The tour guide in Mumbai was asked, “How many languages do you speak?” He replied “Seven. English and Hindi, of course, and 5 South Indian languages.”
Speaking more than one language is pretty common in India. What surprised me was how many people did not speak English. They are taught in English at school. But, many don’t go to much school. 25% of Indians are illiterate. In Bihar, where the literacy rate is the lowest, only 53% of the women can read and write in any language. So, while they may speak many languages, writing is another story.
Meanwhile, this tour guide and several of the other tour guides had a Ph.D. in history. He made more money being a tour guide than teaching at the University level. One of our other tour guides spoke Japanese and Italian. Another spoke German and used to guide Swiss tourists on 7 day camel rides through the deserts of Rajasthan. He told us we should take that tour when we have finished visiting the cities of India. How could you ever see all of India?
Even though everyone we met did not speak English, we had daily conversations with so many people as we traveled, it felt like India was more accessible- that we got a better sense of the lives of the people we met than say in China or Japan where we did not speak the language. That made this trip a deeper cultural experience. Everything was not translated, or interpreted by a guide.
To say we have a true picture of India is not at all accurate, but we have a better understanding of the history, the role of the many religions, and a huge appreciation of the food. May I suggest that you skip the wine for now? In 10 years, like so many things in India, that might be a totally different story.
Illustration is my picture of Cousin Roxy speaking Hindi with our guide in Delhi.