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Happy Birthday! Posted by Nitya on Mar 12, 2017
जन्मदिन की शुभकामनाएँ. Happy Birthday! Every time I hear of someone turning a year older, I can’t help, but recall this evergreen melody. Although the mood of the song is light and cheerful, it also laments the dreary nature of adulthood. ” हम भी अगर बच्चे होते नाम हमारा होता गबलू बबलू, खाने को मिलते…
Onomatopoeias through Bollywood Lens Posted by Nitya on Mar 2, 2017
When I was at grocery store today, buying bitter gourd करेला (karela), green bell peppers शिमला मिर्च (Shimla mirch), and carrots गाजर (gaajar) the popular Bollywood number (from the movie Mohra featuring Raveena Tandon and Akshay Kumar, was sizzling over the speakers. … “Tip-tip barsa paani टिप टिप बरसा पानी … .” (Tip-tip denotes the sound of…
Verb Tenses II: Present Progressive … and More on the Simple Present Posted by Nitya on Feb 18, 2017
Last week पिछले हफ्ते (pichhlay haftay), we looked at construction of the simple present tense सामान्य वर्त्तमान काल (saamaanya vartamaan kaal) for regular verbs क्रिया (kriya). However, instead of moving to the simple past tense, I thought it would be useful to learn the present continuous/progressive तात्कालिक वर्त्तमान काल (taatkalik vartamaan) tense. As its name denotes, the तात्कालिक वर्त्तमान काल…
Verb Tenses I: Simple Present Posted by Nitya on Feb 9, 2017
In Hindi, tenses are known as काल (kaal). Past tense is known as भूतकाल (bhoot kaal). Present tense is known as वर्त्तमान काल (vartamaan kaal). Future tense is called भविष्यत् काल (bhavishya kaal). Like English, there are several types of each tense. Let us begin with the simple present tense or सामान्य वर्त्तमान काल (saamaanya vartamaan kaal). The infinitive form…
वर्णन करना : To Describe Posted by Nitya on Jan 27, 2017
Varnan karna. When I teach writing to children लेखन (lekhan), I find that they struggle most with recalling and using descriptive words वर्णात्मक शब्द (varnaatmuk shubd). They have no trouble coming up with complicated पेचीदा (pay-cheeda) stories कहानियाँ (ka-haaniyaan). However, it is a constant challenge to offer detailed विस्तृत (vistrut) written sketches of characters पात्र (paatra) and accounts of scenes दृश्य (drishya). After all, a…
गरम चाय की प्याली हो … Posted by Nitya on Jan 23, 2017
Garam chai ki pyaali ho … Aah, now if only I had a cup of hot chai … The history of tea is thousands of years old. Yet the humble cup of tea remains till date a beverage that can embody hospitality, provide relaxation from a tired day, be an excuse to meet and catch up…
व्यायाम, कसरत, और खेल कूद Posted by Nitya on Jan 14, 2017
Vyaayaam, kasrat, aur khel kood. Exercise and sports. Note: सोमवार से मेरी तबीयत ठीक नहीं थी … ज़ुकाम, बुखार, वगैरह। इस कारण मैं समय पर ब्लॉग लिख नहीं सकी। क्षमा चाहती हूँ। (Somvaar se meri tabiyat theek nahin thii … zukaam, bukhaar, vagairah. Is kaaran main sum-aye par blog likh nahin saki. Kshama chaahti hoon. I have…