(no subject)

[swatkat]

Greetings. Classes have not started yet, and New Delhi is miserably cold and windy, so I managed to fly back home for a few days (BSG S2 - here I come!). In the past week, I've been traipsing all over town with a bunch of rowdy boys and girls - hence the absence. Yesterday I was at the second-hand (third. fourth) books market at Dariaganj (near Chandi Chowk in Old Delhi), where we walked and walked and walked and jostled through the crowds and walked some more (I would show you photos, but S has them). Then we went to the market near the Jama Mosque for some delicious nahari and firni. Afterwards, at night, we had a bonfire (because it was Lohri. which neither of us celebrate - or know how to - because it's unique to that part of the country. but hey, when in Rome) and barbeque (with a clay flowerpot and bicycle spokes in absence of a proper grill). Is there anything I missed?

Comments

[roga.livejournal.com]

I didn't know my birthday was a holiday somewhere! Yay :-)

Also, "A Curry of Sheeps Trotters"? That sounds very Ankh-Morpork. I have no idea what sheep's trotters are.

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

It was your birthday yesterday? Belated wishes, and many, many happy returns! It wasn't exactly a day-off holiday for most people (from what I gathered) but people seemed to be having a lot of fun with bonfires and drums. *g*

I have no idea what sheep's trotters are.

Er, neither do I. It can be made from all kinds of meat (beef, usually), and marrow is an important ingredient. Apparently it takes a long time to prepare if done properly and is very spicy.

CMOT Dibbler would know all about trotters, I'm sure. *g*

[roga.livejournal.com]

Well, you've just given me another line for my fic then. Which makes it... one more line long. We're getting somewhere!

And thank you :-) Out of curiosity, what birthday greeting do you have in Hindi? Other than 'happy birthday', we say 'mazal tov' which means 'good luck', and 'ad 120' which means 'till 120' (or 'may you live to be 120').

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

Whee!

Um. We generally say 'happy birthday' in English, irrespective of whichever language one speaks. In Hindi one might say (and please note my Hindi can be shaky, esp. with the gender) 'janamdin mubarak ho' (janamdin = birthday; mubarak = congratulations - this is incidentally an Urdu word) or 'janamdin ki shubh kamnaein' (shubh = good, auspicious; kamna(ein) = wish(es)). In Bengali (which is my mother-tongue) we might say 'janmadiner shubhechha janai' (janmadin = birthday; shubhechha = good/auspicious wishes; janai = i let you know), but that's really formal sounding and I wouldn't say it unless it was written on a birthday card. 'Happy Birthday' is much more convenient.

Which makes me wonder about the origin of the birthday greeting. Maybe this greeting-thing actually came with the British, although marking one's birth anniversary in some way or the other cannot be just a colonial phenomenon. Hmm.

[roga.livejournal.com]

I don't know! In Judaism, I don't think birthdays are part of any special traditions, other than having a bar/bat mitzva at the age of 13/12, symbolic of becoming a man/woman. It makes sense that the tradition of birthdays came from the surrounding cultures, especially considering that most Jews celebrate them according to the Gregorian calender and not the Jewish calender.

(And ha, 'mabruk' os a common slang word here for congratulations, coming from Arabic.) And sorry for assuming you spoke Hindi - I actually didn't remember what you spoke, and wikipedia said the official languages of India were English and Hindi, so I just went with it.

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

It makes sense that the tradition of birthdays came from the surrounding cultures, especially considering that most Jews celebrate them according to the Gregorian calender and not the Jewish calender.

Same here. In fact, I don't think I remember what my birthday is according to whichever of the many Indian calendars we follow. *hangs head in shame*

(And ha, 'mabruk' os a common slang word here for congratulations, coming from Arabic.)

Urdu - Hindi's twin sister who was separated at birth and brought up by mostly Muslim parents - also derives from Arabic. Not a slang, though, because you actually say 'Eid mubarak' on Eid.

And hey, it's cool, languages in India are endless and confusing. I do speak Hindi, actually. It *is* the 'official' language, which means it is used for all 'official' things by the central government alongside English. There's Hindi-language television and the cinema industry (Bollywood). Then there's the fact that most urban areas are multilingual, which means you can't avoid Hindi. I've always spoken Hindi (I wish I could read faster, though. or write it properly without forgetting what the words look like), and it's improved after living in a predominantly Hindi-speaking area for the past one and a half years. I still do lose words, and I think I'll never get the gender right, but at least I don't have the dreaded Accent! *g*