Across social media, South Asian speakers are often ridiculed for their “different” English accents, which are frequently dubbed ‘the Indian accent’. This digital mockery has also translated to workspaces and thus to society as a whole. Undoubtedly, the accent isn’t in tandem with the native English accent, far from it in fact, and this has made many South Asians the subject of constant ridicule and derision. Within this vast ocean of ridicule lies a small pond, a microcosm where the mockery remains the same, but the people inflicting it and the people bearing it are both different.

The microcosm exists within post-colonial societies where elites have taken on the mantle of the oppressor. The elites of such countries, such as Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, often speak English with near native fluency, as they have spoken it throughout their whole lives. For some of them, English even predates their mother tongue. Therefore, they are less synced with their cultural roots to begin with, and combining this with a lingering colonial mindset, they come to herald English people and their language as superior to their own, fostering self-hatred and eliminating their own cultural identity.

In contrast, marginalized people begin with their provincial or national language. For many, English is their 3rd language, so holding them to the same standard as a native speaker and expecting a flawless accent seems unfair, to say the least. This unfairness becomes clearer when we consider their extenuating circumstances: a person can learn a language by reading or hearing it, but you cannot learn an accent without speaking it, and many of them lack such spaces where they can comfortably speak English.

The irony is that while the people who speak flawless English look down on those who can’t, the inverse is also true. People from lower socio-economic backgrounds often associate English with elitism and exclusion. So, if a friend wishes to practice their English, they would mock them, closing the door for improvement long before it began opening. This attitude also makes sense. They have come to see English as a tool, one used by the elites to assert superiority. In this way, they have come to see it as a means for control, so this refusal to conform is a rebellion of the self against the system.

It is a stalemate: both sides despise the other for completely opposite reasons. Yet, all is not lost.

If the elites realize that speaking English without a flawless accent is completely acceptable, they can bridge this divide. They must become aware of both their privilege and the opportunities others have been deprived of. Above all, they should embrace the World Englishes Concept, which celebrates the various indigenized forms of the English language. In this way, they would take pride in their own form of English, a form unique to them and one they should be proud of.

Once this happens, slowly, people from marginalized communities may abandon the belief that language exists to assert dominance. They could instead see language for what it is: a means of communication, compassion, and connection. 

While this dynamic is evident across South Asia, the same applies to global contexts as well. While the elites of former colonial societies grapple with cultural self-hatred, the colonizers suffer from cultural superiority. However, if a pond of ridicule can be uncontaminated, with enough effort, so can the ocean of mockery. If the Western elites also realize that language is used to unite, not divide, then they would also come to celebrate not only the indigenous forms of the English language but also the people who speak them.