Uttarayan and the Kite Festival Posted by Nitya on Jan 22, 2018
Indians are celebrating a festival (tyauhaar) pretty much every month in the year. January is the the time of the harvest festival Pongal in South India. In Maharashtra and parts of Western India, the same day heralds Makar Sankranti , while different parts of North India welcomes this festival as Lohri and Baisakhi , among other harvest…
More Reading Comprehension in Hindi Posted by Rachael on Jan 17, 2018
This week, let’s continue to work on our reading comprehension skills with the third part of Mahadevi Varma’s (महादेवी वर्मा) short story, “Sister-in-Law” (Bhabhi/भाभी) from her collection of stories in Glimpses of the Past (अतीत के चलचित्र) (read parts 1 and 2 here). Like last time, try to read only the Hindi text first and…
More Idiomatic Phrases Posted by Nitya on Jan 15, 2018
Let’s learn some more figurative language today. In a previous blog we explored a few idiomatic phrases or (Hindi muhaavre). Let’s see if you remember them and their usage. Match Column A with the correct usage according to the context described in Column B. Post your answers in the comments section below. Column A Column B a1)…
Reading Comprehension in Hindi Posted by Rachael on Jan 15, 2018
This week, let’s return to where we left off last time with Mahadevi Varma’s (महादेवी वर्मा) short story “भाभी/Bhaabi” (“Sister-in-Law”), from her collection of memoirs entitled अतीत के चलचित्र/Ateet ke Chalchitra (Glimpses of the Past). If you haven’t yet read Part 1, you can do so here. Even if your priorities in learning Hindi do…
Mahadevi Varma, Revisited Posted by Rachael on Jan 8, 2018
जैसे आप लोगों को शायद याद है, कई महीनों पहले मैंने महादेवी वर्मा, एक बहुत मशहूर भारतीय लेखिका और कवि, के बारे में पोस्ट लिखा था (आप लोग इसे पढ़ सकते हैं, यहाँ) । लेकिन, महादेवी जी इतनी मशहूर हैं और इतने अच्छे तरीके से लिखती हैं कि एक ही ब्लॉग का पोस्ट उनके लिए…
The Freedom of a Child Posted by Rachael on Jan 6, 2018
Child labor (बाल मजदूरी/baal majdoori, fem. or बाल श्रम/baal shram, masc.) in India is a pervasive problem with a long history. In more recent times, this issue has come into sharper focus as developed nations have enacted stricter laws (कानून/kaanoon, masc.) against child labor, which often entail mandatory education (शिक्षा/shikshaa, fem.) up to a certain…
New Year’s Wishes and Resolutions Posted by Nitya on Dec 31, 2017
It’s that time of the year … to bid goodbye to the old year and welcome the new year. साल का वह वक़्त आ गया है — पुराने साल को बिदा करने का और नये साल का स्वागत करने का। (Saal ka vah waqt aa gaya hai — puraane saal ko bida karne ka aur naye saal…