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Commemorating the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Posted by Rachael on Apr 14, 2019
This past Saturday, April 13th, marked the 100th anniversary of the massacre (हत्याकांड/hatyaakaand) at Jallianwala Bagh (जलियांवाला बाग़, baag=garden) that occurred on this date in the year 1919. It was in this public garden (बाग़/baag, बग़ीचा/bageechaa) in Amritsar (in the then-province of Punjab) that General Reginald Dyer, an officer in the British Indian Army, directed…
Learning Hindi by Watching TV Posted by Rachael on Apr 6, 2019
As you probably know, Netflix, Amazon and other companies interested in getting in on the streaming game have been buying up English and foreign-language content left and right, in a frenzy (उन्माद/unmaad) to obtain the best and most varied array of TV shows and movies available. Hindi language content is no exception (अपवाद/apvaad). Compared to…
Superwoman Has Arrived Posted by Rachael on Apr 3, 2019
सुपरवुमन पहुँच गई है । Anyone who watches YouTube is probably familiar with the name Lilly Singh. Recently, NBC announced that Singh, whom Forbes declared as one of the highest-earning (सबसे ज़्यादा कमाने वाली/sabse zyaada kamaane vaali. In this sentence: सबसे ज़्यादा कमाने वालों में से एक है) YouTube stars in 2017, will be hosting…
Celebrating Spring in Hindi Posted by Rachael on Mar 27, 2019
As many of you know, Holi/होली was celebrated by countless people around the world this past Wednesday and Thursday (March 20th-21st). Rather than writing another blog about this festival, which celebrates the arrival of spring, the triumph of good over evil (that is, the ascendance of humility, faithfulness and truth over ego and deception) and…
The Christchurch Tragedy Posted by Rachael on Mar 20, 2019
Along with countless others around the world (दुनिया/duniyaa), I was shocked and saddened to hear of the tragedy (त्रासदी/traasdi) that occurred in New Zealand this past Friday (शुक्रवार/shukravaar) (March 15, 2019). Hearing some of the survivors on the radio, I recognized Pakistani and Indian worshippers who narrowly escaped death (मौत/maut) during this tragic incident (घटना/ghatnaa)…
Untranslatable Words in Hindi Posted by Rachael on Mar 14, 2019
There’s no denying that this is a popular topic, whatever language you are discussing. As one would expect, Hindi possesses quite a few “untranslatable” words and concepts. In this context, “untranslatable” means simply that, at times, Hindi’s lexicon resists simple (“one-word”) translation into English. In this blog, let’s look at a few of these “puzzling”…
Learning Hindi through Poetry Posted by Rachael on Mar 7, 2019
Literature can be a powerful way to learn a new language. Although, at the most basic levels of language learning, the student may at first focus on simple vocabulary and grammatical structures, these are not what gives a language its depth and vibrancy. Particularly in South Asian culture, which has a rich oral and literary…