Upendranath Ashk: Rebel, Misfit, Iconoclast (Part 1) Posted by Rachael on Aug 28, 2017
Speaking of egotistical and notoriously temperamental writers (ahem…Sahir Ludhianvi), perhaps no name is as infamous as that of Upendranath Ashk (उपेन्द्रनाथ अश्क)…that is, for those who know his name at all. The reason he is little known perhaps has a great deal to do with the fact that he is almost never assigned in Hindi…
The Total Solar Eclipse Posted by Nitya on Aug 23, 2017
On Monday, August 21 2017, scores of people across North America momentarily held their breath as they put on viewing goggles to witness the total solar eclipse संपूर्ण सूर्यग्रहण (sampoorna surya grahan). Those who were not lucky enough to live near the path of the total solar eclipse, traveled from near and far to witness the…
The Meaning of the Monsoon Posted by Rachael on Jul 31, 2017
In North India, monsoon season lasts roughly from July to August and is colloquially known as “saawan” (सावन, masc. noun, which is also the name of the 5th month of the Indian calendar). In the semi-desert state of Rajasthan, where I used to live, this season is understandably greeted with anticipation and joy. Mangoes are…
Hindi: India’s National Language? Posted by Rachael on Jul 31, 2017
हिंदी: इंडिया की राष्ट्रभाषा? You can be sure that if a particular topic (विषय/vishay, masc. noun) has aroused enough controversy (विवाद/vivaad, masc. noun) to be the subject of numerous books and articles, it is by no means a foregone conclusion. The question of Hindi as India’s national language is just such a topic. Those who…
Navigating Gender in Hindi (Part 2) Posted by Rachael on Jul 25, 2017
In part 1 of this blog series on gender in Hindi, I discussed gender as it relates to each word’s source language, with the language of focus being Sanskrit. In this post, I’ll talk about a few more source languages and how they dictate gender: Persian, Arabic and English! Persian and Arabic Nouns Persian and…
Mushrooming Neighborhoods Posted by Nitya on Jul 20, 2017
I’m currently traveling in India and my work brings me to a relatively newer sprawl of the Bengaluru city (shahar). This area , (yeh jagah) which has mushroomed (panapaa hai) as a response to the IT industry, is peppered with paying guest accommodations. Every morning (har subah) a veritable ocean of young professionals in the IT…
Navigating Gender in Hindi (Part 1) Posted by Rachael on Jul 17, 2017
Many languages have a system of gender, which is basically just an organizational tool for separating words into masculine, feminine and sometimes, neuter, categories. In essence, it is an attempt to further “anthropomorphize” language, which is already such an intimate human creation. If you have studied a Romance language before, for example, you’ll know that…