People from smaller towns of Central or Northern India would have inevitably been sneered at, at some time when they tried conversation in English with their known people. However, the fact is that since the beginning, almost all of non – governmental public communication content in India has been in English. Today in the digital age it is more so.

Can you succeed without learning good English in this age of digital marketing?

The year 1987: First fresher’s night in the hostel. That’s a dreadful moment. In the name of getting introduced, freshers were abused, slapped, kicked, and subjected to nasty things

The seniors had already huddled in a room and started calling in each fresher one by one. I went in. It was about 1 am.

“@#$%^***, apna introduction de…”

“Good evening sirs, I am Amit Guha and…” and CRACK went a slap across my face.

“Abey Angrez ke ****D, Hindi mey bolna nahi aata? Hamarey Rashtrabhasha ka apmaan karta hai!!!?” That night went progressively darker. Throughout the years in the hostel, I consciously avoided speaking in English. My Hindi became stronger.

Cut to December 1999. The whole world was breathlessly waiting to celebrate the incoming new millennium. Not me. I was rather miserable.

This was in the early stages of my Pharma Brand Management career where I was badly stuck in a reward less job in a large company in Bombay. I was desperate to switch from my job and had appeared in 17 interviews without success. I had also recently married.

It was the 18th interview in a company in Bombay for the position of Brand Manager. The HR manager was a young man of around 30. He looked at my CV and noticed that I am from Chattisgarh (erstwhile MP). And the interview began. The first question was particularly humiliating.

“Amitji, aap MP se hain? Mai aapse hindi mey baat karoon ya angrezi mey?” Suddenly the slap of the first fresher’s night flashed in my memory. The slap this time was harder. I felt that all those days, months, and years that I put in to, so painstakingly learn English, was sucked out of my system simply because I came from MP.

“Sir, you may continue questioning me and may stop anytime you feel that I am unable to give you a satisfying reply in English”. I told this to impress the HR manager.

Instead, he took offense.

“Ok buddy, if you think you know so much English, let us first test your English?” I could easily see that he had made up his mind to throw me out.

He pulled out a sheet of paper from the waste bin and gave it to me. The paper already had something printed on half the page. With utter disdain, he asked me to write an essay in English. I almost cried with insult. I held on. The guy had challenged me on my English. I had to win.

I completed the essay in about 20 minutes, good 25 minutes before time. It was an essay on Mahatma Gandhi

In words, just enough to fit the blank space, I wrote in English why marketing cannot succeed without communication. And why I felt that Mahatma Gandhi, who with his superb communication skills mobilized India towards one objective of freedom, is the best marketing person that India has produced.

The HR Manager took the sheet inside to his boss’s chamber along with several other official files and folders. I meanwhile, began to put my documents in my bag and got ready to leave.

“Is this your handwriting?” This was not the HR manager but a stylish elderly man. He had just emerged from the chamber and held out the paper on which I had written the essay.

He was the Vice – President HR.

I landed the job.

Today when I think about the incident, I feel that the day left me with several learning.

One, English was, is, and shall remain the most powerful language in India for communication for some more time to come. Today, sadly almost 99% of the Indian Websites are in English. You MUST have good English Skills to make a pan – India mark in communication. There you have no choice.

Two, though not always, English opens doors faster than your other talents. Remember, the HR manager did not ask a single question on marketing.

Third, keep it short. I had just a page and a half to make an essay.

Fourth, keep it fresh. Give a twist to routine communication. See the impact it has.