Archive by Author
Coke Studio India Posted by Rachael on Apr 20, 2018
I was first introduced to the addictive phenomenon that is Coke Studio, a show that debuted on MTV in 2011, by my Pashto lecturer in college. From day one, I was hooked to Coke Studio’s infectious rhythms, beautiful lyrics and inventive blend of musical genres you would be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. In addition…
Holi Hai! Posted by Rachael on Apr 10, 2018
In honor of the increasingly popular festival, Holi (होली), now celebrated worldwide, I’ve dedicated this blog to the subject. Although Holi typically occurs in late February to early March, or the month of Phalgun (फाल्गुन) according to the Vikram Samvat Hindu calendar, it’s better late than never to talk about this popular and exuberant festival!…
Compound Verbs in Hindi: Jana/जाना (Part 3) Posted by Rachael on Apr 3, 2018
Compound verbs are VERY important in Hindi, especially the compounds formed with लेना/lenaa (to take), देना/denaa (to give) and जाना/jaanaa (to go), the latter of which I will explore today. If you haven’t yet read my earlier posts on देना/denaa compounds and लेना/lenaa compounds, I encourage you to do so before you dive in to…
Compound Verbs in Hindi: लेना/Lenaa (Part 2) Posted by Rachael on Mar 28, 2018
You’ll recall that we talked about Compound Verbs in Hindi last week. As a refresher, a compound verb is merely a (usually) two-word verb that includes a verb stem and an auxiliary verb. In a compound such as this, the auxiliary verb loses its primary meaning and, instead, adds a different shade of meaning to…
Compound Verbs in Hindi: देना/Denaa (Part 1) Posted by Rachael on Mar 21, 2018
There are many compound verbs in Hindi but, to begin, we will explore compound verbs formed with the auxiliary verb देना/denaa (to give). This and others like it are the easiest compound verbs to master and thus a good starting point for those just beginning to learn about this concept. Now, you may be wondering…
Shivrani Devi Premchand: A Shadow on The Stage Posted by Rachael on Mar 14, 2018
Most people familiar with Hindi literature (साहित्य/saahitya, masc. noun) readily recall the literary (साहित्यिक/saahityik) giant Munshi Premchand (or, Dhanpat Rai Shrivastav); yet, despite her contributions to Hindi literature and the Indian Independence movement, his wife Shivrani Devi, is much less renowned. Similarly, one of Premchand’s sons, Amrit Rai, composed a monumental biography (जीवनी/jeevani, fem. noun, or जीवन-चरित/jeevan charit…
Sridevi (1963-2018): In Memoriam Posted by Rachael on Feb 28, 2018
On February 24th, 2018, the Hindi film industry and the citizens of India lost one of their brightest stars and most lovable personas: the actress (अभिनेत्री/abhinetri, fem. noun) Sridevi passed away (गुज़र जाना/guzar jaanaa) in Dubai while visiting for her nephew’s wedding. Once they learned of her passing, people in every corner of the globe…