Romesh Ranganathan

So then they became obsessed with the idea that if they spoke Tamil around the house, that we, for some reason, when we spoke English, we would have an accent, which is obviously not true because so many of my friends had like, you know, I've got loads of Indian friends who their parents are speaking their mother tongue around them and they can speak both languages.

And so my mum and dad never spoke Tamil around us, never taught us.

And now my mum is deeply furious with me that I can't speak Tamil.

So that's where I'm at.

That sounds about right.

Yeah.

Yeah, I know.

So the theory wasn't true, but my mom's really annoyed about it.

And then she wanted me to learn later on, and then I just didn't.

So she's, you know, it's bad.

It's a tricky language.

It is tricky, and...

It's led to a lot of embarrassment, to be honest with you.

It's like whenever I go to a Sri Lankan restaurant, they assume that you can speak Tamil.

And then you have to go, I'm really sorry.

And then they go, how come?

And you go, when my parents, when they first came over, they had this thing about...

Like, they wanted us to really fit in.

And then they go, that's a shame.

And I go, yeah, it is.