That brief exchange came to mind when I read of the recent ordeal of Shiraz Ali Khan, the sarod player who also straddles Brahmanbaria and Calcutta. Lingering ‘Bangal’ inflections have always been said to betray Bengalis with even distant East Bengal roots, lending some plausibility to Haldar’s comment about my speech. As a young reporter in Newcastle upon Tyne, I became familiar with similar contradictions in English, especially in Tyneside’s Geordie demonym. East London, where whole areas have been taken over by Bangladeshi youths jabbering away in the Brick Lane vernacular, confirms that Bengalis can be divided by a common language. Johnson, The Statesman’s editor in distant Calcutta, to the paper’s London office after stints on local English newspapers in Stockport and Newcastle.

Source: The Telegraph January 03, 2026 02:38 UTC