Nigel Hankin

Who was Nigel Hankin?

Nigel Bathurst Hankin was brought up by his grandmother in Bexhill, Sussex. He was sent to Burma during late World War II but the war ended around the time he reached Bombay, India. He liked the bustle of the Indian Subcontinent and consequently he lived there for the rest of his life.

One of his early formative experiences was watching the crowds at the funeral for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi while he still wore the uniform of the newly defunct British Raj just after the formal Partition of India. His subsequent eclectic activities in India included running a mobile cinema. Later he worked for the British High Commission and during his tenure there he helped newcomers to India interpret the local mores and lingo. In 1992 he formally compiled his know-how into the book ""Hanklyn-Janklin"" which became well known to locals and foreigners to the Subcontinent alike. This cross cultural dictionary is what he is most well known for and many critics compare it to the 19th Century book Hobson-Jobson.

Hankin never married, had no children and kept English traits such as eating an "English Breakfast" that included cornflakes.