Comments on: Yes, I’m Indian. No, I don’t know Hindi.

By: Sharell

Sharell — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:40:38 +0000

An entertaining read! I’m a gori who’s trying to learn Hindi and I find that by the time I’ve composed my response, the conversation has well and truly headed off in another direction!! I’m forever running sentences through my head, both translating from Hindi and speaking Hindi.

By: shakthi

shakthi — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 14:17:41 +0000

he he!! i can totally relate myself to this!! especially wen u said tat u gotta frame the sentence in ur mind to reply 2 a frnd!! lol i burst out lafin to tat!! its so oftn happens to me!! by the time i reply my frn can actually guess wat m tryin 2 say!!

By: S

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:57:02 +0000

Ha! It’s definitely tougher than it seems at first. I’m American, native english speaker taking Hindi for fun in college, and we use those colloquial Hindi books/cds, too. Haha they definitely can’t teach you the whole langguage in 30 days.

It’s still a fun language even though it can be frustrating. I love the devanagari script.

By: amas

amas — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:24:20 +0000

Very very funny article. Loved the part where you mention running the sentence(reply in Hindi) in your head once, before rendering it like a nursery rhyme. You have a good sense of humour.

By: VJ

VJ — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 03:50:49 +0000

Agreed .. and I think it was judicious of the people who drafted our Constitution to call it an ‘official’ rather than a ‘national’ language.

By: Vikram

Vikram — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:45:00 +0000

Just to clarify, Hindi is not India’s ‘national language’. India, in fact, does not have a national language. Hindi and English are the official languages of the Union Government, i.e. all the official business of the GoI and its departments is conducted in Hindi and English. The states all have their own official languages and their business is conducted in those languages.

I am not against Hindi or anything, but there is a big difference between a national and an official language. Thanks.

By: Nimisha

Nimisha — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:38:40 +0000

Very refreshing sense of humor.
I’m smiling.

By: Isha Paul

Isha Paul — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:18:13 +0000

Being from the other side, and having spoken Hindi all my life, I found this piece very amusing. And next time, I will only talk to you in Hindi, and laugh WITH you when you don’t reply in Hindi.

By: Girish

Girish — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:20:58 +0000

Haha I can totally relate to this one!

By: Muneezeh

Muneezeh — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 03:38:34 +0000

Nice picture, Niyantha. Did you find it yourself?

I love, love, love this article. I know what you mean, but for me it’s speaking a language that is spoken in India but not actually being Indian!

And I’m gonna try that “Kal Ho Naa Ho” line when I bargain in December.