The South Asian region as a whole is characterized by considerable linguistic plurality as demonstrated by the magnitude of functional heterogeneity in language use. The sociocultural and sociolinguistic boundaries are not as clearly marked in India as they are in some parts of the West. In India where multilingualism is more of a norm than exception, factors such as historic association among certain languages through contact, language accreditation by the State, the identity aspirations of speech communities, prestige associated with a variety seem to determine the nature of multilingualism, which in recent years is increasingly being undermined by the spread of English language through education. Having realized the need for new non-western conceptual frameworks to study cognitive aspects of multilingualism in India, we have designed a language-use questionnaire and administered to 250 residents of Hyderabad city in the age range, 20-30 years. This paper discusses preliminary observations on the choices made by the participants, using the rating scales provided in the questionnaire, on their use of Telugu, Hindi-Urdu (Dakkhini) and English in intimate, informal and formal domains.