THE SITUATION IN INDIA
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Sm,—The claim of either Hindustani or Hindi to be the universal language of India is not borne out by the facts. Anyone trying to use Hindustani as a medium of conversation in any village in the Madras Presidency would not be under- stood by Hindus unless he happened to find a Mahomedan or a pensioned sepoy to interpret for him. Hindi is not spoken in the South at all.
English is much resorted to by educated Indians for the exchange of thoughts among themselves and it is often spoken with an admixture of their own vernacular. Many expressive English words have crept into use in vernacular speech. For instance, in a Tamil petition complaining of the bad work of a certain contractor I was once puzzled by the words " ampakkana velai" till I realized that the writer was trying to say that it 'was " humbug " work. I
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