Hindi Language Blog

As you may know from my previous post on the topic, I’m a big fan (प्रशंसक/prashansak) of Coke Studio. I especially enjoy folk music (लोक संगीत/lok sangeet) as it is performed on the show and recently came across a folk artist from Rajasthan, Mame Khan (ममे खान), who is remarkable for his talent, unabashed dedication to…

Continue reading

India’s newest claim to fame is the Statue of Unity which was unveiled and inaugurated (udghaatan karna/उद्घाटन करना) by Prime Minister (pradhaan mantri/प्रधान मंत्री) Narendra Modi on October 31, 2018. The Statue of Unity is a statue (pratima/प्रतिमा) of Vallabhbhai Patel, who hailed from India’s western state of Gujarat. Vallabhbhai Patel was a barrister (vakeel/वकील),…

Continue reading

Most, if not all, countries (देश/desh, masc.) in the world have multiple names (विभिन्न नाम/vibhinn naam, masc.) depending on which language (भाषा/bhaashaa, fem. or ज़बान/zabaan, fem.) you are using: for example, Deutschland vs. Germany, España vs. Spain and Éireann vs. Ireland, etc. Similarly, the story of India’s many coexisting names is fascinating and complex in…

Continue reading

All over the world, each culture has its own ways of making sense of death (मृत्यु or मौत), the afterlife and supernatural phenomena. India, of course, is no exception. In my last blog, I discussed the tales from Baital Pachisi (बेताल पच्चीसी), a collection of stories about the mythical king Vikramaditya and his quest to…

Continue reading

As Halloween is one of my favorite holidays (मनपसंद त्योहार/manpasand tyohaar), and I’ve been fascinated with ghost stories since I was a child, I thought I would share an Indian “ghost story,” if you will, in honor of the upcoming (आनेवाला/aanevaalaa) holiday. When I was a teenager, I came across a collection of tales (कथाएँ/kathaaen…

Continue reading