IELTS

Since it was important for her to fetch for her family, Mary decided to go abroad, leaving her receptionist job and a toddler behind.

Now in Kottayam, amidst the rubber estates, Mary spoke English only at night, when her favourite movies came on screen. Then, she'd mouth them word after word—a habit she picked up as a teenager.

The thing about middle-class women is that they are never allowed to speak unless they are fluent—in languages. In decisions. In life. 

So every time she wished to say 'I'm completely discombobulated,' she chose to say 'maduthu.'

After six months of practice, it was time for the IELTS test. Mary walked into a dingy office room, breathed in deep and kissed her rosary. She forgot about an entire month's salary that had gone into the test and began summoning thoughts in English. The words tried to wriggle through like enemies through barbed wire. But as she panicked over the English she was to listen to, her mother tongue crawled up from the depths of her heart.

An hour later, it was clear. Mary had lost her money. And her dream.

For she kept screaming "avante ammede English."