What happens when your mother tongue no longer is? There’s an expectation that the language you first learn, often from your mother, and the one that represents your native culture, is the one you are most proficient in ... but that’s not always so. The first language I learnt was Tamil. I was so proficient at it during my first five years that my parents often asked me to shut up. But later, with my family’s migration to Canada and my education in Canadian institutions, English became my dominant language.

While I could still speak Tamil, I could only read in English, and this in turn limited my reading to books written in English. So when I read Indian authors, it was the likes of Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, and Bharati Mukherjee. It was only when I began working in a niche publishing firm in Delhi that specialized in translations that my eyes were opened to a whole other world of authors writing in the regional languages of India – such as Ashokamitran in Tamil, Mukundan in Malayalam, Ismat Chugtai in Urdu, and Mahasweta Devi in Bengali.

There are some key differences between Indian regional literature (IRL) and Indian English literature (IEL), beginning of course with language. Some criticise IEL authors for using an alien, or even the Imperialist’s, language to write an Indian story, while others say that it’s only natural to strive for broader reach using a global language or to simply use the language you’re most proficient in.

IRL tends to be written by authors living not just in India, but usually within their particular region. The best known IEL on the other hand is written by authors of Indian origin who no longer live in India, and this turn impacts their subject. Author Kaushik Viswanath says that IEL is too often about India. As academic Meenakshi Mukherjee wryly observes, “What it means to be an Indian does not trouble the Marathi or Bengali writer.”

Another criticism levelled against IEL is that it is too self-conscious: a sort of ‘look Ma, I’m writing!’ Perhaps that’s because for many of the IEL authors English is not their first language and therefore they don’t take it for granted: they think about it, they relish it, and they enjoy playing with it.

IRL authors write for a regional audience, familiar with and part of the culture. IEL authors write for an international audience, and particularly for those who are themselves removed from their native homes. In IEL, often being Indian outside of India is the story. That’s why when I read the writings of Jhumpa Lahiri, I feel she’s talking about my life in Canada. And maybe that’s why IEL appeals to so many in the West and especially in the New World countries: they can empathize with being Mexicans outside of Mexico, Italians outside of Italy, and Chinese outside of China. Professor Amit Chaudhuri feels that the allure of IEL lies not so much in its Indianness, but rather in the idea of hybridity that it describes and which the West celebrates.

And seeing the remarkable visibility and marketability of IEL, India too is celebrating. The annual Jaipur Literature Festival takes place this weekend, featuring a star-studded array of over 170 authors, Indian and foreign, almost all of whom write in English. Past years’ participants have included Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, and Pico Iyer. This year brings Mann Booker Prize winner Kiran Desai and Commonwealth Prize winner Rana Dasgupta. As if to further support the theory of hybridity, the festival is jointly founded and directed by Indian writer/publisher Namita Gokhole and British author William Dalrymple. The festival has been growing over the past six years in the number of authors and attendees, both from within and outside the country. It is now billed as the biggest literary festival in Asia. In this age of migration, mobility, and multiculturalism, IEL seems to have struck a nerve.

But I still remember that the other world exists. And as soon as I return home from the festival, I plan to read Ponniyin Selvan, a famous Tamil novel by the author Kalki, in its English translation.

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