Why is India Resisting the American Spelling Takeover! 💜

Why is India Still ‘Organising’ Instead of ‘Organizing’?

From Macaulay to MS Word | The Evolution of Indian English

#newspaperinlearning #reflections

17th April 2026

One cursory look at any English-language Newspaper or Magazine or Journal or Magazine, or Government communication printed all across India, and you are prone to find the ‘S’ that has gained significant traction over the ‘Z’ – Something that the Indian Print Media has been so faithfully and consistently following all along, till date!

Be it behaviour instead of behavior, humour over humor, centre instead of center, theatre instead of theater, apologise instead of apologize, organise instead of organize, jewellery instead of jewelry, defence instead of defense, catalogue instead of catalog, cheque instead of check, plough instead of plow, tyre instead of tire, pyjamas instead of pajamas, travelling instead of traveling,

the difference is indeed like chalk and cheese! 😊

In my classes too, I have students asking me this same question over the years!

Sir, do we use ‘s’ or ‘z’? Do we go with ‘colour’ or ‘color’?

Well, this prominent use of British spelling conventions (like “colour,” “flavour,” and “organisation”) in the Indian press, Indian academia and government is primarily a direct result of India’s historical and educational trajectory.

Here are the main reasons this “standardisation” has endured over the decades, across generations!

The foundation of English education in India was laid by the British during the colonial era, most notably formalised by Thomas Babington Macaulay's 1835 “Minute on Indian Education.”

The British established schools, universities, and administrative systems that naturally utilised the spelling, grammar, and vocabulary of the British Isles.

One reason why modern Indian education boards (like the CBSE, ICSE, and various state boards) continue to officially mandate British English in their text books, and students are traditionally taught using the Oxford or Cambridge dictionaries as the definitive standards.

So naturally, the spelling learned in the classroom becomes the spelling used in schools, colleges and universities, professional journalism and in the world of publishing as well.

Many of India’s oldest and most respected English-language newspapers (such as The Times of India, The Hindu, and The Statesman) also use the British spelling, as they were either established during the British Raj or founded by British expatriates. And hence we find that, their foundational editorial style guides were almost always built on British norms by default!

That’s hence, in order to maintain consistency, authority, and institutional voice, for probity and propriety sake, modern newsrooms have carefully cherished, nurtured and preserved these rules for generations.

In addition, the Indian bureaucracy, civil services, and judicial system have also been modeled oops modelled heavily on British institutions. Legal drafting, parliamentary records, and official government documents have been continuously maintaining British spelling conventions since independence.

Standardising a nation’s written language is a massive work of epic proportions. In case, India transitions away from UK spellings, it would mean a synchronised overhaul of millions of textbooks, legal codes, government forms, and editorial guidelines. That would also mean that, if in case this transition happens, very soon, in about 10 years’ time, all our existing archives, our official circulars, documents and literature might become obsolete or ‘trash’ to the upcoming generations, as they cannot relate with the ‘archaic English’ – much like we cannot relate with Chaucer’s English today!

Linguists use the term “Orthographic Conservatism” or ‘Linguistic Inertia’ to connote this resistance to ‘spelling change!’

However, although the print press and formal institutions remain resolutely aligned with UK spelling, American English is quietly creeping into informal digital communication and corporate environments in India, because of the fact that, MS Word processors and smartphones almost always set the US English as default!

That’s hence the witty, ol’ saying –

The devil is in the defaults! 😊