Do you speak Englizh?

Paridhi Mundra’s illustration for the cover of Broken Englizh

A design consultant and visual storyteller, Ravista Mehra's enquiry into the word ‘decolonisation' to make sense of its magnitude resulted in an ongoing collection of personal narratives by people from across the world. Titled Broken Englizh and launched in November 2020, the project chronicles stories related to identity, culture, racism, and inequality, written in contributors' mother languages along with an English translation by Mehra. She tells us, "The collection is an effort to gather stories from people that might have not been told before, either because they didn't think it was important to tell or because others didn't think it important to listen or read."

One of her illustrations for Broken Plates

Broken Englizh uses language as the first step to reversing the impact of colonisation and taking back the narrative from an outside and prejudiced perception of another culture and people. This aim begins with the project's name, deconstructing the tyrannical ideas of ‘correct English' and the importance one language is given over others. The fact that India has the world's second-largest English-speaking population loses its meaning when Mehra writes down her experiences living in America, in her story part of the project, "I did not speak ‘Indian' because it is not a language. I spoke fluent English, because the British colonised India."

Ravista Mehra

Each story pushes back on stereotypical expectations and narratives; it is a staging and cementing of identity through individual voices and lived experiences. The 26-year-old says, "I believe it is the smaller, personal, seemingly insignificant stories that have the power to humanise, empower and repair the broken dignity of a larger people or place."

A visual synonym of the stories is represented in another vertical within the project - Broken Plates, directed by Mehra and illustrated by Paridhi Mundra. The art is symbolic of the West's preoccupation with memorabilia - commemorative fine cutlery, and the project's aim to break preconceptions. Mehra adds, "The plate being broken symbolises how there is no one narrative that deserves to be the token story for any place or people. Each story deserves its own plate, and each assumption deserves to be shattered."