I am learning French via Duolingo these days, so when I type something, my keyboard sometimes gives French options instead of English ones. Such an event just happened.
I was replying to a friend in a discussion on Hindutva, and my phone gave me this (you know what I was trying to type):
J’ai Shri Ram
Now, that apostrophe is not a typo in French.
In French, J’ai means “I have.”
What I was trying to type, actually, is the newly weaponized slogan of the Hindu Right, proclaiming glory to the deity, Shri Ram: Jai Shri Ram: “Glory to Shri Ram.”
So I realized that this is a much better alternative.
If I already have Shri Ram in my heart, I don’t need to make a loud declaration proclaiming the glory of Shri Ram. After all, it is usually the thief who keeps playing up his honesty so that nobody suspects that he is the one stealing on the sly, and the philanderer who keeps professing his love to his wife so she doesn’t suspect that he is having affairs with other women.
So, when someone tells you
“Jai Shri Ram,”
Reply with
“J’ai Shri Ram.”
