Wednesday, August 20

Learning Hindi in 30 days

Have you tried ?? I am yet to try, though circumstances are going to make me go crazy about Hindi right now. Till the eleventh of August ‘08, effectively, I was proud that I can converse in fluent Hindi. After doomsday, I feel like I am in some alien country with a bunch of people talking in some weird language that absolutely make no sense to me.

Before I go any further, let me make some things clear. I know Hindi, had taken it up as my main subject all through schooling and can read, write, and well, thought can speak well too. This, “thought can speak well too” comes from a person who has so far given 4 gaalis along with college kids in Hindi. I know, but those were college days, and we all assumed that we were right in everything, didn’t we?

Anyways, right now, my status is that, I am nowhere near Tamil Nadu, leave alone Chennai. The place where I am staying in is in the middle of India, where, the only way I can get to meet someone speaking in Tamil is through Kalaignar TV -that’s the only Tamil channel that’s here!! Sniff sniff.. I am not even aware of the movies that have released in the past couple of weeks. Left Chennai on the day of Kuselan release. Life is very unfair I say!

The brighter part of everything is Khaana. Food intake now comprises of imli-free-dal-full substances. Realized that Paneer in abundance makes life good. :D . Though have started missing seeramilagu sathamadu, vettha kozhambu and vadam. Other than that, I’m loving this place just for the food.

Language is where I’m struggling. They stare at me as if I’m talking in gibberish. Stares turning into silent glee and laughter. Laughter turning into mockery. Oh! The Misery reaches no bounds. Fact is that this has made me re-think my actual knowledge of Hindi. Thankfully, some people are kind enough to try and help me out. Worst part is that, my job profile also involves teaching people about the garment trade and processes. When I am taking a class consisting of 30 students who can only speak in Hindi, I sometimes feel like am a part of some stand-up comedy. During this process, realized that sign language can also be helpful!! So goes the Hindi story, likely to continue for the almost the whole of next year. I’m sure I would learn the actual words by then. ‘coz, the other day, I was asking for scissors, didn’t know how to explain in Hindi; ended up showing a sign which made the other run off for his dear life!!

Though the overall experience is as such fun, the only thing I am actually missing is the non-existence of Internet. Boo Hoo… No blogs, no social networking. The maximum time I get is only consumed for checking mails. Survival testing it seems. Hopefully shall still be surviving by the end of it. Have no idea about when I would be accessing the net again. So, for all few, but, lovely blog readers, Adiyen, will reply back in due course. Till then, Samathha irungo kozhandela…

10 comments:

felinedev said...

take comfort fromde fact we're on similar turf....only am worse off...havent even learnt hindi...well...pray for me?:)

sansmerci said...

oh oh..m really scared now that i mite shift to north soon too.. n m sure english doenst work much there like in here, does it? and about the mockery part.. mayb u can make them speak tamil n mack bak :P

Idling in Top Gear said...

Word of advice - when using sign language to ask men for scissors (snip, snip) always ensure that your hands are above waist level. Else it makes the guys a bit nervous :D

Re: Hindi, you have no excuse, having taken Hindi in school & all. Us poor Tamil as a second language guys have it bad!

And "seeramilagu sathamadu," bleddy Iyengar, call it rasam like the rest of us :P

Aarthi said...

The best part of North India is food. Don't miss the sweet lassi there. Freak out !!!

Anonymous said...

seramilagu sathumadu is tasting very good now a days at my home. Along with that we also plan to have Krishan Jayanthi sweets and snacks........... Krisha sweets mysore-paku.......Super taste.

Verapu earu-da.....:)-

Anonymous said...

darn naarth india..the more north you guy, the more panneery everything gets.once, to avoid all things panneer i ordered tomato soup only to be greeted with cold grated panneer all over the red country.

as far as the hindi goes, speaking hyderabadi with north indians also caused a lot of mockery. so it doesnt really matter how much hindi one knows. teach them tamil.

Pettai Maami said...

@felinedev- Saar..atleast ppl around can undersand english..u can still survive..i nly get blank stares at me all the time...

@sansmerci- dnt worry..watever is destined will happen anyways.. :P ..n regd macking.. u think they'll even bother to respond??

ps: do learn the hindi ketta vaarthais..will cum in handy,,:)

@idling mama- enna saar, i did it above waist level nly..aduke anda reaction!! sniff!
n yes..i wil call it sathamadhu nly..hmph...

@aarthi- yakkoi...welcome welcome... :D ..wattan honor!!

@anon- nahiiii....i want i want... sathamadu, thathai, muruku..the whole lot... mummy...

@curdriceaurora- hmm..now tat many of u guys are recommending..mayb i will teach them tamil.. :) ...wish me luck!!

Sid said...

see ,, now u get how i was in chennai ,, its like u r lost in the dalal street ,, hordes of people ,, all of them comin in fom different directions and u dont know shit of wat they are talkin abt ,, :D .. enjoy ,, cheers

Salil said...

Aap to bilkul hi phas gaye..!
So what sign did you show for scissors?
Btw, have you heard of the game 'Dumb Charades'? Probably you could learn that in less than 30 days :-)
Cheers,
Salil

Pettai Maami said...

@ sid- tch tch...point taken..hurts much!! too much truth to ignore.. for once, i agree with you...

@salil- you really are askng wat that sign was??!!! man..pl re chk idling mama's comment to get mre clarifications.. anways.. :) ..dumbcharades it is.. though am improvising my chinnaai accent..
and hello, vanakkam, welcum to the bloggu...