Indian English Primer

What is the difference between an alphabet and a letter? Many people (including some editors) confuse alphabet for letter. ‘Z’ is a letter, not an alphabet. It isn’t the alphabet Z, it is the letter Z. Alphabet is the complete character set – A to Z (or whatever, according to the script), letters are the elements within.

Here’s a primer in the alphabet (with translations in Devanagri/Hindi). Note the classic drawing style, also found in calendar art and early movie posters. Reminds me of my nursery classes. Kids (and even grownups) were as a rule – chubby, reflecting the traditional Indian preferences, until anorexic models filled magazine pages and the boob tube.