Tamil without tears

British planters got into a linguistic twist

It was a bugbear for most Brits aspiring to become tea planters in Munnar during the Raj 8212; learning Tamil. But it was compulsory since the tea estate workers were, and still are, predominantly Tamils.

To help new recruits learn the local lingo, the British tea company brought out a basic primer aptly titled, Tamil Without Tears. Apparently, many Brits were reduced to frustration in picking up a working knowledge of the complexities of Tamil. This was quite understandable, since they were required to do so within three years of joining or face the prospect of losing their annual increments!

A Tamil teacher imparted lessons twice a week, assessing the learner8217;s progress through monthly tests and an annual exam. While most recruits managed to stutter and fumble their way through the oral test, the written exam often proved to be their Waterloo. 8220;Learning to draw those hieroglyphics and utter those tongue-twisters is driving me crazy!8221; lamented a tousle-headed Scottish lad in a letter home. 8220;Why can8217;t they just teach the workers English?8221;

Right from the start, recruits were encouraged to practise their fragmented Tamil on the workers, much to the latter8217;s undisguised amusement. Conversing with the workers, many Brits tended to pick up Tamil slang, swear words and colloquialisms all too easily rather than grammatical Tamil 8212; an unforeseen development that had the Tamil tutor in despair.

Yet, few really came anywhere close to acquiring fluency in spoken Tamil, let alone proficiency in written Tamil. The majority just about managed to pick up a smattering, often scraping through the mandatory tests thanks to the tutor8217;s kind-heartedness. And they manfully soldiered on, confident that they could always bank on the Tamil staff to bail them out of vernacular-related problems, such as reading or translating Tamil petitions and communicating instructions to the workers.

In fact, most young British tea planters secretly knew that their far more experienced boss8217;s knowledge of Tamil hardly surpassed their own!