Wednesday, September 4, 2013

genius... or, the trouble with being carelessly bilingual

A 15 year old in my class said two days ago, quite unabashedly, 'My dada (elder brother) is three months older than me.' When I observed that that is biologically highly improbable, she looked blank, and was demystified only when a few friends who had caught on faster explained it to her over giggles. She had meant her cousin, of course... most Bengalis refer to cousins like that, rarely pausing to think about complications it can cause.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Sir,
I believe this is particularly the reason why miss Mamata Banerjee has sanctioned the orders for WBCS officers making it mandatory for them to attend the English tutorials conducted by the British Council in order to ensure better proficiency in English...the fifteen year old girl seems to be no exception to the trendy "Bong" culture.
yours faithfully
Soumallya Chattopadhyay