ABCD

 Most of us are familiar with the term ABCD. Those who aren't, it is an acronym for American Born Confused DESI (Ascribed to Indians in America). The term, often laced with sarcasm is not an exaggeration, especially for the children of the first generation Indians who are born on the soil of the United States.

Nothing portrays the confusion more than the adjustments the new generation of Indian-Americans have to make to the language they speak at home. The language they are more comfortable i.e. English, the ever pervading language of their milieu, differs by miles from the mother tongue of their mother - the same way, their parents were born in a different land and the adopted land of their parents are separated by thousands of miles by the same people but different languages. They are as different in syllable, phonetics, grammar and script, as CHHENA (as cheese back home is called) is different from the American cheese, same as the English spoken in the lands located exactly on the opposite sides of the globe differ a lot in slangs and syllable.

Most of the ABCDs as children start talking to their parents in their mother tongue which their parents mostly talk at home. For those from Odisha start with the words JAUCHI, KHAUCHI, SOICHI (going, eating, sleeping) etc and some rudimentary sentences to communicate with their parents. As they grow older, the communication gradually becomes a linguistic one way traffic, with the mom and pop often talking in their native languages, with the kids responding in English. Message is conveyed and parent-child communication is made, though languages of communication can be different.

Often parents are no better. Once a guy who emigrated from the heartland of Odisha not so long ago, pronounced the Odia word JANJALA (Daily Chore) as JYANJHYALA in a pure bred all Odia gathering to emphasize his recent acquisition of American accent. On hearing him I almost spilled off the PHESPI (as pronounce Pepsi was pronounced by him) which I happened to be sipping at that time. The more elongated PHHH you use for Pepsi, the more American you are). A certain well known guy from the narrow lanes (SAHI) of Puri, as Puriya as Chuda Ghasa Dalma often tries to be as American as Apple Pie by aping the Yankee accent. 

The vocabulary in any language is enhanced and enriched through more inclusivity and the usage of proverbs and slangs. This can only happen if you talk in that language outside your home, in school, in streets and amongst friends. In that respect it's always a losing battle for their parent's native language Odia, Hindi or Telugu vis a vis English. After all English is the all pervading language of the land. It is the passport to success.

Slowly as kids grow English takes over, same way the British gradually took over vast stretches of our land at the peak of their power centuries ago, followed by the era of Pax Americana - as America replaced Britain as the Superpower and English continued to flourish all over globe due to American influence. The native language soon becomes obsolete for the ABCDs, slowly pushed to the backburner only to be fetched for occasional interaction with their parents.

Efforts had been made in US by different Indian communities to preserve their mother tongue, by teaching their kids the language of their parents. It is organized in temples, in rental premises over evenings or weekends. The results are mixed and met with limited success. Odias started a movement, called "Chala Ame Odia Sikhiba" (CHAOS), which means, "Let's learn Odia". True to the word and true to their salt, it ultimately ended in chaos.

The acronym ABCD can be extended to ABCDEFG - America Born Confused Desi Emigrated From Gujarat. No Indian community has carved its niche in America as much as the Gujjus (a commonly used slang for the folks from the land of Mahatma and Modi, but often used in a derogatory way behind their back). The Gujaratis are mostly into the business hospitalilty and Hotels, so that the Motels in America can be very well named as Potels, for a large number of them being owned by Patels. So now we can extend the acronym to ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP - "American Born Confused Desi Emigrated From Gujarat Housed In Jersey Keeps Liking Migrating Named Om Patel".