Wild that in a novel written in the 1930s and published in the 1960s, a policeman asks the narrator for his pronouns.
Rahul retweeted
अगर आपको किसी एक हिंदी साहित्यकार के साथ बैठकर चाय पीने का मौका मिले, तो आप किसे चुनेंगे?
प्रेमचंद, अज्ञेय, रेणु या कोई और?
और उनसे पहला सवाल क्या पूछेंगे?
#booktalkwithchai
I would like to have a drink with Rajkamal Chaudhary. No particular question, just general bitching about everyone and everything.
अगर आपको किसी एक हिंदी साहित्यकार के साथ बैठकर चाय पीने का मौका मिले, तो आप किसे चुनेंगे?
प्रेमचंद, अज्ञेय, रेणु या कोई और?
और उनसे पहला सवाल क्या पूछेंगे?
#booktalkwithchai
A lovely read. I find Imran a unique and interesting "hero", a fragmented, performative persona that violently rejects earnest heroic archetypes. Unlike Holmes, he harbours a postmodern ennui and a profound aversion to the mundane, even when not working on a case. ...
For my latest for @dunyadigital_co, I wrote about jasusi fiction in postcolonial South Asia, focusing on the Urdu and Hindi writings of Ibn-e-Safi, and the Bangla writings of Qazi Anwer Hussain.
dunya.digital/columns/spies-…
While a traditional ayyar disguises himself largely for utility, Imran often indulges in gratuitous games of identity and subterfuge, sometimes just to tease his own team or hazard a mission just for the joy of it. ...
Rahul retweeted
We used to have chandragupta maurya, jodha akbar, razia sultan, shani, porus, jhansi ki rani, and the most iconic bharat ek khoj and yk what happened
Rahul retweeted
There are primarily 4 famous styles of pronouncing R, at least when we compare Hindi, Malayalam and English.
1. Simple or Tapped R (र/ര)
The most common R for us. As in Hindi Ram, Malayalam Ravi, or even the American pronunciation of butter. The tongue quickly taps the roof of the mouth once.
2. English Approximant R
As in Red, Right, Crore. The tongue slightly curls back without actually touching the roof. This is not a traditional R sound in Hindi or Malayalam. So crore becomes difficult for traditional desi speakers.
3. Rolled R (റ)
As in Malayalam കറി (curry). The tongue vibrates repeatedly. Interestingly, Malayalam has both the simple ര and the stronger റ, something Hindi and English doesn't. However this becomes ultimate confusion for new learners.
4. Retroflex R (ഴ)
The difficult one! As in Malayalam മഴ (mazha). The tongue curls backward with stiffness, but doesnt tapp or roll. Hindi doesn't have an exact equivalent, though it has a close relative in ड़, as interestingly in करोड़ (crore) or भीलवाड़ा. ड़ is a retroflex flap, where the curled tongue strikes once rather than smoothly flowing like Malayalam ഴ.
Interestingly, crore itself becomes a nice example. English crore uses Type 2, while Hindi करोड़ uses Type 1 for र and a retroflex flap for ड़. Malayalam simply calls it കോടി, avoiding the whole R business!
For Hindi speakers, moving from the regular र to the English R or Malayalam ഴ can take effort. I usually ask them to first try the English approximant R, or the rolled R, and then gradually work towards the Malayalam retroflex ഴ. Devnagri ड़ is actually a useful compromise because the tongue already knows how to curl backward.
Hindi speakers aren't even consciously taught the retroflex sounds they already use, as a category, like ड़ or ण in निपुण, let alone the difference between all these similar but different sounds. Hindustani speakers often shy away from fully pronouncing the few retroflexes left, and even shy from pronounced vowels like ऐ or औ , eventually distancing themselves from sanskrit, while malayalam and south langauges phonetically may sound closer to sanskrit in everyday conversations.
Even if the number of foreigners found was substantial, it would not excuse the ECI from answering for its seemingly illegal actions and the various instances of apparent mala fide manipulation of electoral rolls.
ECI found the needle in a haystack! just 1,600 foreigners on voter lists in six states. Well done, all! Great story by @himansshhi
hindustantimes.com/s/1kYNFzM
dd-mm-yyyy is best because it focuses on the here and now to build progressively toward a long-term vision.
One underrated aspect of Neha Bora is her intonation, but she should be careful not to let it reach the level of Yogendra Yadav's.
Watch @neha_aisa in conversation with my colleague @ShoaibDaniyal
Full conversation here: youtube.com/watch?v=-2SJAepi…
Saratchandra's Swami is a good contrast to this series. He presents a secular argument for religion by making the religious figure calmer, more stoic, & more equanimous. But his humanist perspective also makes atheism's case by challenging blind reverence for tradition.
