Monday, June 08, 2009

"Jai Ho" is now a globally accepted English slogan

The two-word slogan which made Slumdog Millionaire sweeping the world over their feet, taking the Oscar and Kannes by storm, and even contributed in a big way to UPA's thumping victory this election might be the new word in the English vocabulary. The millionth new word waiting to mark its entry in the English language in Stratford-upon-Avon (UK), the hometown of the greatest playwright William Shakespeare, will be chosen from the five 'alcopops' (sugary drinks), 'green-washing' (rebranding a product as eco-friendly) and 'octomom' (the mother of octuplets), are two Hinglish heavyweights: 'Jai Ho!' (translated as 'it is accomplished') and 'cuddies' (from 'chaddi', underwear) by The Global Language Monitor, 'the newspaper of global English' in Austin, Texas.

Though the two-word slogan has been in existance for centuries, it only came into limelight after Gulzaar Saab penned the lyrics for Slumdog Millionaire and the music maestro A R Rehmaan created the tunes that transended all boundaries and made "Jai Ho" a global phenomenon.

This will be a great feeling for every Indians to see "Jai Ho" in the English dictionary. Though this is not definitely the first Hindi word to be included in English dictionary, jungle, yoga, swastika, sari, sati, pundit, dharma, guru, this might be the first typical hindi slogan to be properly included in English lexicon.

So, "Jai Ho" Gulzaar, Rehmaan, and the entire Slumdog Millionaire team for making it such a household slogan globally and what next, maybe "Chak De" or "parvaille" or "abey gadhey" or "kutte kaminey" or "maal" or other takiya kalaam that people in India uses so frequently.

© 2009 Ranjan Kumar

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