92) English with a rural accent

I am from a rich family that had gone through hard times. Dad died when I was 8 and mother worked as a steno to support us. I had to withdraw from a convent school and instead attend a government school where the medium of instruction was Hindi.

When one is young, sorrows don’t really hit as hard as I quickly adjusted to the new school and made new friends though in the corner of mind, I intuitively knew that my schoolmates were children of labourers and came to school either by walk or the town bus. And at the previous school it rained Marutis and Fords!!!!

I was good in studies and mother was keen that I must go as far as my abilities took. She had vowed that nothing in the world would come in the way and in addition to her day job, she taught Hindi for the rich kids in the neighbourhood so that I could stay in school and aspire for graduation.

It was tough growing into puberty with only two sets of salwar kameez. With growing maturity, one realizes the plight of one’s existence and how fragile we lived from month to month and hand to mouth. My uncle was a great support and he was always there to support my mom as she had to contend with the burden of girl becoming a woman by the day. It’s not easy for a woman to raise a girl child in a noisy and gossipy neighbourhood and mamma did all that she could possibly do to protect me.

I remember her saying clearly,” Anita, we cannot afford a mistake now and it is but natural to get attracted to boys but you must only concentrate on studies and see if you can shift me out of this shanty room”. We were living in 10’x 12’ room and forget privacy; even studying in the dim room was a task for the eyes.
I steeled myself and graduated in first class. My mother was so happy that she granted me a holiday in Bombay to stay for a fortnight at my uncle’s place.

My cousins were in St. Xavier’s and wore such beautiful clothes. I remember Sheila was celebrating her birthday and had invited her friends to the house and I found myself totally out of place. I realized that being in Jodhpur; I had become a social moron with zilch skills. I was frankly an embarrassment to my cousins and felt sorry for being such a dampener.

I just could say anything beyond, “Fine”. Their clothes and attitude unnerved me completely and for the next five years, I was a social outcaste. My cousins found it embarrassing to introduce me to their circle as a relative. I could understand their plight for I spoke only in Hindi while these Bombay kids spoke English with an American twang!!!

I did my Ph.d in sociology from a UGC grant and while doing my thesis took upon myself to speak conversational English. I enrolled in an institute and within a year, I was getting more confident in the language. By the second year, I was following BBC news and now my English sounds just as natural.

I joined Central University at Hyderabad as a faculty and as years rolled by, I shifted my mom from that wretched room to a two bedroom flat in Begumpet. I am drive an ALTO and even my cousins in Bombay now appreciate me.

Now whenever I go to Bombay, my cousins take me to all the parties and proudly introduce me.

“She is my maternal cousin and an associate professor in Central University. Last year she was on deputation to Cambridge and she is the brains of our family”.

Each time I hear this compliment from Sheila, I am reminded of my struggles. If you believe in something and give it your best then the universe conspires to make it happen. (658 words)