Many times we have seen people debating over the matter of using he/she or his/her for the writing or speaking purposes as they feel that the use of he/his is insulting towards the female gender. This has resulted in increasing demand of using she/her for the writing purposes especially and due to this, the veteran Bollywood lyricist-writer Javed Akhtar has come up with two words which are gender neutral so that equal respect is given to both the genders. The two words that are invented by Javed Akhtar are HESH for he/she and SHIM for him/her.
Javed Akhtar took to the micro-blogging site Twitter and wrote, “In any speech article or conversation to give equal respect to both the genders we constantly say and write he / she and Him or her. Why can’t we invent two words like for he/she – HESH and for him/ her – SHIM”.
In any speech article or conversation to give equal respect to both the genders we constantly say and write he / she and Him or her . Why can’t we invent two words like for he/she – HESH and for him/ her – SHIM
— Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) July 10, 2021
Soon the tweet went viral and people started reminding the lyricist that there are already “they/them” words in the English language which are gender neutral. Some Twitterati objected by saying that he is identifying only two genders and there are some who are not a part of both these genders while several others troll Javed Akhtar, saying that the old man has lost it.
Here are some selected reactions:
#1
How does he assume there are only two genders people identify themselves with? What about gender fluid people? https://t.co/viH2oN3AVt
— Nirwa Mehta (@nirwamehta) July 10, 2021
#2
I wasn’t expecting to laugh out loud by the time I got to the end of this tweet.
— Ishita Yadav (@IshitaYadav) July 10, 2021
#3
https://twitter.com/lesbianamu/status/1413784151459655680
#4
Sir uber Urdu lyricist, you should stick to what you are doing and try not to reinvent the wheel 🤣 pic.twitter.com/xcrPsGIq1k
— Tushar ॐ♫₹ (@Tushar_KN) July 10, 2021
#5
Khali dimaag, shaitan ka ghar javed saab. Kuch naye gaanein wageirah likh lo, bahut din ho gaye aapka naya gaana sune huye
— Pog pung (@tadka_dal) July 10, 2021
#6
get so close to the point and miss it entirely xD.
— grey (@bharatatouille) July 10, 2021
#7
Javed Saab ..you write good lyrics ..you are known for that. Not for changing things which is not required
— TheCorporateLady🇮🇳 (@PallaviJaiswal0) July 10, 2021
#8
Or, for Him / He / Her / She, we can also say HIMESH https://t.co/KMxuAa7i66 pic.twitter.com/rCQWpwI6oQ
— Keh Ke Peheno (@coolfunnytshirt) July 10, 2021
#9
I identify myself as Dr Ortho ghutne ka tel 50 ml bottle. I want separate pronouns for myself in the constitution.
— THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) July 10, 2021
#10
No need .Coz both the genders are not equal.What we need is respect for the other as a human being.Things will get automatically sorted out.Respect originates in mind not language.
Changing he/she to hesh cannot change the lot of a gender.
Senility has one definition 😆.— Shikha Kapoor Rajpal🇮🇳 (@Shiks33075327) July 10, 2021
#11
There's this incredible word that was created. Its called "they" try using it sometimes.
— Harshith (@hannu_hampalu) July 10, 2021
#12
We do not need gender equality in conversation but in mind and in behavior.
— Padmaja 🇮🇳 (@prettypadmaja) July 10, 2021
#13
'Them' literally exists. Aren't you a writer
— p, my seven💜 (@bierotica) July 10, 2021
#14
https://twitter.com/Indicbloke/status/1413809044553224203
#15
you should try your luck with the Oxford dictionary to seek their acceptance & inclusion of this profound idea sir!
— Revathi Basanth (@Revathi_Basanth) July 10, 2021
Do let us know what you think of Javed Akhtar’s invention and whether you agree with him over the two words suggested by him or not.
