Monday, July 11, 2011

How to thank or praise a talented musician in Hindi?

It can be "नतमस्तक होना", as in - मै आपके सम्मुख नतमस्तक होता हूँ. आपका प्रदर्शन देख कर मै प्रभावित हुआ.
Or one can use बहुत अच्छा/सुन्दर प्रदर्शन! , वाह वाह! or बहुत खूब!
I am not sure if I got the one you were looking for. I guess the first would be closest in Hindi.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Marathi: Mangeshkar

How does the famous surname "Mangeshkar" come?

A common custom of Maharashtrians (natives of Maharashtra state in India) is that they take surnames after their ancestral villages' names. Typically a lot of communities add a "kar" at the end of the village's name, to form their parental surname. The famous singer Lata Mangeshkar's surname is no exception. The surname "Mangeshkar" comes from "Mangeshi" town in Goa where her family originally belonged to.

The name "Mangeshi" itself has been derived from Goddess Mangeshi Temple in Goa - goddess Mangeshi who is a form of Durga or Shakti (ref: concept of Power in Hinduism) is considered the deity there and hence the name of the village/town was after this deity. Lord Shiva has also been named as "Mangesh" and his female counterpart is "Mangeshi".

'Lata' is a Sanskrit word meaning creeper in reference to a plant that spreads by means of stems that creep. Many Indian languages use this word, meaning the same.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

My pleasure/With pleasure in


How to say "My pleasure" or "with pleasure: in Hindi? Is it "Khushi se"?

You can say "मुझे प्रसन्नता हुई.", meaning "its my pleasure". (mujhe prasannata hui)

If you want to use it as a reply when someone says "thanks" or धन्यवाद to you, then you can use "यह मेरा सौभाग्य है." (yah mera saubhagya hai) as a better term, as it means and indicates that the speaker feels it was his सौभाग्य / good-luck that s/he was able to help the person - it is a humble gesture to express.