezekiel's "Miss Pushpa T.S." and Her Friends

CJ. George

Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S. is a laughter-provoking poem in which

Ezekiel makes a hilarious mimicry of the type of English proudly spoken
by the ill-educated or half-educated Indians.
The process of producing English-knowing bilinguals in India began
with the Minute of 1835, which officially endorsed T.B. Macaulay's goal
of forming "a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions
whom we govern...." In India only about 3% of the population can
speak standard or somewhat good English, but they are considered to
be the cream of the nation who guide the country's economic, industrial,
professional, political and social life. Because of this, English has acquired
a new power base and a new elitism.
Ability to speak in English gives certain social superiority. Fluent
English and good accent convey status faster than titles, names and bank
accounts. So, it is used by many upperclass Indians to show off their
status.

In India, everyone loves to speak in English. Even those who can't

afford to send their children to standard English-medium private schools
muster all resources to get admission for their children in such schools
as they are eager to hear their children speak in English. What abou
our politicians? The hypocrites among them who loudly speak agains
English-medium schools, quietly send their children to the best possibl
English-medium schools in the finest hill-stations as they are fully awar
of the indispensable role played by English for progress. These wil
politicians who wish a political career for their children know well that
the English-speaking young M.Ps who are often shown on television, shin
better than the others and so they make sure of giving an excellent English
medium education to their children too. The uneducated coolies and cabbie
and autorickshaw drivers too try to speak some English to impress thei

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customers. Some of them with the assistance of tourist departments even
undergo crash-courses in English to outwit others. To climb up the rungs
of social ladder, the semi-educated Indians often try to speak the Englishman's
language. Their desire to speak in full English sentences and their inability
to do so make them to speak, mixing vernacular words and English, resulting
in Bombay Bazaar English, Hinglish (Hindi + English), Bonglish
(Bengali+English), Kanglish (Kannada+English), Telgish (Telugu+
English), Tanglish (Tamil+EngUsh) andMinglish (Marathi+English). These
terminologies based on the regional variation in contemporary usage are
often referred to in a humorous way, but they also have an element of
ridicule, with each region or stratum of society having fun at the expense
of others.
India has had a longer exposure to English than any other country
which uses it as a second language. The form of English that is taught
in the schools and colleges in India is essentially British English, thanks
primarily to the historical or cultural links with Britain. For those seeking
a superior accent, it is desirable to emulate the brand of English that
is linguistically known as Received Pronunciation or more commonly,
Television English. Formal British English is preferred over the layman's
desi English in educated circles and higher Indian writing. Middle and
upperclass Indians, especially those with greater and wider exposure to
the West through books, television, movies and travel, tend to speak
grammatically standard English. What is characterized as Indian English
or desi English is not considered "correct usage" by either government
related institutions (such as offices and schools) or educated Indians who
prize "proper" English.
Indians speak numerous languages and each of these languages has
its own grammar. So, the Indians who lack proper knowledge of English,
like our Pushpa T.S and her friends, often speak English as a translation
of their own mother tongue, using the grammatical rules of that language.
The grammar disorders, the un-English use of words and phrases (mainly
due to the influence of their mother tongue) and other characteristics
of their English are called Indianisms. Some examples of the Indianisms
(or, incorrect Indian English) are given below:

1. Use of progressive tense in stative verbs as in, "He is loving

you", instead of, "He loves you."
2. Making differences in noun number and determiners as in, "She
performs many charities", instead of, "She gives away a lot in
charity."
3. Use of a preposition when it is not needed, as in, "Let us discuss
about this", instead of, "Let us discuss this."

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 4. Incorrect tag questions as in, "They did it, no?/ He is here,
isn't it?/ She closed the door, did she?" instead of, "They did
it, didn't they?/ He is here, isn't he?/ She closed the door, didn't
she?"
5. Violating laws of English word order as in,
1. "Give me a fresh basket of eggs", instead of, "Give me
a basket of fresh eggs."
2. "My all friends are waiting", instead of, "All my friends
are waiting."
6. Incorrect answer to question content as in, "Didn't you take
Preeti to School?" "Yes, I didn't", instead of, "No, I didn't."
7. Inappropriate usage as in, "I only told her to do that", instead
of, "I told her to do that."
8. A craze to use rhyming double words as in, "Let's go out for
some ice-cream-vice-cream", Or, "Let's have some chai-vai."
9. Overuse of actually/obviously I generally I seriously I honestly Ifrankly etc.,
as in, "Seriously, she is a good person", instead of, "She is a
good person."
10. Use of "good" when it is not needed as in, "What is your
good name?" instead of, "What is your name?"
11. Use of "hardly" instead of "hard" as in, "He is a hardly working
man."
12. Use of 'this side' and 'that side' instead of 'here' and 'there'
as in, "Bring it this side." "We went that side."
13. Literal translation from one's mother tongue as in
1. "Every people know this", instead of, "Everyone knows this."
2. "We all did not go", instead of, "None of us went."
14. Pluralisation of names that are generally used in the singular
form; as, poetry, advice, abuse, furniture, scenery, information, etc.
Examples: 1. What informations could he give? (Incorrect) What
information could he give? (correct)
2. The sceneries around Bolghatty island are charming. (Incorrect)
The scenery around Bolghatty island is charming, (correct)
15. Making a verb to agree in Number and Person with a noun
near it, instead of with its own subject:
Example: The quality of these apples are good. (Incorrect)
The quality of these apples is good, (correct)
16. Using "supposing" and "if" together as in, "Supposing if he
violates the rules, what will you do?" instead of, "Supposing
he violates the rules, what will you do?" Or, "If he violates
the rules, what will you do?"

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17. Using "please" and "kindly" together as in,
"Please kindly do it for me", instead of, "Please do it for me",
Or, "Kindly do it for me."
18. Using "opinion" and "think" together as in, "In my opinion,
I think it is wrong", instead of, "In my opinion, it is wrong."
19. Using "indeed" with truly/really, etc. as in, "He was really sorry
indeed", instead of, "He was really sorry."
20. Use of double conjunctions as in, "Through she is short, still/
but/yet she is beautiful", instead of, "Though she is short, she
is beautiful."
Note: Many Indian languages use double conjunctions, but not
in English.
21. Use of "as" after verbs like elect, appoint, think, call, name:
Example: She was named as Mary. (Incorrect)
She was named Mary. (Correct)
22. Use of "can able" as in, "I can able to sing", instead of, "I
can sing."
23. Use of "throw it", instead of, "throw it out".
24. Use of "to" (in active voice sentences) to form infinities after
the verbs: make, let, need, dare, bid, see, hear, observe, watch, know,
feel, smell, taste, please, etc.
Examples: 1. He made me to sing a song. (Incorrect)
He made me sing a song. (Correct)
2. I will not let you to go. (Incorrect)
I will not let you go. (Correct)
25. Use of the word "since" instead of "for" in conjunction with
periods of time, as in, "I have been working since four years",
instead of, "I have been working for four years."
26. Indianising English conversations by the frequent use of words
like: achcha = good; array = hey; bahut = a lot; bus = that's it;
ek = one; nahi = no problem; ho gaya = done, finished; kya
hall had = How are you?; lekin = but; muthlab = meaning;
teek hat = okay, and a number of abusive words.
27. Keeping the main clause in the past tense and using the
subordinate clause in the present or future tense, as in, "Ram
informed Radha that she cannot help him", Or "Radha informed
Ram that she will not help him", instead of, "Radha informed
Ram that she could not help him", Or, "Radha informed Ram
that she would not help him."
28. Coinage of un-English lexical collocations such as "goonda
fellow" and "student-unrest-fellow".

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 29. Redundant constructions like "total teetotaller" and "completely
total".
30. The use of "gentleman", "cousin brother", "cousin sister",
"maternal uncle" etc., instead of the proper English usage of
"man", "cousin", "uncle", etc. as in, "He is a tall gentleman"
Or, "He is my cousin brother."
Notes: 1. In English, 'gentleman' is used to refer to a man's
character as in, "He is a real gentleman" or "He is not a
gentleman."
2. The English language uses much more loosely terms expressing
relationship than the Indian languages. 'Aunt' means the sister
of either father or mother. 'Uncle' means brother of either
father or mother. 'Cousin' means any child of any aunt or uncle.
31. Use of superlative degree without the definite article as in, "Time
is best healer" instead of, "Time is the best healer."
32. Omission of indefinite article as in, "He is M.A.", instead of,
"He is an M.A."
33. Failure to use the past perfect tense when the time of one
past tense verb is more past than that of another as in, "He
said that he saw him last year", instead of, "He said that he
had seen him last year."
34. Use of "open" and "close" instead of switch on/switch off/turn
on/turn off, as in "Open the air conditioner", instead of, "Turn
on the air conditioner", and "Open your shirt" for "Take off
your shirt."
35. Using "Off the TV/lights/computer etc." to say, "Turn off
the TV/lights/computer etc."
36. Use of "frontside"/ "backside" instead of the conventional
"front"/ "back" and the use of, "family members" instead of,
"members of the family."
37. Variations in the pronunciation of several phonemes affected
by the regional languages:
Examples: 1. Pronouncing 'same' as 'shame' or 'Arunachal' as
'Urunachal' by many Bengalis.
2. Pronouncing 'shell' as 'sell' and 'shop' as 'soap' by many
Bhojpuri speaking people.
3. Pronouncing 'school' as 'sikool'/ 'iskool' or, 'stand' as 'istand'
by many Biharis.
38. Giving distinct double sounds to double letters occurring in
words like village, drilling, William, etc.
39. Pronouncing words like 'ringing', 'bringing' etc. adding the sound
/g/ after the sound /ang/.

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 40. Clearly pronouncing /r/ when it is not followed by a vowel
sound as in, forgive, pardon, warden, reservation, observation, carpet,
persist, world, poor boy, etc.
Note: In Received Pronunciation (RP), /r/ occurs only before
a vowel.
41. Incorrect pronunciation of numerous words that are read
differently from the way they are written, such as, vehicles, venue,
vicious, resume, recipe, debut, debt, depot, rabbi, mag, cupboard, coup,
comfortable, compass, onion, oven, Oedipus, mirage, horizon, method,
shepherd, precis, phoenix, phonetics, colonel, connoisseur, culinary, cuisine,
potato, tomato, vegetables, mediane, method, tortoise, foetus, bourgeois,
bouquet, cognac, champagne, wreath, wright, quay, bonhomie, debonair,
rapprochement, preface, surface, leopard, jeopardy, silhouette, rendezvous,
signature, uxorious, uvula, vice versa, viva voce.
The Indianisms mentioned above do not make a comprehensive
list.

They are only a few examples that are easily recognizable.

Ezekiel's long years of social intercourse with the Marathi community
in Bombay and his close observation of the semi-educated of them speaking
English, unconscious of the atrocious errors they make, must have inspired
him to write a few "Very Indian poems in Indian English" or rather
in, Babu Angreq (English). One among them is Goodbye Party for Miss
Pushpa T.S. What distinguishes this poem is the vivid reproduction of
average Indians' way of speaking English. In it,

Ezekiel parodies the craze for 'foreign' in modern

Westernized ladies and their typical way of using English.
It reflects the mental vacuity of young ladies who are
full of affectations and pretentions and have no ideals
or ideas. It is a fine piece of satire in which irony is
used not so much to make fun of or mock at, but
to enlighten us about an essential stratum of our society.
This is the ill-educated or half-educated Indian who
flaunts his little learning in English unabashedly and
dangerously. Moreover, the need to communicate in
English, however badly, is inherent in the Indian psyche.
In this poem Ezekiel describes the articulations of such
a person, an epitome of a certain section of our society
(Kumar, 1997).

One can hardly miss the merry mimicry of Indian English in Goodbye
Party for Miss Pushpa T.S. This charming parody, a farewell speech for
a colleague, can make an educated Indian who values proper English
to giggle helplessly. Miss Pushpa and her colleagues are unfortunately less

C.J. George / 235

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fortunate people who could not get good English education. The ordinary
institutions where they studied have not helped them to pick up good
English with correct accent. But what is comical about Miss Pushpa and
her friends is their ignorance of the actual level of English they know.
They are ostentatious people "who know not and know not that they
know not" and so they are proud of their English and belch it out
proudly. We very often come across such type of people in every part
of India.
The poem begins with the lines:

Friends,
our dear sister
is departing for foreign
in two three days,

and

we are meeting today

to wish her bon voyage.

Note the title of the poem: Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S. There
is a tendency in India to put the initials after the first name, as "Miss
Pushpa T.S." This indianism sets the tone of the poem. The use of
'departing' and 'foreign' as nouns is frequently found in the language of
Indians speaking or writing English. The phrase 'in two three days' without
the conjunction 'or' is a literal translation of the vernacular expression.
The use of the present progressive ('we are meeting today') in line 6
of the poem is rare. It should be, 'we meet today'. Many Indians love
to show off their little knowledge of French, Latin or Greek at a get
together or while giving a speech. The speaker's use of the French
expression bon voyage ('Have a good journey') at the beginning and also
at the close of his speech is borne out of that tendency.
The rest of the poem goes as follows:

You are all knowing, friends,

what sweetness is in Miss Pushpa
I don't mean only external sweetness 10
but internal sweetness.
Miss Pushpa is smiling and smiling
even for no reason
but simply because she is feeling.

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 Miss Pushpa is coming 15
from very high family.
Her father was renowned advocate
in Bulsar or Surat,
I am not remembering now which place.

Surat? Ah, yes, 20

once only I stayed in Surat
with family members
of my uncle's very old friend
his wife was cooking nicely—

that was long time ago. 25

Coming back to Miss Pushpa
she is most popular lady
with men also and ladies also.

Whenever I asked her to do anything,

she was saying, 'Just now only 30
I will do it.' This is showing
good spirit. I am always
appreciating the good spirit.
Pushpa Miss is never saying no.

Whatever I or anybody is asking 35

she is always saying yes,
and today she is going
to improve her prospects
and we are wishing her bon voyage.
Now I ask other speakers to speak 40
and afterwards Miss Pushpa
will do the summing up.

In this remarkable poem of wit and humour arising from the

syntactical oddities of Indian English, Ezekiel has also introduced some
technical innovations. He has abandoned the use of capitals at the start
of each line. The poem is written in vers libre or free verse and its colloquial
language suits to its humour.
"There are a number of verbs (in English) that are usually not
used in the present continuous. They include verbs of perception such
as, see, hear, smell, notice, recognise-,, verbs of appearance such as, appear, look,
seem; verbs of emotion such as, want, wish, desire, feel, like, love, hate, hope,
refuse, prefer, verbs of thinking such as think, suppose, believe, agree, consider,
trust, remember, forget, know, understand, imagine, means, mind; and verbs of
possession such as have (=possess), own, belongs to, consists of" (George, 2004).
Since this restriction does not occur in Indian languages, the Indians whose
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English is influenced by their mother tongue, miss the rule. This Indianism
is elegantly exposed through the expressions, "are all knowing", "is feeling",
"is coming", "am not remembering", "is showing", "am... appreciating"
and "are wishing" occurring in lines 8, 14, 15, 19, 31, 33, and 39 of
the poem.
It is a habit of many Indians to repeat words in order to give
emphasis or to indicate the intensity of feeling. This peculiar feature
of Indian English is illustrated by saying, "Miss Pushpa is smiling and
smiling..."
The words, "from very high family" and "Her father was renowned
advocate" occurring in lines 16 and 17 of the poem ignore the need
of the indefinite article, 'a'. Similarly, in line 27 of the poem, "most"
(which here means 'very') modifies the adjective "popular" and so, it should
be preceeded by the indefinite article 'a'. The poet through these lines
make a mimicry of the way many Indians speak English without the proper
use of the articles.
Desultory discussions and illogical arguments are common in India
as elsewhere. Very often speeches are made without any previous prepa
ration. As points for their speech are not prepared in advance, they often
make egocentric digressions from the main stream of thought. This
rambling style associated with the ordinary Indians' way of speaking is
finely illustrated from lines 20 to 25 of the poem: "Surat? ...that was
long time ago."
An Indianism that is often heard in social gatherings is the expression,
"family members", which is used in line 22 of the poem. Another common
Indianism is the inappropriate use of the past progressive in place of
the simple past to denote a habitual action in the past as given in the
line, "his wife was cooking nicely".
Other Indian features of grammar and syntax have also been
parodied. In "that was long time ago", "time" is entirely superfluous and
in, "with men also and ladies also", one "also" is superfluous. They are
literal translations of vernacular expressions unacceptable in conventional
English. Please note that "men" should go with "women" and not "ladies".
The consideration that "lady" is a more dignified word than "woman"
makes many Indians use it even where "woman" is the right word. What
we read in lines 30 to 31 of the poem, "Just now only I will do it"
is also a literal translation of a vernacular expression. It is also an example
of the imposition of the vernacular word-order on English.
Everywhere in India, we hear school children calling their teacher,
"Mary Miss", "Preethy Miss", "Prema Miss", "Lily Miss" etc. Inversion
of title and name is a common Indianism and this is humorously brought

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to the notice of the reader in line 34 of the poem which says, "Pushpa
Miss is never saying no."
Towards the end of the poem, the speaker asks "other speakers
to speak" and he adds that "afterwards Miss Pushpa will do the summing
up". Of course, what is expected from Miss Pushpa T.S. is to express
her gratitude to the speaker and her other friends. She has nothing to
"sum up" and so, "the summing up" in the last line of the poem looks
inappropriate.
Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S is a clever little poem in which
Ezekiel renders with pitch-perfect accuracy the way English is spoken by
many people in India. The poem is written with malice towards none
and so, it does not display any dislike of, or ill-will towards the Indians
who speak wrong English; it merely points out the kind of errors they
commit and in this way, the well-versed English poet presents the funny
aspeas of the desi English and helps us to have a hearty laugh. The overall
comic effect produced by the poem is remarkable and at the end of the
speech, we are told that Miss Pushpa is going "to foreign" to improve
her prospects and of course, to improve her bazaar English too. The
poet's sagacious presentation of the poem with the right balance of satire,
wit and humour makes it funny, while robbing it of its sting. It could
have been something very offensive, but in Ezekiel's subtle hands it is
genial and charming. Certainly, it is a nice little lesson in Indian English
delivered with a smile and a wink of the eye.

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