Learn how to talk about celebrations and traditions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Maya: "Namaste," I'm Maya, and welcome back to HindiPod101.com’s Beginner Series. This is Season 1, Lesson 12 - An Indian Celebration. |
| Udita: "Namaste, I’m Udita in Hindi". In this lesson you’ll learn about discussing cultural traditions using the verb “maNaaNaa”, which means ‘to celebrate’. |
| Maya: The conversation takes place in the office. |
| Udita: The conversation is between colleagues, who have similar positions in the company. |
| Maya: Since they know each other well, they’ll be speaking politely but at a higher level of informal Hindi. |
| Udita: The middle level. |
| Maya: Yes, amongst Polite, Familiar and Intimate levels of speech, this is the familiar level, which is slightly polite but not too formal. |
| Udita: Ok, let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A:ये लो पोंगल की मिठाई. (ye Lo poNgaL kii mithaaii.) |
| B:शुक्रिया. तुम्हारे घर में पोंगल मनाते हैं? (sukriyaa! Tumhaare ghar mein poNgaL maNaaTe hain?) |
| A:हाँ हम तामिल है, इस लिए आज घर में रंगोली बनाएंगे और कल सब जमा होकर पोंगल का मीठा चावल भी पकाएंगे. (haan ham TaamiL hai. iS Lie aaj ghar mein raNgoLii baNaaeNge aur kaL Sab jamaa hokar poNgaL kaa miithaa caavaL bhii pakaaeNge.) |
| B:तो कल छुट्टी पोंगल के लिए है. मीठा चावल किस लिए? (To kaL chuttii poNgaL ke Lie hai. miithaa caaval kiS Lie?) |
| A:वो पोंगल की रिवाज़ है. (vo poNgaL kii rivaaz hai.) |
| B:अच्छा? मिठाई बहुत स्वादिष्ट है. धन्यवाद. (acchaa? mithaaii bahuT SwaaDist hai. DHaNyavaaD.) |
| Maya: Now, let’s listen to the same conversation at a slow speed. |
| A:ये लो पोंगल की मिठाई. (ye Lo poNgaL kii mithaaii.) |
| B:शुक्रिया. तुम्हारे घर में पोंगल मनाते हैं? (sukriyaa! Tumhaare ghar mein poNgaL maNaaTe hain?) |
| A:हाँ हम तामिल है, इस लिए आज घर में रंगोली बनाएंगे और कल सब जमा होकर पोंगल का मीठा चावल भी पकाएंगे. (haan ham TaamiL hai. iS Lie aaj ghar mein raNgoLii baNaaeNge aur kaL Sab jamaa hokar poNgaL kaa miithaa caavaL bhii pakaaeNge.) |
| B:तो कल छुट्टी पोंगल के लिए है. मीठा चावल किस लिए? (To kaL chuttii poNgaL ke Lie hai. miithaa caaval kiS Lie?) |
| A:वो पोंगल की रिवाज़ है. (vo poNgaL kii rivaaz hai.) |
| B:अच्छा? मिठाई बहुत स्वादिष्ट है. धन्यवाद. (acchaa? mithaaii bahuT SwaaDist hai. DHaNyavaaD.) |
| Maya: Let’s now listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| A:ये लो पोंगल की मिठाई. (ye Lo poNgaL kii mithaaii.) |
| A: Here, have some sweets for Pongal. |
| B:शुक्रिया. तुम्हारे घर में पोंगल मनाते हैं? (sukriyaa! Tumhaare ghar mein poNgaL maNaaTe hain?) |
| B: Thank you. So you celebrate Pongal at home? |
| A:हाँ हम तामिल है, इस लिए आज घर में रंगोली बनाएंगे और कल सब जमा होकर पोंगल का मीठा चावल भी पकाएंगे. (haan ham TaamiL hai. iS Lie aaj ghar mein raNgoLii baNaaeNge aur kaL Sab jamaa hokar poNgaL kaa miithaa caavaL bhii pakaaeNge.) |
| A: Yes, we are Tamil. That's why we're going to make a Rangoli today at home, and tomorrow there'll be a gathering, and we'll cook sweet rice for Pongal. |
| B:तो कल छुट्टी पोंगल के लिए है. मीठा चावल किस लिए? (To kaL chuttii poNgaL ke Lie hai. miithaa caaval kiS Lie?) |
| B: Oh, so tomorrow's day off is for Pongal. Why sweet rice? |
| A:वो पोंगल की रिवाज़ है. (vo poNgaL kii rivaaz hai.) |
| A: That's a Pongal ritual. |
| B:अच्छा? मिठाई बहुत स्वादिष्ट है. धन्यवाद. (acchaa? mithaaii bahuT SwaaDist hai. DHaNyavaaD.) |
| B: Oh really? The sweet is delicious, thank you! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Maya: Now, Pongal - this is a new name for me. India has many festivals, and the bigger ones are quite well known. How about Pongal? |
| Udita: Yes, Pongal is actually more regional. There is a big Harvest Festival celebrated around India in early January. This is celebrated in a big way in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, and Pongal is the Tamil name of this occasion. |
| Maya: Okay. Since the main festivals of all the cultures are recognised across India, this is a national holiday as well, right? |
| Udita: Yes, exactly. The main festivals of all state religions are recognised across the country by public institutions. Pongal is celebrated by Tamils, and also under other names in other regions. |
| Maya: What are the main rituals of this day? |
| Udita: Well, it is a family occasion, like most celebrations. One ritual is of boiling sweet rice in earthen pots over the fire. When the rice boils over, people shout with joy. The rice is served later as dessert. |
| Maya: That sounds like an interesting ritual! The rice symbolises the end of the harvest season, doesn’t it? |
| Udita: Yes. People offer prayers to the Sun, and decorate their houses with banana leaves as well. |
| Maya: I’d love to see that! Ok, now let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Udita: घर (ghar) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: home, house |
| Udita: घर (ghar) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Udita: घर (ghar) [natural native speed] |
| Udita: तामिल (TaamiL) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: Tamil, people and culture from Tamil Nadu in southern India |
| Udita: तामिल (TaamiL) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Udita: तामिल (TaamiL) [natural native speed] |
| Udita: रंगोली (raNgoLii) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: large colorful design, made on the floor with flower petals or colored powders |
| Udita: रंगोली (raNgoLii) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Udita: रंगोली (raNgoLii) [natural native speed] |
| Udita: मीठा (meetha) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: sweet |
| Udita: मीठा (meetha) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Udita: मीठा (meetha) [natural native speed] |
| Udita: चावल (caavaL) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: rice |
| Udita: चावल (caavaL) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Udita: चावल (caavaL) [natural native speed] |
| Udita: पकाना (pakaaNaa) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: to cook |
| Udita: पकाना (pakaaNaa) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Udita: पकाना (pakaaNaa) [natural native speed] |
| Udita: छुट्टी (chhutti) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: holiday, break |
| Udita: छुट्टी (chhutti) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Udita: छुट्टी (chhutti) [natural native speed] |
| Udita: रिवाज़ (rivaaz) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: tradition, ritual |
| Udita: रिवाज़ (rivaaz) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Udita: रिवाज़ (rivaaz) [natural native speed] |
| Udita: स्वादिष्ट (swaaDisht) [natural native speed] |
| Maya: delicious |
| Udita: स्वादिष्ट (swaaDisht) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Udita: स्वादिष्ट (swaaDisht) [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Maya: Now let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Udita: The first is “raNgoLii”. |
| Maya: रंगोली ‘raNgoLii’ is a colourful design made on a large flat surface on festive occasions. It’s made on the floor, on a table, at the entrance of a building or house, or in front of a religious shrine inside a home. |
| Udita: The rangoli is a symbol of the festivities, and welcomes guests on a joyous occasion. It is made with coloured powders called guLaal and abiir, or with flower petals and leaves of various colours. |
| Maya: It’s an important part of the Pongal decorations, and many other festivals, but also in big celebrations at institutions. |
| Udita: The next word is “pakaaNaa” which means “to cook”. |
| Maya: It’s important to note that in the Indian context, cooking requires heating over a long time, and usually boiling to some extent. So this verb is used for cooking generally, but not if there’s no boiling involved. |
| Udita: Right, so for foods cooked dry, like ‘Chapati’ (capaaTii चपाती), salads, and others, we cannot use “pakaaNaa”. It’s better to use बनाना ‘baNaaNaa’ which means “to make”. |
| Maya: Also for liquids that you simply boil, like milk or water, ‘to boil’ is उबालना ‘ubaaLNaa’. |
| Udita: Other than those exceptions, generally ‘to cook food’ is “khaaNaa pakaaNaa” in Hindi. In the conversation, the speaker said “pakaaenge”, meaning “will cook”. |
| Maya: The next word is “SwaaDist”. |
| Udita: स्वादिष्ट ‘SwaaDist’ means “full of flavour” or “delicious”. This is used for foods that are eaten, and not drinks. |
| Maya: There are others words used for complimenting food such as बढ़िया ‘barhiyaa’ meaning “excellent” or अच्छा ‘acchaa’ meaning “good” or “great”. |
| Udita: “SwaaDist” only applies to food though. |
| Maya: Ok, let’s move on to the grammar now. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Maya: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about celebrations in Hindi, using the verb “maNaaNaa”. |
| Udita: The word मनाना "maNaaNaa" means 'to celebrate'. |
| Maya: Interestingly, when talking about rituals, usually the indirect and passive forms of verbs are used. We saw this in the conversation we heard as well. |
| Udita: The speaker said तुम्हारे घर में पोंगल मनाते हैं? "Tumhaare ghar me poNgaL maNaaTe hai?" |
| Maya: What this really means is ‘Do [they] celebrate Pongal in your house?’ but it just means “Is Pongal celebrated in your family?” |
| Udita: A more direct form would be "Kya Tum Pongal maNaaTe ho?" which means “Do you celebrate Pongal?” |
| Maya: Right. It’s just more polite to ask about traditions indirectly. Often the intransitive form is used. |
| Udita: For any verb in the infinitive form, such as “maNaaNaa” - you remove the “-Naa” from the end, and add “-yaa”. This is combined with “jaaTaa hai” which means “is done”. |
| Maya: So you get "maNaayaa jaaTaa hai" which means 'is celebrated'. This is used a lot. |
| Udita: For example, to ask about the rituals you could say पोंगल कैसे मनाया जाता है? "Pongal kaiSe maNaayaa jaaTaa hai?" |
| Maya: This means “How is Pongal celebrated?” |
| Udita: Rituals are usually discussed in this way, without identifying people. So we might say “Taamil Naadu me poNgaL maNaayaa jaaTaa hai”. |
| Maya: This means “Pongal is celebrated in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India.” |
| Udita: Right, and you could use this for other rituals. “hoLi raNgon ke SaaTH maNaayaa jaaTaa hai.” This means the festival of Holi in India, is celebrated with colours. |
| Maya: This form affects other verbs the same way. A common verb like “karNaa” which means “to do”, becomes “kiyaa jaaTaa hai”, meaning “is done”. |
| Udita: So if you were to say “The marketing work is done in this office” you would use “kiyaa jaaTaa hai” as well. |
| Maya: Yes, that would be “iS office mein, marketing ka kaam kiyaa jaaTaa hai”. |
Outro |
| Udita: Well that’s all for this lesson. Be sure to look at the lesson notes for more examples! |
| Maya: And here’s something you can try saying in Hindi - ‘Christmas is celebrated in the month of December.’ Let us know what it is in a comment at HindiPod101.com. Bye everyone! |
| Udita: Thanks for listening! Until next time! Sukriyaa aur phir miLenge! |
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