जौन सी बात

Can you write this in better Hindi? : जौनसी बात आप ने मुझ से कही थी, मैं उस से सहिम्मत हूँ।
जो बात आपने मुझसे कही थी, मै उस से सहमत हूँ. 

Hindi word for Cowshed

What is the Hindi word for "Cowshed"?

Cowshed = Goshala गौशाला in Hindi and many other sister languages which came out from Sanskrit.

"Tabela" is another word but it is used for the shed keeping buffaloes also.

झड़ी / झरी लगाना

Can you show examples of the phrase "झड़ी / झरी लगाना"?

बातों की झड़ी लगाना
चुटकुलों की झड़ी लगाना
थप्पड़ों की झड़ी/झरी लगाना 

Havas

There seems to be some disagreement between Hindi and Urdu as to if this words connotations: gastronomical or sexual. Might I ask to see examples of this word in both contexts? I assume that the second one would be overt, but is it lewd?

You are right, in Hindi, it is used both in sexual and asexual sense. Examples:

"uddha ke dauran bahut si auraton ko un barbar akranton ke havas ka shikaar banna pada" (in sexual sense)

"paise kamane ki uski havas ne uski paarivarik dayityon ko bhula saa diya." (in asexual sense - havas can be for money also)

Cash Cow in Hindi

How can we say the idom "Cash Cow" in Hindi?

"Dudharu gai" or "sone ke ande dene waali murgi"
दुधारू गाय or सोने के अंडे देने मुर्गी

Indic languages vs English in India - the future?

From what I see there seems to be a situation where English is used in higher education, high-tech jobs while Indic languages are used in primary education, everyday jobs, regional politics and in homes. Which saddens me a little bit, because I think Indians should speak their Indic languages in India.

What would the future in India be like? Will English continue to be the language for "important things" while the Indic languages will die gradually or remain a home language, or will the native languages be valorised and be employed as academic, economic, and professional languages?

My opinion on this topic:

First of all, let me request you to use “Indian” instead of “Indic” which I find weird, though popular on this forum because of constant usage. We Indians don’t see anything wrong or offensive if you call us Indians in writing, unless offense explicitly meant in some other way.

Without doubt, English is the language of Higher Education in India. We don’t have engineering and medical education, even an MBA where one can do full course in any other language. That is because of the historical developments.

But I think you are seeing a little pessimistic view of the things while realities are not so gloomy. Most Indians use their mother tongue to communicate in their family, with their friends, or even with their colleagues at work; be they be working with MNCs or any global corporation at any level. But as you said, such communications are “informal”, while the educated masses would use English in “formal” places like conferences and seminars or in client-calls. I see no harm in it.

I can go on, but will try to conclude fast. The way I find it after living in India all my life in different parts all across the country, I think the major regional languages are not going to die anytime. It would be true for languages like Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu – these languages will never die because these are connected to the “core” of the culture and psyche of the masses. So a demise is “never” going to happen.

The situation about higher education will always remain so, I think, because of the growth “path” we have chosen. I talk to foreign clients daily and without English our whole business unit or entire company just couldn’t work. And we are following a path towards globalization, where we Indians plan to move towards better future riding on our higher education and technical skills, which are all possible to “sell” only because of English.

So local languages will never die. And for languages like Sanskrit, which is practically not in conversations now, I think it will also live “forever” because all our major Hindu scriptures are in Sanskrit and we are “never” going to lose that wisdom. I read Hindu scriptures, in Sanskrit with English or Hindi translations, and for the sake of survival, even Sanskrit is never going to die.

Just like India has survived hundreds of years of Islamic invasion and British rule, our major languages will survive always, because all these things are connected to the “core” of the hearts of our nation.

past tense of karnā

Is it just a Delhi Hindi tendency to say <karā> and <karī> for <kiyā> and <kī>, respectively?You are right. It is quite and especially common in the North.

Aa raha hoon palat ke

How do you translate this in English? "Aa raha hoon palat ke"
"Aa raha hoon palat ke" => Closest would be in this sense: "I'm coming having turned back."

tai, tay, तय

The word "tai" (or tay) is of Arabic origins where it is spelt as "tayy". In Urdu, it has the following meanings: covering (a distance), as in "faasilah tai karnaa" (to cover a distance)
folding/settling/deciding; folded/settled/decided; tai shudah: settled/decided/closed (affair); yih baat tai hai kih...This matter is settled/decided that...

Is there an Hindi equivalent for "tai"?

Tai or तय is a Hindi word. Examples of Tai karna / तय करना:

रेलवे को अपनी 'सुरक्षा' प्राथमिकता तय करना जरूरी ...

अभी भी कुछ दूरियों को तय करना है: कृष्णा

भारत-पाक संबंधों की दिशा तय करना प्राथमिकता: खार

टूर्नामेंट में अब भी लंबा रास्ता तय करना है : धोनी

घोषणाओं से ज्यादा ज़रूरी है जवाबदेही तय करना ...

अभी हमें लंबा रास्ता तय करना है-सचिन

बिल पर समयसीमा तय करना सही नहीं: अभिषेक मनु ...

'पेट्रो कीमत तय करना तेल कंपनियों के हाथ में' | Zee ...

हिन्दू धर्म संदेश-शक्ति से अधिक लक्ष्य तय करना ...

In Hindi, the meanings of "tay karna" are most of the times used in the below two forms from my experience (in this sequence):

(1) To decide
(2) To cover

Here you can see the complete list of meanings of the Hindi word "tay" तय here: [Dict.Hindikhoj]
तय करना <===> COVER[TransitiveVerb]

तय करना <===> CONTRACT[Noun]

तय करना <===> SET[Noun]

तय करना <===> TRACK[Noun]

तय करना <===> LOG[Noun]

तय करना <===> BE AGREED[Noun]

तय करना <===> FIX[Noun]

तय करना <===> DETERMINE[Noun]

तय करना <===> ARRANGE[Noun]

तय करना <===> CLINCH[Noun]

तय करना <===> MAKE[Noun]

तय करना <===> DECIDE[Noun]

तय करना <===> TRAVERSE[Noun]

तय करना <===> CONCLUDE[Noun]

तय करना <===> DO[Noun]

तय करना <===> CLEAR[Noun]

तय करना <===> ADJUST[Noun]

तय करना <===> CUT THROUGH[Noun]

तय करना <===> CUT ACROSS[Noun]

तय करना <===> THINK[Noun]

तय करना <===> SETTLE[Noun]

तय करना <===> FIX ON[Noun]

तय करना <===> BE AGREED[Noun]

तय करना <===> COME[Noun]

Ivory, curfew, boycott

What word is most suitable to use for elephant ivory used as a material in jewelry?

Haathi-daant (हाथी दाँत) is the one.

What would the Hindi equivalents be for "curfew"?

Nishedhagyaa (निषेधाज्ञा) is the Hindi word for it. We also use the same term "curfew" (कर्फ्यू) even in Hindi, but nishedh-aagyaa (aagyaa meaning order, and nishedh means prohibitory) is also there.

What is the hindi word for Boycott?

"Bahiskaar"