Ashram

I want to undestand what people in India understand by the term "ashram". In a novel I am reading, there is a talk about an ashram in Mumbai; it is however not a place for espiritual retreat or something like that, but a care center for girls that have been trafficked and rescued. On the other side, it is not related with Hinduism since the managers of this ashram are Christian Nuns. 

My question is if this author (an american one) has used the word as a literary licence or it is indeed used as such for this charitable organizations.

In general Christian organizations choose to use "center" for such a place and not "aashram" because aashram has connotations with Hindu organizations (not religious necessarily; it can be social also). But people differ in opinion and if someone has used this term for a christian organisation or a social one supported by them, then I don't think many will raise any objections...

If you wonder if "Ashram" should mean "a place of refuge" and hence could be used by all, "a place of refuge" is best represented in the word "ashray" rather than in "ashram".

From ancient times, sages and rishis used to establish ashrams to impart education to their disciples. I don't know if there was any other term for their establishment.

"Ashray" best means a house, but it is closer to being a "refuge". The term "aashrit" would come close to it, meaning one who is seeking or got a refuge.

The terms like vriddhashram perhaps came up because old people spend their remaining years of life remembering God or practicing piousness.

For terms like Sudhar Grih (for jail) or for many other related terms, "grih" or "ashray" are used and not "ashram"..

Even the right term is "grihastha ashram", for married life, and brahmcharya ashram for unmarried student life. Because the four phases of life are seen as in connected with ideal life as prescribed in the Hindu scriptures. So I think the word ashram has a connection (and hence connotation) of association with Hinduism...

Here are the dictionary meanings of "ashram":
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ash·ram    [ahsh-ruhm]
noun
1. a secluded building, often the residence of a guru, used for religious retreat or instruction in Hinduism.
2. the persons instructed there.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ashram

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Definition of ASHRAM

1 : a secluded dwelling of a Hindu sage; also : the group of disciples instructed there
2 : a religious retreat

Origin of ASHRAM

Sanskrit āśrama, from śrama religious exercise
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ashram

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ashram [ˈæʃrəm ˈɑːʃ-]
n

1. (Non-Christian Religions / Hinduism) a religious retreat or community where a Hindu holy man lives

2. a house that provides accommodation for destitute people
[from Sanskrit āśrama, from ā- near + śrama religious exertion]
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ashram

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ASHRAM<===> प्रार्थना स्थल (pr. \\prarthana sthal \\ )[Noun]

Example:The saint had an ashram on teh hill top.
http://dict.hinkhoj.com/words/meanin...-in-hindi.html

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The dictionaries make it very clear that ashram is connected to Hinduism. There is no penalty to use it in literal terms for "a house", but in its original and apt meaning, it is only connected to Hinduism.

Sleepwalking (somnambulism)

Is there any Hindi term for "sleepwalking" or "somnambulism"?

You can use the simple term "nind me chalna". नींद में चलना. I can invent a term nidra-vihaar "निद्रा-विहार", which literally means the same, but I am not sure if there was a word for this phenomenon or disease in Hindi.

jooTa

I believe jooTa means "used," but I feel the way I hear it being used connotes some kind of meaning of ritual purity as well. Can someone kindly explain this? eg.Yeh doodh mat piyo, jooTa hai.

In Hindi:

jhootha झूठा - one who tells lies, or a liar

jootha जूठा - a food or an item which has been partially eaten or touched by mouth by someone else.

Both words are very different. At times people misspell "jootha" with "jhootha" (or any word with "J" as starting with "Jh") and it is wrong to do so.

You will not find this concept of "jootha" in many other cultures and this is unique to the culture of Hindus. Hindus avoid eating someone else's "jootha" making it a point of hygiene. (this concept may also be applicable to even those who are not exactly Hindus in India; because of culture impacts society and is not exactly binding on a religion alone). But in general this concept came from Hindu culture and Hinduism.

In fact there is no exact translation available for this word in many languages, because in their culture it was not considered wrong to eat from someone else's partially-taken food and hence they never had such a word.

tujhse baat nahi hoti nga re.. tu online hai jab mai nahi hu

I read this sentence in my friend's subnick (tujhse baat nahi hoti nga re.. tu online hai jab mai nahi hu.. mai hu tab tu nahi hai...)and he is from India but he lives in arabia. I know he is Sad, so I'd like you help me to understand what it means please.

He is saying that "I don't get to talk to you... When you are online, I happen not to be online; and when I am online, you are not online...

In general it appears that the person wants to talk to / chat with you and has been missing you... He wishes that you both come online on the same time. May I suggest to give him a time at which you would be online, so that he can also be and you people can talk....

dialoguebaazi

I'm reading an article published in the Indian Express that deals with foreign students going to Mumbai's acting schools to become film producers. They use the term "dialoguebaazi" but the meaning of that word does not appear clearly to me.

It is not a proper word in the sense that it has come up with creativity in spoken language. You can add "baazi" at the end of a lot of things, to mean to say "of or related to XYZ"

E.g. Patangbaazi => art of flying kites (in the sky)

Welcome Home

Can you help me with the (phonetic) way of saying "Welcome home" or "Welcome back" from a vacation? In Hindi?

In spoken Hindi, it could be:

"Swagatam!!!" (means welcome!!! with an exclamation)

or "Swagat hai!" (You are welcome!)

The Sanskrit term Swagat is used as it is in Hindi... It means welcome...

You can also say, "Suswagatam!", emphasizing the well wishes, but it will be a formal welcome not very personal.

I would prefer "Swagatam!!!" which is a very warm welcome to anyone, said with an exclamation and a smile on face...

It will be pronounced as "Swaagatam". "aa" with a longer stretch than normal "a".

स्वागतम
स्वागत है!

chuuhaa

Does chuuhaa mean mouse or rat? I have always thought of it as mouse, but maybe it can mean both? I also know it can mean a snitch or tattletale (mukhbir), like "rat" in English. Are there separate common words for mouse and rat...? I have also heard muushak.

In Hindi, Chooha चूहा is meant for both mouse and rat.

Mushak मूषक is the Sanskrit word for rat/mouse. It is used in Hindi too.

Very small size rats or mouse are often called "chuhiyaa" चुहिया in Hindi, to differentiate it from bigger size rats. "Chuhiyaa" चुहिया I think is actually a feminine word for "chuhaa" चूहा , but one can use it to mean a small size mouse. But in general the word is same "chuhaa" चूहा for both rat/mouse. Mushak / मूषक is Sanskrit word which is also used as it is in Hindi.

मूषक
चूहा
चुहिया

rawaiyaa

This question is strictly referring to common Hindi, not in Urdu where this word's meaning may be closer to its original Persian meaning. Would rawaiyaa be better translated as a custom or a stance/attitude?

In Hindi, रवैय्या is taken as an attitude or a behavior. It is almost never used to mean "custom" in Hindi, for which there are other words like paramparaa परंपरा .

When spoken for a collective set of people to indicate their custom there are other words like paramparaa परंपरा. But when spoken for an individual or a even a set of people to indicate their behavior or attitude, "ravaiyaa" रवैय्या is used, along with some words like "vyavhaar" व्यवहार which means the same and both words are used for the same in Hindi.

रवैय्या / व्यवहार - bahaviour / attitude
परंपरा - custom

It is our custom to offer food to the visitors. यह हमारी परंपरा है कि हम अतिथियों को भोजन पर आमंत्रित करते हैं.

If they don't change their attitude, we would have to do something about them. अगर उन्होंने अपना रवैया / व्यवहार नहीं बदला तो हमें कुछ करना होगा.

ki, kii, kai

Can anyone give me an idea of how people in various regions of India pronounce the conjunction कि (ki)? Do many people still pronounce this as कै in UP and Delhi?

When speaking Hindi, most of Indians speak "ki" only. But "kai" कै may be used in Haryanavi language, so one may hear such word (in their accent), being spoken around Delhi (as Delhi is neighboring the state of Haryana and many Haryanvis are settled in Delhi also).

I've noticed that in Mumbai a lot of people pronounce the word identically to kii when meaning "that" but more like ke when meaning "or" for example "tujhe garmii hai ke sardii?" (Are you feeling hot or cold?)

My Marathi colleague says that even in Marathi language, the words for "or" are "ki" कि and "kiwan" किवां. So people should be saying "..X.. aahe ki ..Y.."? "X आहे कि Y?" (aahe is Marathi for "is"/ hai").

There are so many regional dialects in India, that we can't say from where a particular pattern comes...

Merger of and

I learnt the pronunciations chaawar (uncooked rice) and hardii (turmeric) instead of chaaval and haldii. How common is this merger of <l> and <r> in India? I have heard that Bhojpuri-speakers do this as well. Is it done in Awadhi? My family originally came from a village in the district of Allahabad, but this may have been something that was picked up from others after coming to Jamaica... 

 

You are right that chaawar and hardi are spoken by many in India. You are right about Bhojpuri for sure. I am not sure about Awadhi though.

It appears that even in Sindhi language it is spoken as chawar. See these pages on Sindhi cuisine mention the word "chawar" for "chaawal":

Sabu dal chawar ( yellow daal with rice) [Link] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sindhi_cuisine

Sabu dal chawar & Bugha Chawar http://www.indianetzone.com/53/sindhi_cuisine.htm

Also, there is a hotel Kailash Parbat in Singapore which has on its menu:

SEYAL CHAWAR (Rice flavoured with caramelized onion, tomatoes & fresh coriander) [Ref]

 

I checked Platts', and he lists hardii as a variant of haldii, as well as giving this etymology for haldii: [Prk. हलद्दी, or हलद्दा; S. हरिद्रा]. The original Sanskrit word had an <r>, which shifted to an <l> in Prakrit. Perhaps some Prakrit dialects retained the <r>, and that may explain the hardii (though it doesn't explain chaawar). IIRC, Gujarati, Sindhi, and Bhojpuri are descended from different Prakrits dialects than Khariboli is. I believe Bhojpuri is descended from the same Prakrit as Bengali.

I looked up the words in Bengali to see if they are similar.

হরিদ্রা (p. 1047) [ haridrā ] n turmeric. ̃বর্ণ n. & a. yellow. ˜ভ a. yellowish.
হলদি (p. 1047) [ haladi ] n (dial.) turmeric.

Bengali has both an <r>-version and an <l>-version, though the <r>-version seems to be the more standard one.

 

You are right that the root word for haldi or hardi is Haridra हरिद्रा from Sanskrit. All these languages are sister-languages coming out ultimately from Sanskrit and hence while their words carry a certain distinctions, those can be traced back to the original word.

हरिद्रा

हरिद्रा , की परिभाषा हरिद्रा , का अर्थ हरिद्रा - हरिद्रासंज्ञा स्त्री० [सं०] १. हलदी । २. एक नदी का नाम । ३. वन । जंगल ।—अनेकार्थ (शब्द०)। ४. मंगल ।—अनेकार्थ (शब्द०)। ५. सीसा धातु ।—अनेकार्थ (शब्द०)। ६. निशा । उ०—कहत हरिद्रा बनथली, निशा हरिद्रा होइ । बहुरि हरिद्रा मंगली, हरद हरिद्रा सोइ ।—अनेकार्थ०, पृ० १६१ । [Ref]

There are some related words coming out of the word Haridra:

हरिद्राभ ^१वि० [सं०] पीतवर्ण का । पीला ।

It is so since Haldi/Hardi/Haridra is yellow in color.

हरिद्रागणपतिसंज्ञा पुं० [सं०] गणपति या गणेश जी की एक मूर्ति जिनपर मंत्र पढ़कर हलदी चढ़ाई जाती है ।

There is another interesting fact: While हरिद्रा or Haldi/Hardi is yellow, हरि, which is Lord Vishnu's name, has also got the color associated with Him as yellow. Lord Vishnu is represented wearing yellow clothes. As this page says, "The color yellow is associated with earthly existence and the yellow clothes of the Lord signify that He incarnates Himself on this earth to uphold righteousness and destroy evil and unrighteousness." [Ref] And Hari is a name of Vishnu himself! Hari, as in Haridra! Or Hardi which came from it! It is so interesting to see how things are related to each other...

Another interesting quote. This one is from the immensely respected Guru Granth Sahib taken from here [Link]

ਕਬੀਰ ਹਰਦੀ ਪੀਰਤਨੁ ਹਰੈ ਚੂਨ ਚਿਹਨੁ ਨ ਰਹਾਇ ॥
कबीर हरदी पीरतनु हरै चून चिहनु न रहाइ ॥
Kabīr harḏī pīrṯan harai cẖūn cẖihan na rahā▫e.
Kabeer, turmeric has lost its yellow color, and no trace of lime's whiteness remains.

Here also, turmeric is called "hardi"...