Contrary to popular belief, English did not enter India purely as the language of the Empire; it first arrived in the early 17th century as the language of trade.
In a modest classroom in Sirsa, Haryana, Abhay Singh Monga practices vowel sounds. He is about to begin his law degree at Panjab University, but before that, he has enrolled in a spoken English course at a private coaching institute. For Abhay, English is more than a language. It is a class marker. “Without English, people think you are from the backward classes,” he says. “It is an indication of your standard in life.”
His classmate, Pankaj Bansal, a young advocate, echoes the sentiment. “In court, everything — from paperwork to argumentation — is in English. If you are not confident in the language, you fall behind, no matter how smart you are.”
Their teacher, Aanchal Arora, who runs the institute, has seen this pattern often. “Most of our students come when they hit a ceiling,” she says. “They are smart, capable, but they feel stuck. They know their career will not move forward without English.”
In Delhi, Shivani Chandel, a government school teacher, shares a similar view. “For many of the middle school students I teach, especially those from lower middle-class backgrounds, learning English is nothing short of a dream,” she says. “From jobs to entertainment, English is the key to participation in modern life.”
But how did this happen? How did the language of the coloniser become the language of ambition, governance, and even resistance? What does it mean for a country to simultaneously resent and revere the same language? This journey begins with the arrival of the East India Company and their bureaucratic need for order.
I’ve always loved Mathematics — not just as a subject, but as a way of thinking, playing, and solving. With my six-year-old son Ram, numbers became our toys. We turned boring sums into exciting puzzles, making every learning moment a game. I didn’t just want him to do math — I wanted him to love it, just like I did.
According to the Surat flood control department, the city recorded 8.66 inches of rainfall between 6 am and 2 pm on Monday. On Sunday, the city had received 7.22 inches of rain
9,483 junior colleges are participating in the CAP process in the state.
