Yeh nila durvaza hei (A little bit lost in translation - part 2)

The blue door

For five weeks now my flatmate Zoe and I have been taking Hindi lessons once a week in a bid to up the stakes and try and improve our Hindi beyond just communicating with the auto rickshaw drivers. Our Hindi teacher Rajni is a great teacher and also good at teaching us about various cultural nuances and keeping us up to date with the latest Hindi songs. The favourite is still Char Baj Gaye (Party Abhi Baaki Hai) by Hard Kaur - Trans: “It’s four o’clock (the party’s still going)” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpG-NnmjbzI 

There has also been the odd disagreement over certain ‘cultural’ particularities. Take colours for instance. We were describing various objects around the flat;

“Yeh kya hei?” (What is this?)

”Yeh quitab hei.” (This is a book). Simple enough. Then we got to the door.

“Yeh kya hei?” 

With confidence I answered, “Yeh nila darvaza hei.” (This is a blue door).

Rajni frowned, “Noooo, Katie, this door is not blue, it is white.”

The door is pale blue but it is most definitely a blue door.

 “No Rajni it’s definitely blue.” This debate went on for some time with Zoe and I testing Rajni on other colours in the flat but seeming to be in agreement that yellow was yellow and pink was pink. The walls, skirting boards, cupboards and doors are all painted in yellow, pink and blue pastilles. It looks like someone was going to open a sweet shop and then changed their mind and turned it into a flat. After a while it seemed like neither side was going to win until Rajni pulled out her trump card,

“In India that colour is not blue; it is white with a bit of blue in it.”

What I struggle with most in Hindi are the pronunciations. My homework for this week is to sit in front of the mirror and repeat “ta ta ta ta ta ta” only not with a hard “t” but with my tongue bent backwards against the roof of my mouth and a long aaa sound at the end. It might sound simple but if you are not accustomed to speaking with your tongue positioned in such a way just give it a try and see how you get on. Part of the problem is that when I start trying to practice, I look and sound so silly that I break into a fit of giggles. And Rajni saying, “Katie, learning Hindi is not funny,” just makes it worse.