As a language lover, I adore jotting down Indian turns of phrase in English, whether translations from Indian languages, archaic English phrases or new inventions. Indian English is a valid & charming language in its own right, so here are my favourite Indianisms in English. 1/11

1. What is your good name? The desi opening gambit. Much more polite and sweet when you're meeting someone for the umpteenth time and can't remember their name, to ask their shubh naam. 2/11

2. Timepass. A sweet word describing aimless, frivolous yet enjoyable ways you choose to spend your time. E.g. I'm watching Made in Heaven - just a timepass. 3/11

3. Do the needful. Some find it clunky but this phrase covers all manner of bureaucracies. Just cut the faff and do the needful (and then kindly revert with the same!). 4/11

4. Passing out of college. No cold flannels required - this does not mean fainting, as I initially thought, but rather graduating! 5/11

5. Click a photo. A delightfully onomatopoeic word for taking photos! 6/11

6. Eve-teasing. A serious one now - this phrase for casual sexual harassment (groping, remarks etc) draws on the idea of biblical Eve as temptress. As a result, many Indian feminists I've met argue it perpetuates victim-blaming by making sexual harassment a woman's problem. 7/11

7. Only. Used at the end of the sentence for emphasis. I am here only. I am here and nowhere else but here. We're like that only! 8/11

8. I will take your leave. You will feel so much better about finishing up an occasion early if you take someone's leave. 9/11

9. Felicitate. In India, when it comes to presenting an award, you don't just congratulate someone on their achievement, you felicitate them! So much grander. 10/11

10. And the best 'til last - prepone! Postpone's natural opposite is much more elegant than bringing forward. In a culture where postponing happens more frequently than preponing, I think this term is a reflection of the most Indian quality of all - optimism! 11/11