While talking to my mom on the phone the other day, she and I began reminiscing about our hilarious and, at times, perilous adventures in India. She came to visit me for two weeks in the Spring of 2013 while I was living in Jaipur studying Hindi. As an American, traveling to India for the first time (and even subsequent times) can be difficult because of the immense culture shock awaiting you there.

Almost everywhere you go, the crowds of people, melange of smells and sights (some good, some not so good) and the sheer nightmare that is local transportation can leave you feeling exhilarated, dizzy, confused and exhausted, all at the same time. For me as well, traveling to and living in India has always been a mixture of intense emotions, which I recall now with equally potent nostalgia. During my mom’s visit, we visited six towns and cities together: Jaipur/जयपुर (of course), New Delhi/नयी दिल्ली (the capital or राजधानी/Raajdhaani of India), Chandigarh/चंडीगढ़ (in the Northwestern state of Punjab/पंजाब, which borders Rajasthan/राजस्थान), McLeod Ganj/मकलॉड गंज (where the Dalai Lama lives), Dharmshala/धर्मशाला (both this town and McLeod Ganj are in the Northern state of Himachal Pradesh/हिमाचल प्रदेश) and Amritsar/अमृतसर (also in Punjab).

Read the dialogue below carefully to find out more about our adventures in North India:

माँ: कैसी हो, रेचल? आज क्या किया?

Kaisi ho, Rachael? Aaj kyaa kiya?

How are you, Rachael? What did you do today?

 

रेचल: ठीक हूँ, माँ । आज बस काम किया मैंने । तुम बताओ, कैसी हो?

Thik huun, Ma. Aaj bas kaam kiyaa maine. Tum batao, kaisi ho?  

I’m alright, Mom. Today I just worked. Tell (me), how are you?

 

माँ: मैं भी अच्छी हूँ । आज किसी वजह से मुझे हमारे इंडिया के सफ़र की याद आ रही थी ।

Main bhi acchi huun. Aaj kisi vajah se mujhe hamaare India ke safar ki yaad aa rahi thi.

I’m also well. Today for some reason I was recalling our trip to India.

 

रेचल: अच्छा ? क्या क्या याद आया?

Accha? Kya kya yaad aaya?

(Oh) really? What all did you remember?

 

माँ: पहले, मकलॉड गंज से चंडीगढ़ तक वाले बस का सफ़र । बहुत भयानक था! बस इतने ऊँचे पहाड़ से इतनी तेज़ी से चल रही थी । तुमने मुझे मेरी आँख़ेँ बन्द करने को कहा लेकिन (मैं) अपनी आँखें बन्द नहीं कर पायी!

Pehle, McLeod Ganj se Chandigarh tak vale bus kaa safar. Bahut bhayaanak tha! Bus itne unche pahaar se itni tezi se chal rahi thi. Tumne mujhe meri aankhe band karne ko kahaa lekin (main) apni aankhe band nahin kar paayi!    

First, (I remembered) the bus trip from McLeod Ganj to Chandigarh. It was very terrifying! The bus was traveling on such a high mountain at such a fast pace. You told me to shut my eyes but I wasn’t able to (shut them)!

 रेचल (हँस रही है): हाँ, मुझे भी उस सफ़र की याद है, थोड़ा मज़ेदार भी था । लेकिन अच्छा हुआ कि अंत में हम चंडीगढ़ पहुँच गयीं ।

(Hans rahi hai): Haan, mujhe bhi us safar ki yaad hai, thoraa mazedaar bhi thaa. Lekin accha huaa ki ant me hum Chandigarh pahuch gayin.

(laughing): Yes, I also remember that trip, it was sort of fun too. But it’s good that, in the end, we arrived in Chandigarh.

 

माँ: हाँ, लेकिन जब बस रुक गयी, हमने देखा कि किसी को हमारी बस के ठीक पीछे उलटी आयी थी, जहाँ से हमें अपना सामान लेना था !

Haan, lekin jab bus ruk gayi, humne dekha ki kisi ko hamaari bus ke thik piche ulti aayi thi, jahaan se hume apnaa saamaan lenaa tha!

Yes, but when the bus stopped, we saw that someone had thrown up right behind our bus, where we had to get our luggage from!

 

रेचल (फिर से हँस रही है): हाँ, हाँ मुझे याद है लेकिन मुझे लगता है कि वह (उलटी) हमारे पहले की बस से थी, हमारी बस से नहीं । यह भी याद है कि बस से उतरकर हमने रिक्शा पकड़ ली और रिक्शा में बैठने के ठीक बाद वह रिक्शावाला हमें मनाने लगा कि हमें दूसरे होटल में ठहरना चाहिए ।

(Phir se hans rahi hai): Haan, haan mujhe yaad hai lekin mujhe lagta hai ki voh (ulti) humare pehle ki bus se thi, humaari bus se nahin. Yah bhi yaad hai ki bus se utarkar humne rickshaw pakar li aur rickshaw me baithne ke thik baad voh rickshawvala hume manaane lagaa ki hume dusre hotel me thehernaa chaahiye.  

(Laughing again): Yes, yes I remember (that) but I think that that (vomit) was from the bus before us, not from our bus. I also remember that we got down from the bus and caught a rickshaw and right after we sat down in the rickshaw, that rickshawvala (rickshaw driver) started convincing us that we should stay in another hotel.

 

माँ: हाँ, उस पर मुझे डर लग रहा था कि कहीं हम अपने होटल पहुँच ना पायें ।

Haan, us par mujhe dar lag rahaa thaa ki kahin hum apne hotel pahuch na payen.

Yes, I was afraid (at that) that somehow we wouldn’t be able to reach our hotel.

 

रेचल: पर, अंत में, हम सुबह के करीब ढाई बजे पहुँच गयीं । हमारे सफ़र की तुम्हारी पसंदीदा जगह कौनसी थी ?

Par, ant me, hum subah ke karib dhai baje pahuch gayin. Humare safar ki tumhaari pasandeedaa jagah kaunsi thi?

But, in the end we arrived at about 2:30 in the morning. What was your favorite place that we went to on our trip?

 

माँ: मेरे ख़्याल से, मकलॉड गंज बहुत सुन्दर जगह थी, लेकिन वहाँ आने और जाने में बहुत दिक़्क़तें थीं और वहाँ पर मज़े करने के लिए बहुत ज़्यादा नहीं था, चलने और ट्रेक्किंग करने के अलावा । मुझे लगता है कि अमृतसर मेरी पसंदीदा जगह थी ।

Ma: Mere khyaal se, McLeod Ganj bahut sundar jagah thi, lekin vahaan aane aur jaane me bahut dikkaten thin aur vahaan par maze karne ke liye bahut zyaadaa nahin thaa, chalne aur trekking karne ke alaavaa. Mujhe lagtaa hai ki Amritsar meri pasandeedaa jagah thi.  

Mom: In my opinion, McLeod Ganj was a very beautiful place, but there was a lot of inconvenience (troubles) in coming and going there and there was not a lot to do for fun there, besides walking and trekking (hiking). I think that Amritsar was my favorite place.

 

रेचल: अच्छा ? क्यों इतना पसंद आया ?

Accha? Kyoon itna pasand aaya?

Really? Why did you like it (Amritsar) so much?

 

माँ: वहाँ के लोग बहुत मिलनसार थे और खाना भी बहुत अच्छा था ! अमृतसर के एक मॉल में पहली बार मैंने पानी पूरी (गोल गप्पे) और दूसरे चाट चख लिये; बहुत मज़ा आया !

Vahaan ke log bahut milansaar the aur khaanaa bhi bahut accha tha! Amritsar ke ek mall me pehli baar maine paani puri (gol gappe) aur dusre chaat chak liye; bahut mazaa aaya!

The people there were very friendly and the food (also) was very good! In a mall in Amritsar, I tried/tasted paani puri (gol gappe) and other types of chaat for the first time; it was a lot of fun!

 

रेचल: और Golden Temple (स्वर्ण मन्दिर) के बारे में तुम्हारे क्या ख़्याल हैं?

Aur Golden Temple (Svarn Mandir) ke baare me tumhaare kyaa khyaal hain? 

And what do you think (what are your thoughts) about the Golden Temple?

माँ: हाँ, वह भी बहुत ही सुन्दर था हालाँकि बारिश के बाद वहाँ जाने में मेरे पैंट्स खराब हो गये । तुम्हें कौनसा शहर सबसे पसंद आया?

Haan, voh bhi bahut hi sundar tha halaanki baarish ke baad vahaan jaane me mere pants kharaab ho gaye. Tumhe kaunsa sheher sabse pasand aaya?  

Yes, that was also very beautiful even though, after the rain, my pants got ruined going there. Which city did you like the best?

 

रेचल: मुझे भी अमृतसर सबसे अच्छा लगा, शायद हम आगे चलकर वहाँ एक और सफ़र कर लेंगी !

Mujhe bhi Amritsar sabse accha lagaa; shaayad hum aage chalkar vahaan ek aur safar kar lengi! 

I also liked Amritsar the best; maybe we’ll take another trip there in the future!

 

माँ: शायद…

Shaayad…

Maybe…

 

Vocabulary List (शब्दावली की सूची/Shabdaavali ki Soochi):

1. राजधानी/Rajdhaani (fem. noun): capital city.
2. X की याद आना/X ki yaad aanaa (verb): to remember something (x is the thing/person that is remembered and the person who does the remembering is followed by को/ko).
3. सफ़र (masc. noun): trip; to take a trip is सफ़र करना/safar karnaa. Another word for “trip” in Sanskritized Hindi is “यात्रा/yaatraa” (fem. noun); similarly, यात्रा करना/yaatraa karnaa=to take a trip or travel.
4. किसी वजह से/Kisi vajah se (adverb): for some reason, वजह (fem. noun) means “reason.”
5. भयानक (adjective): terrible, horrible, frightening.
6. आँखें बन्द करना/Aankhe band karnaa (verb): to close/shut the eyes. Remember, आँखें/aankhe is a feminine noun.
7. पहाड़/Pahaar (masc. noun): mountain.
8. मज़ेदार/Mazedaar (adjective): fun, entertaining.
9. पहुँचना or पहुँच जाना/Pahunchnaa or Pahuch jaanaa (verb): to arrive.
10. सामान/Saamaan (masc. noun): luggage.
11. X को उलटी (fem. noun) आना/x Ko ulti aanaa (verb): for x to vomit.
12. रुकना or रुक जाना/Ruknaa or Ruk jaanaa (verb): to stop.
13. उतरना/Utarnaa (verb): to descend (from).
14. पकड़ना/Pakarnaa (verb): to catch (as in, “to catch a taxi”).
15. मनाना/Manaanaa (verb): to convince. Also means “to celebrate” so you have to infer from context what the meaning is sometimes.
16. ठहरना/Thehernaa (verb): to stay (as in, “to stay in a hotel”).
17. X को डर लगना/X ko dar lagnaa (verb): for x to be afraid, fearful.
18. पसंदीदा/Pasandeedaa (adjective): favorite.
19. दिक़्क़त/Dikkat (fem. noun): trouble, inconvenience, problem.
20. मज़ा करना/Mazaa Karnaa (verb): to have fun, to enjoy oneself.
21. मिलनसार/Milansaar (adjective): friendly.
22. X को मज़ा आना/x ko mazaa aanaa (verb): for x to enjoy something, to have fun.
23. चखना/Chakhnaa (verb): to try or taste something (as in, “I tried the chaat”).
24. हालाँकि/Halaanki (adverb): even though, although.
25. आगे चलकर/Aage chalkar (adverb): future.

If this blog has gotten you in the mood for a bit of traveling, you’ll enjoy this Bollywood song “Yunh Hi Chalaa Chal Raahi” (यों ही चला चल राही, Just Keep Going, Traveller) from the popular movie Swades/स्वदेस (One’s Own Country):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKgm_wPh1HU