Word of the Year: 2023

Letter to PM

Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bharat,

Pleas accept my heartiest compliments for your inspired and dynamic leadership of our great country during Amrit Kaal and your numerous glorious achievements.

I seek to draw your kind attention to an important matter and request for prompt action.

As per recent news reports, 2023 Word of the Year (WoY) has been announced as follows:

·      Merriam-Webster – authentic

·      Oxford University Press – rizz

·      Collin’s – AI

·      Cambridge Dictionary – hallucinate

·      Dictionary.com - hallucinate

AMUL, Bharat's celebrated brand has even used one of these new-fangled words in its recent ad!

I appeal that Bharat Sarkar should summarily dismiss and reject the above-mentioned announcements on the following grounds:

·      Since the methodology for selection of WoY has not been made public, there is a reasonable doubt that it is based on the whims, quirks, personal preferences, and prejudices of a myopic editorial board. For example, OUP has selected ‘rizz’ because it is trendy with Gen ‘Z’ in US and Europe; but why should Bharat accept this cultural imposition of the West?

·      Bharat with a population of 143 crores (as on Dec 22, 2023) has not been consulted even though English is our lingua franca (along with Hindi), Notably, the total population of US and Great Britain is only 33.19 crores and 6.73 crores respectively.   

·      English no longer belongs to any one country, is a global language, and very much a language of Bharat with Hinglish, Bengalish, Tenglish, and others as popular dialects. English is the mother tongue for 2,59,678 Bharatiyas as per Census 2011 and 265 million Bharatiyas speak English!

·      Bharat spends thousands of crores every year to provide English education to its students resulting in top performance in TOEFL, SAT, GMAT, etc. based on which lakhs of them secure admission in foreign universities, mostly in English speaking countries of US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand.

·      Private sector in Bharat offers the largest number of Spoken English and English Proficiency classes in the world.

·      Bharatiyas are the largest buyers of English dictionaries and Wren & Martin English Grammar Books, and school students mug up whole dictionaries which explains the unmatchable performance of students of Bharatiya origin in America’s yearly Spelling Bees contest.

·      The ready acceptance of English is evident in the use of English Titles by several Hit films and TV serials: Jewel Thief (no one demanded that it should be renamed Jawaharat Chor!), Gambler, The Burning Train, 3 Idiots, Ginny Weds Sunny, Ghost Stories, Class of ’83, Drive, Lust Stories, Jailer, etc.

How to Select WoY

Being Vishwaguru, we may offer for global use a method that has been tested for decades in our country and found highly reliable.

Binaca Geetmala

For more than four decades (1952-1994), this flagship Radio Programme presented a list of Hit Songs for the Week, and a Final Hit Songs of the Year based initially on farmaish (listeners’ requests) and later sales of music records.

There was no controversy ever regarding the list of Hit Songs though occasionally folks with vested interest in songs that failed to make it to the top alleged that one or more songs were pushed to the top ranks by distributing pre-printed post cards to be mailed from Jhumritalaiya at a nominal honorarium paid to the mailer for his services in promoting Bollywood films. These allegations were motivated and unproved, as explained by the sponsors and organisers of BG.

Newspapers of India

As per RNI (Registrar of Newspapers of India)’s data, there were 20821 newspapers in India as on 31/03/2022. It is presumed that all these newspapers are now composed in MS Word or similar writing software with ‘Word Count’ facility. RNI should mandate each newspaper to count the top word on its front page and declare it as the Word of the Day. Word of the Week/Year can thus be declared by each newspaper on a scientific basis vetted by an actual word count. 

Bharat Sarkar

Bharat Sarkar should select the WoY for our lingua franca (Hindi and English), and for the 22 Scheduled languages the concerned States should do the needful.   

Newspapers may be assigned the task of selecting WoY for the 99 non-Scheduled languages as per the 2011 Census. Dailies can encourage their millions of readers to vote for the Word of the Day/Week/Month/Year.

G20 Sub-Committee

G20 represents most of the English-speaking world, and hence, there should be a Sub-Committee for selection of WoY, to be Chaired by Bharat.

Bharat’s Words of the Year 2023

Any of the following words - Ram Ram, Amrit Kaal, Chandrayaan, Aditya, G20, IPL, Guarantee, Biryani – or other popular words (the billions of ‘Good Morning’ in WhatsApp messages) may be considered for the honour.

Everyday millions of people greet each other by saying ‘Ram Ram,’ and hence, this might be the top used word in Bharat. Incidentally, only one Namaste or Namaskar is an adequate greeting, but if the name of Ram be invoked, it must be repeated at least twice as per custom.

For 2024, WoY is a no-brainer. It would be ‘Sri Ram Mandir.’

Advisory Committee

Bharat Sarkar should appoint an Advisory Committee to recommend further course of action in this regard.

The undersigned has proven credentials of excellence in Indian English, and therefore, in national interest offers to serve as Chairperson of the Advisory Committee on the usual terms of Last Drawn Pay minus Pension, and other facilities.

Since you would be busy in many momentous events in 2024, I request you to instruct PMO to do the needful in the matter of WoY 2023 and report compliance to you on or before 31/12/2023.

Best wishes for a Happy New Year.

Regards.

Yours Sincerely,

Prasanna Dash

(A Proud Citizen of Bharat, an Indian-English author, and an Od-English speaker.)

 

CC:

1.   PM of United Kingdom

2.   President of the US

3.   The Editor

o  Merriam-Webster Dictionary

o  Oxford Dictionary

o  Collin’s Dictionary

o  Cambridge Dictionary

o   Dictionary.com

Postscript

Readers’ response to my latest blog was varied and interesting. A few readers complimented me for raising this important issue and for my well-thought-out proposal to which they pledged their full support. If I call upon them to sign this petition, I guess they would readily agree.

A few others enjoyed it as a satirical piece, and even laughed aloud upon reading a few passages. However, I was a little concerned when an esteemed senior warned me of dire consequences:

“Are you looking for a room in Tihar? People are long term guests of that hostelry for lesser transgression.”

For removal of doubts and misgivings, if any, I issue the following:

Disclaimer

I declare and assert that I wrote no satire, and esteemed readers are advised not to misconstrue it as a satire. In fact, I have used factual data from reliable government sources like the Census of India, Registrar of Newspapers in India. However, if some passages of my ‘Letter to PM’ read like a satire to some readers, I solicit them to make corrections as they deem fit which I promise to incorporate into the letter before taking out the final print and signing it.

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