Monday, June 21, 2010

Grammar Nazi.. This time for my mother tongue.

I love Hindi. I think it is a beautiful language. Simple. Poetic. And there are words and sentences and sentence formations to express nearly every emotion to the T. I don't think any other language that I know of and can speak lets you say "aajkal bijli jaati hai toh log gaane nahii gaate" in a moment of nostalgia, without sounding contrite. No, not even English. Not mine, at least.

But I don't think I speak the language as well or even as much as I love it. And as well as I learnt it. In spite of Ma getting paranoid every time I said things like "hawa chal raha hai" and "bhookh laga hai" during my growing up years, the last few years of trying to prove to the world that I am a proud Bihari, I let the faults in Bihari Hindi rub off on me so much that I now speak a mish mash of Bihari Hindi, whimsically sprayed with Main and Aap.

So here is a resolution. From this day on, I will speak the Hindi I was taught at home and in school, not the one I use to make a point. And definitely not the one I speak to fit in. Hamaari hindi jaisi bhi hai, hamaari hai. Agar hum nahii bol paayenge, toh kisi aur ko kya sikhayenge? Yes, you will hear "hum" more often - irrespective of whether I mean me or us. Hindi is a proud language :-)

9 comments:

DI said...

Hume 'hum' bolne ka bohot shauk tha, aur humne QSQT dekhne ke baad, kuch dinon tak koshish bhi ki thi. Lekin phir Western UP ka effect wapas padh gaya, aur hum tu-tadak par utar aaye. Kya karen?

I never make mistakes in hindi grammar and I love that fact! And ebing a southie, it was all the more awesome! All thanks to my Dad! :)

Madhu Gopalan said...

I doubt if I will ever speak the Hindi I was taught in school :) I grew up in Hyderabad, so I don't know if my Hindi can even be called Hindi - it's such a strange mix of Hindi, Urdu, Telugu, and I belive some Marathi as well, but I love it - it's just so unique :)

Tamanna said...

@DI, Bihar mein toh hum hi bolte hain. UP mein bhi toh hum bolte hain. At least in Eastern UP. And kudos to you, your hindi is amazing even by hard core north Indian standards, forget Tam standards! Wow!

@Madhu, the hindi we speak in most parts of the country is not really the "authentic" or "pure" Hindi. Its a residue of the language our forefathers spoke flawlessly - a mixture of Urdu and Khaddeeboli/prakrit. I guess how much and what of that mixture we have retained is what differentiates Hindi in various parts of the country. I will read more on it let you know :))

austere said...

BUT what will you do when Bambaiya sneaks in? matlab ki left sey entry lega tab?

bhasha parivartansheel hai.uchalti- koodti hai. tabhi jeevit hai.

Aap bindaas bolo. laa-parvah ho kar.

Tamanna said...

Bambaiyya hindi never rubbed off on me Austy. Surprisingly marathi did, bambaiyya didn't.

Lekin sahii bola aapne. Bhasha parivartansheel hai, tabhi jeevit hai. Tabhi prashansaniya bhi hai. Agar sab ek hi tarah se bolne ya likhne lag jaayenge, toh doosron ki likhi aur boli hui baaton ko na toh hum differetiate (dont know the hindi for it :D), na hi unn par hans paayenge, na unn se pyaar kar paaynge.

Har baar ki tarah iss baar bhi hum aapse sehmat hain :)

piyu said...

I know only Bambaiya Hindi :(

Tamanna said...

@Piyu, which is very nice and friendly, isn't it? :)

piyu said...

Yes it izz.. And it had tidbits from all other Mumbai languages - gujju, marathi, english. Fun.

piyu said...

*has.. typo on a grammar nazi post!!! :(