I think English was the best thing that happened to India. This belief was reiterated during a recent trip to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. There was no way of communicating with the driver and the respective locals, other than by using English words. English has seeped so much in our daily lives that it goes unnoticed now.
My domestic servant uses words like "late", "tension", " right-left", "finish" and many such more. I am quite amused I must say. She cannot read or identify a single alphabet of the English language. In spite of this, there is a good chance of her becoming decently fluent in the so-not-"phoren"-any-more- language. If she is exposed to more English speaking people, she will definitely grasp many such operational words. I think, for her that is a sufficient level, since she is not aiming to become a blue-collared worker any time.