Aiyo enters the English dictionary!

Last week, I came across an article, “Aiyo makes it to the Oxford English dictionary!” English has a long history of borrowing words of Indian origin. We feel elated that our “guru” and “yoga”, “curry” and “cummerbund” are popular words in English. The latest entrant into the pantheon of Indian words in English is “Aiyo”! Aiyo is a versatile word, an exclamation used to express a variety of emotion- of lament, of disgust and even wonder!

If grandma had been around, I would have rushed to her with this piece of news! “Grandma! You know what? You know what? The word “aiyo” has made it to the English dictionary! It is now a proper English word!” Grandma would not have shared my enthusiasm one bit. She would have replied, “Aiyo! What has the world come to? We have such beautiful words in Tamil. They rejected all that and picked the most rotten word “aiyo”? Who is going to explain to this Englishman that aiyo means a call to Yama, the Lord of Death? You should never use the word. This clearly shows we are in Kali Yuga! That’s why only these words have become popular!”

I left grandma to ruminate over the current sordid state of affairs and pondered over the numerous possibilities where Aiyo would come to play. The Scripps National Spelling Bee is the most prestigious spelling competition for kids in the US. It is commonplace information- year after year, only kids of Indian origin dominate, and win over others, hands down!

The spelling bee is notorious for asking children to spell words that only Shashi Tharoor has heard of. Indian children still manage to crack the competition. A few years ago, the word “nataka” did the rounds at the competition. Non-Indian children were bamboozled by this strange word. We were shocked that kids who could spell “dilettante” and “Bouillabaisse” stumbled over the innocuous “nataka”. Of course, they wouldn’t know each day is dramatic, verily a nataka of sorts, in India!

Mark my words, in the next spelling bee competition, “aiyo” is certain to appear. The script shall go as follows. Tension writ on the face, the 10^th grader, non-Indian, American kid asks, “You mentioned Aiyo? Can I have the language of origin please?” The conductor reads out pompously, “Aiyo is of South Indian origin, mainly Tamil.” The child asks, “Can you use it in a sentence?” The conductor reads from his notes “Aiyo! It is so hot in Chennai. Aiyo! What crowd at T Nagar!” Still clueless, the child nervously questions, “Any alternate pronunciations please?” In his American accent, the conductor reads out, “Pronounced “eye-yo”. Sometimes for more emphasis, it is also pronounced as “eye-eye-yo”!” Time has now run out for the American child. He takes a random shot, “Is it I-I-Y-O?” The conductor presses the buzzer, and the hapless child is booted out of the competition.

The Indian origin child has no problem navigating through “aiyo”. Though his parents have lived in the US for decades, they have retained that combative Indian streak. It is like the street dog that has now found a luxurious home, and food aplenty, but cannot resist its native instinct to bicker and growl for a bit of bread! The Indian American parent is such. He is street smart and has mastered the ability to muscle his way through every competitive exam. Pitted against him, non-Indians don’t stand a chance. By now, he would have drilled into the head of his ward, “Aiyo is spelt A-I-Y-O. Aiyo is spelt A-I-Y-O” several times each day! “Aiyo” is that grand finale word, cracking which, the Indian kid walks away with a price money worth several thousands of dollars!

Aiyo! What has the world come to! Grandma was right!

The essay is not over. I searched the internet just now, and to my horror, “Aiyo entering the Oxford dictionary” is stale news- at least 7 years old, if not older! Another example of social media regurgitating and passing old news as though new! That makes me feel terrible!

Aiyo! Why did I write this silly article?