Newspaper Quotes

The papers in India have been very entertaining, if mystifying. At times, the English has been so odd - it's taken on a life of its strange Indian own - that we had to read things several times before we could make sense of the articles & sometimes just gave up! The Times of India has generally been fine but all the other papers have been very bizarre. The language is flowerey in the extreme & often very archaic, almost Dickensian. Of course, all this is heightened by the outlandish nature of some news stories here in India

Here are 2 examples from the Tribune of Himachal Pradesh.

"Sevati Devi has touched 116 years of her life & now is in the fag end of her life. Born in 1890, Sevati has been infected by many old age diseases & is almost on the bed battling between life & death. She no more recognises her family members being on bed. Had she been in her senses, she would definitely felt pride in catching the glimpse of her 6 generation."

"A superstitious family last night buried the torso of a youth, who had died due to electric shock, under the heap of cow dung for whole night in the hope that he will turn alive. On the direction of the tantrik, the family members buried the body of the deceased under a heap of cow dung in such a manner that his torso remained under the garbage & head above it. Noticing a crowd swelling in the wee hours today, the tantrik sneaked out. The police also reached the scene after some time. he body of the youth was cremated in the morning today."