Comment on the influence of English - the language and the way of life - on Indian life as reflected in the story. What is the narrator's attitude to English?

Explanation

The narrator has very poignantly brought out the influence of English language on the way of life in the story. When the Britishers came to our land, they did not bring the industrialization alone, but carried with themselves their culture, their religion and their language which was to leave an impact on us forever in the future. Even after so many years of independence, we Indians are not able to do away with the English language. We consider those superior who know the English language. It is nothing but a language after all, why feel so proud about it when it is not even ours. Yes it is a global language and it is good to know foreign languages, however we must treat a language as language only and not as a status symbol. This falsehood has been reflected very well in the story. The narrator, Shyama, showed how when Ranga returns from Bangalore, after completing his studies, the way people anticipated his return and the excitement on knowing that Ranga now knew English, “a priceless commodity”. They all wanted to see if there has been any change in Ranga after studying English in Bangalore. However, there was no change or little change in Ranga's personality. He even did the traditional namaskar to Shyama by bowing down and touching his feet.