However, what they did not account for was the close ties घनिष्ठ संबंध and bonds that language and culture create. As well as the divisions विभाजन based on the same – language and culture.

What they did not take into consideration was that each state had their own language and resulting culture.

Type in the question, ‘Is Hindi, India’s unifying एकीकृत language?” in a Google search and the results are interesting! There are quite a few with calls for a unifying language for India since it does not have one. Unlike France, America, England, China etc.

As recently as Septemeber 2019 on the occasion of Hindi Diwas – which means Hindi Day, Amit Shah, the Union Home minister केंद्रीय गृह मंत्री declared that Hindi should be the unifying language as this is what the founding fathers intended. He also went on to say that this will keep foreign languages at bay, out of the country.

This reveals the sentiment भाव many Hindi speakers do have. However, it also reveals a lack of awareness that the country is divided by specific languages. And it is indeed this diversity विविधता that makes India special. Learning Hindi, Marathi and Punjabi to communicate with one’s neighbors is not only beneficial but it reveals a tolerance and love for diversity and unity.

How can a nation as diverse as India prevent its citizens from experiencing and using what is their heritage? What do they pass onto their children? While Hindi can be one essential आवश्यक language – which it already is – it cannot become the only language, even though today Hindi and English are official languages.

If Hindi becomes the national official language what happens to business done in English with other countries? While there will be a demand for translators and interpreters how will India fare on a global platform in the marketplace?

In recent times, English is the language that displays education and status in society. A cultural goal so to speak for many aspiring youths. Hindi is not cool. English is. That is what many think.

Students in cities, socialites in high circles, Bollywood, and business all believe that speaking English is better than Hindi.

So how will they take it? For students, the question is what about going overseas to study? If they study in a Hindi medium school what would happen if they went to college in an English-speaking country?

For business – especially on the international stage. How would transactions लेनदेन occur?

Is India moving toward more isolation with this strategy? It is highly doubtful that her citizens would accept this unquestioningly.

Then again, if there is a change with the powers that be in the next election, it may revert back to its old stance – two official languages, English and Hindi. No national language.

Let’s hope for the best outcome.

     

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In a small cramped तंग परिस्थितियों stall in Nagpur a man stands over a hot stove, stirring a huge pot of tea. He takes a cup and scoops the tea चाय and pulls the cup high in the air allowing the tea to fall back into the pot.

When the tea is ready he holds four tiny glass tumblers in his hand and pours the tea into them from a height of at least 3 feet. This makes the tea frothy and delicious स्वादिष्ट, as it is a concoction of black tea mixed with milk दूध and sugar चीनी. No need for a frothing machine for this.

Next, a boy hands him three colorful cups and he performs the same service. One can hear him calling out the prices of the cups as he pours. Sometimes he even pours the tea into clear plastic bags to send off with his delivery boys.

This is a fascinating procedure प्रक्रिया in how he mixes and makes what people call the best tea in India.

Why tea?

Tea is a comforting drink. The British brought it to India in an attempt to outdo China. Since the British Raj, tea is served in posh households in Wedgewood porcelain cups accompanied by tiny cucumber sandwiches. Or tea sellers known as chaiwallahs sell tea in a steel or glass tumbler accompanied by a deep-fried batata vada or vada pao – battered spicy potato fritters in a small loaf of bread.

The hotter the tea the better. The sweeter the tea the more comforting. People drink tea at 4pm in the afternoon on summer days as well as winter days.

Many Indians learn how to make tea at an early age, and each family has its own recipe. Ginger tea is popular as well as cardamom tea.

Women serve their guest’s tea in a typical Indian household गृहस्थी, regardless of time. Young women who entertain prospective grooms serve tea on silver trays with snacks to the parents of the groom when they come over to visit.

Any tourist can find a tea stall easily. These stalls serve a few thousand teacups of tea in a day sometimes as in the case of Navnath Yewle from Pune. He sells about 12 lakhs of tea a month. This is equivalent to approximately लगभग 15 thousand dollars a month. His customers? Tea drinking office goers, laborers मज़दूर, students छात्र and families. Everyone has the time to stop for a cup of tea.

Even cricket games used to stop for a tea break. It is fascinating to see a sports game stop for a cup of tea.

The Perfect Cup

The perfect cup of tea is called ‘kadak’ chai. In this context it means a strong cup of tea. Here is a recipe to get the perfect kadak chai.

In Kolkata the tea is served in tiny clay cups.  People often drink chai out of the saucer instead of the cup. This is done to cool down the chai quickly if one is in a hurry.

While the world invents new cool beverages and fancy brand packaged tea in tea cafes, nothing compares to the hot sweet cup of tea at a roadside stall in India.

     

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The Portuguese ruled Goa for approximately लगभग 450 years until it was annexed by India in 1961. The state was the capital seat for these traders in spices.

In December 1961, 30,000 Indian troops marched मार्च किया into the little state of Goa to liberate it from Portuguese rule. Depending on who you talk with nowadays, it was a liberation or an invasion.

To some Portuguese heritage Goans who were born into and grew up under Portuguese rule, it was an invasion.

The Portuguese came up from the Kerala city of Calicut to establish a rule for many decades. They built churches, schools and offered work to many Goan residents provided they convert to Christianity. Goa has some of the most beautiful cathedrals in typical Portuguese architectural style. The Se Cathedral, a world heritage site according to UNESCO is one of Asia’s largest churches.

The Portuguese were not kind to the Goan people. While they built beautiful cathedrals and contributed much to the culture in the form of traditions, music, dress, and style, they were obnoxious in treating the Goans.

There is a tale about a famous Goan song that speaks of crossing the river. This song is a sad tale of the fate of many Goans who had to flee to safety from the Portuguese, across the river.

Many Goans today, especially those of Catholic descent still speak Portuguese at home, listen to Fados and long for the good old days of Portuguese rule.

These Goans fiercely resist the invasion आक्रमण of tourists, developers, hoteliers, and casinos who are destroying the simple landscape with many modern-looking villas and resorts. While this is good for their income, it is destroying the simplicity of the area.

However, all over Goa, there are beautiful Portuguese-style villas and today’s Goan diaspora funds their restoration and preservation. Many Goans are intent on keeping ancestral पैतृक homes in India even though they may have settled overseas. To many, the dream is always to retire there in their homes.

The markets in Goa attract a lot of tourists and locals alike. There is a night market as well. It costs Rs. 100 to get in to see live music संगीत, flea market stuff, clothes, crockery, artifacts and what not.

In winter, tourists flock to Goa. About 2.4 million of them. Amongst these numbers, Russians are the majority at about 1 million, escaping the cold harsh कठोर winters. There are so many Russians and for so long that even the Indian traders have learned to speak Russian fluently. Also, many Russians easily pick up Hindi to make a fair bargain.

Goa is a must-visit. It is easy to access with direct flights from Europe. The best times to visit are November to February after which it gets sweltering तपती hot. So plan on it the next time the winter blues visit.

     

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Photo courtesy Nicole Herbert Dean

School children in India learn सीखना Hindi from scratch. Walk near a Hindi medium school and you will hear chants मंत्र of ‘a’ ‘aa’ ‘e’ ‘ee’ ‘oo’ ‘ooo’ etc. These are the vowels. Then you will hear them chanting out the consonants.  If you were to peek तिरछी inside the classroom you would see a blackboard and written लिखित in chalk the Hindi alphabet in the Devanagari script. It is as real as you get. But nowadays people who learn and abide by this form of Hindi are known as purists.

Why? You ask. Because there is a huge shift खिसक जाना to write Hindi in the Roman Script.

Why? You ask again. Because of technology, mainly. Keyboards, phones make it difficult to spell out the intricate जटिल letters and accents of the language when you are in a hurry.

Social media users, Bollywood signs, subtitling उपशीर्षक, etc all use the Roman script. This is because it is easy to phonetically spell out the Hindi word with English letters. But when you do, is the pronunciation accurate? Or Anglicized?

Educators who teach the language will promote को बढ़ावा देना the usage of the Devanagari script. Using the actual Hindi letters, reading the script in Devanagari helps one pronounce the words properly. Hindi is a phonetic ध्वन्यात्मक language. What you see is how you pronounce it. Unlike English which can have a million ways, a word is pronounced.

Also, there are no English equivalents समकक्ष to certain ‘t’ sounds and ‘d’ sounds in the Hindi alphabet. Plus add to that the British English and American English with its many aspirationsआकांक्षाओं. No pun intended, but it will leave much to be desired as far as being understood. One certainly does not want to stick out among the locals. But rather to blend in.

Many an English speaker faces merciless बेरहम teasing for the rolled anglicized ‘r’s’ as well. There are ‘d’ sounds that sound like a cross between a ‘d’ and an ‘r’. So how does one write that in Roman Script?

Then, what about the ‘w’ sound in Hindi? There is no straight equivalent, but rather a cross between a ‘v’ and ‘w’ sound in Hindi depending on which region you come from. In Urdu influenced cultures it is a ‘w’ sound. So how does one write the word for time in Roman Script? In Urdu it would be written as follows, ‘waqt’. But in Hindi-influenced हिंदी प्रभावित cultures it would be written as ‘vakt’.

Proponents of the Roman Script say that languages evolve. The author believes and agrees but at the same time, the script of the language needs to be preserved संरक्षित.

So while it is progressive to use the Roman script, the author does not believe it to be beneficial when it comes to pronouncing and getting the full nuance of the language.

It is imperative especially when Hindi is being adulterated मिलावटी with Punjabi, Urdu, and English words to keep the purity of the lettering and script at least, intact.

So yes, by all means, progress, evolve and keep up with the times. But, please keep the script authentically original.

     

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Bandra made it to Time Out Magazines पत्रिका list of the 40 coolest neighborhoods in the world in 2020, along with Allston, Boston. The cool factors that gave Bandra that distinction, are its neighborhood vibe, culture, trendy cafes कैफ़े, bistros, and restaurants.

However, it is these cool factors that make it one of the most expensive महंगा towns to live in, in India.

What does Bandra look like?

Bandra has narrow संकीर्ण tree-lined streets with old 17th-century bungalows nestled among sleek चिकना highrises. When I lived there, we had mostly bungalows and no highrises. Mine was one of the first just behind the famous प्रसिद्ध Carter Road. It was built by a well-known construction निर्माण king – Mr. Raheja who started the invasion of the highrises in my neighborhood.

The bungalows are designed with terracotta tiled roofs, quaint brightly painted balconies and porticos, bougainvillea-filled garden बगीचा walls, and gorgeous mahogany महोगनी वृक्ष furniture, a leftover from the Portuguese and British.

Because it is situated on the coast, it has the unmistakable aroma of the fishing villages that seem to be ever-present. The Kolis still go out every day for their catch of fish मछली and one can see the lines of Bombay Duck, a type of fish really, drying on lines in the sun.

I remember seeing mangroves lining the seashore from my window, and a small farm with a farmer and his cow plowing the field. I am sure the highrises won this battle for prime waterfront space. I have not been there in years.

Bandra is home to the Koli fishing community and East Indians. They are the original residents. Today, many ex-pats, Bollywood stars, and rich industrialists live in its dwellings. But still, it is quite nostalgic to walk down the narrow streets and see the homes we hung out around.

The local government designated नामित many of the old bungalows as a part of India’s heritage homes.

Shopping

The appeal of a town is due to its attractive shopping sites. While many wealthy fashion designers or multinational fashion houses chose to showcase their designs in heritage homes converted into ateliers कारखाना, there is Linking Road where the slightly lighter wallets can get amazing deals on clothes and shoes.

Churches

Another distinctive feature is the many gorgeous churches. The Spanish Jesuits came over and built large cathedral बड़ा गिरजा structures in the typical Spanish style with high domed ceilings, thick walls, and ornate decorative work. These churches are still there. Some even have graveyards and it is quite prestigious to be able to say one has a plot for one’s ultimate destination.

     

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I remember looking at a piece of art कला in Mumbai. This art was extraordinary in the fact that it did not look like the ancient Mughal paintings one often sees in India.

This was a time when radical मौलिक artists were slowly emerging in the big cities. One such artist was M.F. Husain – full name, Maqbool F. Husain. A tall gangly man, with long shaggy hair and beard दाढ़ी that turned white quite early. He walked barefoot everywhere. They called him India’s Barefoot Picasso. If institutions संस्थान required shoes, he wore socks as a compromise.

Husain is quite simple. He paints sitting on the floor. The canvas is propped against the wall. No easel चित्रफलक. Pots of paint spread around him. He holds a long brush in his hand and paints in long strokes.

Horses, people, mythological पौराणिक figures, figures of women. His style is sort of cubist with very colorful and vibrant imagery. He captured scenes दृश्यों with a humorous and vibrant narrative वर्णन.

Many of his paintings were of Indian mythology. Some of which garnered the wrath of India’s Hindus quite recently.

But his style is simple. No fancy studio with high-tech lighting and easels. This is indicative of just how simple this man is. But his art, his art sells for millions.

As a Child

Husain was born in a small town called Pandarpur in Maharastra, India. He spent much of his youth in the cities of Indore and Baruch. He became interested in art while studying Arabic calligraphy सुलेख.

As a child, he also liked sketching and painting horses. He even inserted himself into some of his paintings portraying himself sketching as a child.

The artist lost his mother at a very early age. This started a lifelong जीवन भर series of art depicting women as a homage to her in his art. People say that he often drew faceless women because he could not remember his mother’s face.

Such talent did not come from art school, however. Husain did not go to art school due to lack of funds फंड. However, he learned techniques on the job. He moved to Mumbai and started working with a prominent प्रमुख Bollywood billboard painter for around 5 years.

From there he went on to work as a nursery furniture designer, crafting and painting adorable kids’ furniture pieces.

From Painter to FilmMaker

Husain was also interested in filmmaking. He submitted a film to the Berlin International Film Festival in 1967. Later, he made Gaja Gamini with his muse, Madhuri Dixit, and Meenaxi with the film star Tabu.

India bestowed 3 of their highest civilian awards on Husain.  – the Padma Shri, Padma Vibushan, and the Padma Bhushan.

A life of exile

As with all good art, it must evoke a reaction. And so Husain’s art did get him into trouble. Many death threats and defamation cases later, he decided to go into self-exile. In the latter part of his life, he divided his time between Doha, Qatar, and London.

Husain passed away from a heart attack on June 9, 2011, in London and is buried at the Brookwood Cemetery in London.

     

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The southern part of India consists of the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. These states have a shared culture साझा संस्कृति, and many similarities in language as well. For the purpose of understanding, we will refer हवाला देना to these states with one general term – South Indian.

When it comes to food, there are generally certain staple dishes in every South Indian thali.  Staples on the South Indian thali are rice, sambar, rasam, and chutney. The rice is in the center of the plate and the chutney, on to one side. The sambar and rasam are in little stainless steel bowls. Each thali has food with spicy, sweet, salty-sour and bitter मसालेदार, मीठा, नमकीन, खट्टा,कड़वा ingredients, making this a party on the palate.

No matter how simple the thali is, the ingredients range from appetizers to dessert.

Appetizers

For example, fried lentil cakes like medhu vadas, deep-fried vegetables, and fritters serve as appetizers. South Indians eat this with a green or white coconut chutney laden with spice and chilies.

Papadum in various forms – with pepper, chili flakes or plain accompany the thali as well. At this point, the rasam serves as a soup. Rasam is a combination of lentils and black pepper, said to aid digestion.

First Course

The first course usually consists of vegetables and bread. South Indians love coconut and therefore many vegetable dishes have coconut, such as cabbage poriyal, green bean poriyal, etc. It is customary to eat the vegetable dishes with unleavened wheat bread called chapatis or Rotis. You have to break of a piece and scoop up the vegetable with the piece of bread.

There are regional variations of staple foods such as cabbage गोभी,  lentil cakes दाल केक,, green beansहरी सेम, etc. The coastal regions especially on the west coast use a lot of coconut in their food. While the East coast uses more red chilies in their dishes.

Second Course

After you finish the chapati with vegetables it is time to go on to the next course on the thali, which is rice and sambar. As a result, the spiciest dishes come from Andhra Pradesh. Malabar cuisine offers a range of dishes with coconut and spices. A tourist can find these cuisines in coastal regions on the West Coast of India. There are vegetables and lentils in the spicy sambar which acts as a gravy over the rice.  Sambar is sour and spicy to taste.

Dessert

Round the meal off with a sweet delish paal payasam which is tasty rice pudding filled with nuts and raisins. Or you can savor the ghee-rich Mysore Pak, Boorelu which is deep-fried lentils, Kozhukkattai is a popular South Indian sweet dumpling made from rice flour, with a filling of grated coconut and jaggery.

All in all, you are in for a multi-course treat when you order a South Indian thali.

     

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