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The British Raj used the term ‘Hindoostani’ interchangeably for two languages, Hindi and Urdu, with Hindi spoken by the Hindus and Urdu spoken by the Muslims. In post-Independent India, Standard Hindi was selected as the Official Language, incorporating much of the Khariboli dialect spoken by those living in the region surrounding Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. While this dialect included Urdu words, the script adopted for Standard Hindi was Devnagari.
In a multi-lingual country whose diversity is often jokingly described as ‘a different language or dialect every few miles’, it was bound to be difficult to implement one language as the national language of India. Hence, English was included as an additional language for official purposes.
Hindi is spoken as a mother-tongue by 180 million people, and as a second language by 300 million people. It has 11 vowels and 35 consonants. Those consonants borrowed from languages like Persian, English and Arabic, are denoted with a dot. Some of the most famous writers and poets in the Hindi language include Kabir, Goswami Tulsidas, Munshi Premchand, Maithili Sharan Gupt, Jaishankar Prasad and more recently, Nirmal Verma. Hindi classes are available in many cities across India and there are also proficiency exams in the language.
Source for numbers data: Central Hindi Directorate (Department of Higher Education)
An edited version of the article was published in Culturama’s July 2012 Issue.
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LEHERIYA (Leh-heh-ri-ya) is a technique of dyeing, named after the ‘leher’ (wave) pattern of the finished product. This tie-and-dye printing technique, an offshoot of the original dyeing technique of Bandhini (from the root word ‘baandh’, meaning knot), also originated in the western Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. As in the case of Bandhni, the process of creating a leheriya pattern is divided into three fundamental steps – preparing the material, making the knots and then dyeing it. The wave pattern is achieved by rolling the fabric diagonally and binding the roll in intervals with thread. The bound roll is then dyed.
The traditional leheriya is usually in the colours red and yellow. While the technique is used for sarees and odhnis (veils), the leheriya is favoured by the men to add a touch of resplendence in the form of turbans. It is said that the wave pattern is worn mainly during the monsoon and was traditionally favoured by the Rajputs.
An edited version of the article was published in Culturama’s July 2012 Issue.
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Phulkari (phool-kaari) literally means ‘flower-work’ is a form of traditional hand embroidery by the rural women of Punjab as a ceremonial veil or shawl for special occasions. It is part of a bridal trousseau and usually created by the women of the bride’s family, now increasingly outsourced. The groom’s family also presents the bride with a phulkari piece to welcome her into the new fold. Phulkari is usually embroidered with silk thread on coarse cotton and looks like the reverse of a darning stitch. Red is an auspicious colour, hence it finds prominence in the workmanship. The most common motif is the sheaf of wheat and geometric patterns. There are also figurative pieces with scenes from village life, that are used as panels rather than shawls. When the embroidery is done all over the body of a piece, it is called ‘baagh’ or garden. Since it is painstaking work, it also tends to be very expensive.
An edited version of the article was published in Culturama’s October 2012 Issue.
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Etikoppaka (YAE-TI-KOPPAAKA) is a village in Andhra Pradesh renowned for its lacquer-finished woodcraft. Watching a craftsperson create an etikoppaka product is like watching a potter bringing a pot to life, only the wheel in this case is a lathe that spins vertically. A piece of wood is affixed to the lathe and the craftsperson does the entire shaping, hollowing and colouring of the product while the wood is being turned. Lead-free natural dyes are used, in colours like ochre, green, purple, red and maroon. Some cracks in the product are normal, since the products are made of very soft wood. The products available today are toys (like toy trains, rattles, tops), junk jewellery (earrings and bangles) and home products (like candlestands, vermillion boxes, windchimes, keychains and decorative figurines). Etikoppaka decoratives feature prominently in festive displays in South Indian homes during the annual Navaratri festival. A similar industry exists in Channapatna, Karnataka, but the wood used for the products is different.
An edited version of the article was published in Culturama’s October 2012 Issue.
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Depending on where you go in India, there are numerous ways to ward off the evil eye. The simplest of them is a charm made of lemon and chillis strung together and hung in vehicles and doorways to immunise them from the envious glances of others. When the lemon and chillis wither, indicating the absorption of withering glances, they are replaced with a fresh set. Depending on the region and the superstition, the number of chillis vary and so do the accompaniments, like a piece of coal, a conch shell, a black fabric-stuffed voodoo-esque doll with white features or, as in this image from Ladakh, the face mask of a ferocious dharampala (guardian deity) wearing a crown of skulls.
An edited version of the article was published in Culturama’s October 2012 Issue.
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Malayalam (mala-yaa-llam) is the official language of the South Indian state of Kerala. According to some historians, the earliest form of the language was derived from Tamil, has an abundance of Sanskrit. It is perhaps this unique amalgam that led to Malayalam having the largest number of letters in an Indian language. Malayalam has a rich literary tradition that extends from religious treatises, translated epics, drama, poetry and fiction. Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, as the last word in his name implies, is regarded as the ‘father of the Malayalam language’ as we know it today. Besides his contribution to literature like the translations, Adhyathma Ramayana and Mahabharata, he is said to be the first person to give shape to the Malayalam alphabet. Some of the noted names among numerous in Malayalam literature include Irayimman Thampi, Thakazhi Sivasankaran Pillai, M.T. Vasudevan Nair, Vaikkom Mohammad Basheer, Lalithambika Antharjanam and Madhavikutty. According to the 2001 Indian census, there are 33,066,392 speakers of Malayalam in the country.
An edited version of the article was published in Culturama’s October 2012 Issue.
