English Is India’s Best Kept Secret | Sumanto Chattopadhyay | Ep 271 | The Mohua Show

This episode of The Mohua Show is a rich, reflective conversation about language, creativity, class, and what it means to reclaim authorship in systems built around approval and hierarchy.

Author, actor, and creator Sumanto Chattopadhyay speaks with humour and honesty about his journey from advertising to independent creative life — and why becoming his own client was both a creative necessity and a risk. What began as frustration with pitching ideas that led nowhere gradually evolved into The English Nut: a passion project driven not by algorithms or audience metrics, but by love for language.

From the loneliness and uncertainty of leaving a structured industry, to sustaining himself through multiple creative streams — this episode traces how creative survival often lies in refusing to be just one thing.

Through stories of slang, colonial history, and everyday speech, the conversation reveals how language is never neutral.

What this episode is REALLY about:

Not grammar rules.
Not linguistic elitism.
Not nostalgia for “correct” English.

It’s about:

• Creative independence — becoming your own client
• Life after advertising — fear, freedom, and reinvention
• Broken English — dignity over mockery
• Curiosity-driven work — passion over performance metrics
• Slang and youth culture — how language evolves
• English in India — identity, politics, and belonging
• Creative survival — being more than one thing

If you’ve ever felt boxed in by systems that reward conformity, questioned about why English provokes both aspiration and resentment in India, this episode will change how you think about language, work, and identity.