I read this book "No full stops in India" by Mark Tully (1935-2026) when I was in my bachelor studies. Loved his style of writing! RIP 🙏 [Sir William Mark Tully (24 October 1935 – 25 January 2026) was a British journalist and the bureau chief of the BBC in New Delhi.]

Deeply saddened to hear of the demise of Prof. Pramod Pandey, a towering figure in Indian linguistics and former Professor at JNU. Soft-spoken, kind-hearted, and ever willing to help, he was my go-to mentor for advice. A true gentleman. Om Shanti🙏🙏.

Fresh: I wrote this piece where I try to untangle all the knots around the pronunciations of ज्ञ /ಜ್ಞ / জ্ঞ / જ્ઞ / jña in Indian languages. Comments awaited! wp.me/pSoc-2jF

Happy new year. Read this Hindi poem by Priti Shri (1941)

Saddened by the passing of former professor of Hindi language Dr. Mohan Gautam (1937 – 2025), who left us in August 2025🙏📿🌺. A distinguished scholar and beloved educator at Leiden University. Dr. Gautam made profound contributions to the study of Hindi language and diaspora studies.

Saddened to hear of the passing of the legendary Surinamese-Indian linguist, author, farmer, musician, & polymath Mr. Moti Marhé (1943 – 5 Dec 2025). He touched the hearts of all who met him with his kind & friendly nature. He welcomed people into his home & into his heart.🙏🕉️1/3

"Caste identity is made audible even in routine daily interactions. Language also acts as a marker of social aspiration and mobility," Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस writes about #caste and #language in #Southasia https://www.himalmag.com/politics/language-caste-india-hindi-tamil-kannada

Cyclone named "Ditwah" ravaging the island nation of Sri Lanka is a Soqotri language word. Soqotri is a southern Semitic language spoken by the Soqotri people on the Socotra archipelago by more than 111,000 speakers. In Soqotri, Ditwah (di-ṭaḥḥ) means 'shore' NOT lagoon.

सोवियत संघ soviyat sangh (Soviet Union). Soviet совет is a Russian equivalent of what we have in Hindi panchayat पंचायत pañcāyat (a village council).

तुषार tuṣār (frost, snow, ice) A Kumaoni idiom: तुषारै की कड़कड़ घामा औण तक। झुठै की कड़कड़ सांचा औण तक। The frost crackles until the sun comes, and the lie crackles until the truth is revealed.

Why you will never marry! (Source: Lone Fox Dancing - an autobiography, Ruskin Bond, 2017)

Herbertpur derives its name from Lieutenant-General Sir Herbert Taylor Macpherson (1827–1886), a decorated British military officer of Scottish descent, who later became Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army. avtans.com/2025/12/02/h...

Cool solidarity In 2004, American sociolinguist Scott Kiesling proposed the concept of "cool Solidarity". According to which, "dude" in American English helped young men navigate social pressures by expressing "cool solidarity", a non-intimate form of affiliation or connection.

I grew up noticing differences in languages depending on one's caste (or community), but prescriptivists often brushed them aside as aberrant speech. Here is what I’ve written about the state of these linguistic differences in India and beyond. www.himalmag.com/politics/lan...

While watching the series 1883, I realized how short is our collective memory. In those times, there was the epidemic of smallpox, which is called चेचक, शीतला & बड़ी माता chēchak śītlā & baṛī mātā in Hindi. It was a deadly disease devastating many families and communties.

Tāq /tāk ताक़/ताक Hindi has preserved this Arabic origin word in a common idiom niyamon ko tāk pe rakhnā नियमों को ताक पर रखना (to disregard the rules). So something kept on tāk is kind of left unattended or ignored.

Pālthī पालथी aka tailor pose Did you know that pālthī पालथी i.e. sitting cross-legged on one's thighs is called the “tailor’s pose” in 🇬🇧 English and other European languages (as in Dutch 🇳🇱 kleermakerszit)?

Nobel prize winners in literature by languages! What do you think? #nobelprize

The Milk Tea Alliance is a term used for pro-democracy networks of people from countries such as Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Myanmar against authoritarianism and Chinese state influence. It takes its name from the shared practice of drinking tea ☕ with milk in these countries.

From वेताल की प्रेमिका (Indrajāl comics) in 1988.

Worcestershire sauce It's a folk etymology that the recipe for Worcestershire sauce was brought by an ex-governor of Bengal, India. This lore was created by the company Lea & Perrins to exoticize their product in 19th-century Britain. The said governor, Marcus Sandys, had never set foot in India.

Is it विजयादशमी vijayādashamī or विजयदशमी vijayadashamī? Vijayā विजया is a feminine noun in Sanskrit. In Hindu religious discourse, the 10th day of the bright half of Āśvina is called विजया vijayā. Vijayā is also the epithet of Goddess Durgā. [1]

Interesting find! The Oral History of Tibetan Studies (OHTS) is a project that collects and archives the personal accounts and memories of individuals who contributed to Tibetan Studies as an academic discipline in the late 20th century. oralhistory.iats.info/interviews/

Here's to your good future🙌 विजयादशमी की शुभकामनाएँ (vijayādśamī kī śubhakāmanāẽ) - Happy Dussehra!! In northern India, seeing Neelkanth bird, fish, curd, & silver coins upon opening the eyes on the Dussehra morning, is considered auspicious and good omens. 1/3

विजयादशमी की शुभकामनाएँ। आज पढ़िए विजयादशमी (दशहरा) पर यह लेख जिसमें बताया गया है कि भारत के विभिन्न प्रांतों में यह त्यौहार कैसे मनाया जाता है। wp.me/pSoc-2eh

Sprouted coconut is called नारियल का फूल nāriyal kā phūl in Hindi and her sister languages. Intrestingly, this seems like a calque (loan-translation) of Tamil tēṅkāyppū தேங்காய்ப்பூ (coconut flower).

Bombay duck (Harpadon nehereus) is a type of lizardfish popular along the western coast of India, where it is also known as bombil in Marathi and Konkani. It is not a bird but a fish. There are various speculations about the etymology of its English name. Read further- avtans.com/2025/10/01/u...

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥’𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬, 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘴𝘪𝘢? @avtansa.bsky.social (@unileiden.bsky.social) explains @himalmag.bsky.social how 19th century tea cultivation shaped culture and language in South India & Sri Lanka. @studieverenigingtwist.nl

Rules of Kānwar Yatrā काँवड़ यात्रा (from the book - bol bam bhajanāvalī, 1988)

A unique letter published in August 1933 in Chand Magazine (Hindi). Edited by Navjādiklāl Srivastava, Chand magazine was published from Allahabad (now known as (Prayagraj). The letter was written by a sex-worker from Bihar.

What is the relationship between a fungus and Indian tea drinking? In 1870s, Ceylon was the world's biggest producer of coffee. But in the late 19th century, coffee plantations first in Ceylon & then in mainland India were swept by a fungal epidemic caused by Hemileia vastatrix.1/n

अश्वत्थामा aśvatthāmā was the son of Drōṇa, and one of Duryodhana’s generals in Mahabharata. The name aśvatthāmā is defined as अश्वस्येव स्थाम बलं यस्य aśvasyeva sthāma balã yasya [one which has strength like a horse]. The derivation is अश्व + स्था + मनिन् aśva + sthā + manin (one who stands like a horse). 1/n

Hindi Poem by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar (1908 - 1974) from his anthology रश्मिरथी rashmirthī based on the Hindu epic Mahābharata. Hindi Text: वर्षों तक वन में घूम-घूम, बाधा-विघ्नों को चूम-चूम, सह धूप-घाम, पानी-पत्थर, पाण्डव आये कुछ और निखर। सौभाग्य न सब दिन सोता है, देखें, आगे क्या होता है। 1/3

लीपा-पोती līpā-potī लीपा-पोती करना līpā-potī karnā is a Hindi idiom which is used in the sense of attempt to stop people finding out the true facts about a situation; to whitewash etc. It is composed of two verbs लीपना līpnā (to smear) & पोतना potnā (to daub, to whitewash).

Dhivehi 🇲🇻, Vedda 🇱🇰, Sri Lankan Telugu, Sri Lanka Malay, and Nagpuri of Sundarbans 🇧🇩 : read about the enchanting world of the languages of the islanders 🌊🚣‍♀️ here www.himalmag.com/culture/lang...

Although the discovery of tea in Indian subcontinent in 1823 is attributed to the British major Robert Bruce, it was the Singpho chieftain Beesa Gaum (or “Bisa Gam”), hailing from the village of Beesa in what is now Arunachal Pradesh.

The word धक्का or धका dhakkā or dhakā in Marathi and ધક્કો ધક્કો (in Gujarati) for a wharf, dock, platform, pier etc. is a Laskari origin word in Indian languages. The word was used by sailors from Mumbai and Surat.

Found this book lying somewhere. This a Russian translation of a Dutch novel by Leon de Winter. Published this in 1995a and titled Seranade, the book's hero, a modern composer, is quite content with his measured life, in which his mother plays a major role, terminally ill...

Hindi idiom मजबूरी का नाम महात्मा गाँधी majburī kā nām mahātmā Gandhi [literally - helplessness' name is Mahatma Gandhi] is used in the sense of "to make a virtue out of helplessness" or "patience is a poor man's virtue" etc. This idiom may seem like post-2014 development, but...

In Delhi's urban villages pork sausages are called peda पेड़ा (named after sweet 🧁) and pork meat is called Shikār kā meat, curry prepared with pork is called शिकार की निहारी shikār ki nihari. Notice the avoidance of the word सूअर suvar in these shops, & calling it shikār (game)

True Shikar Stories by a Woman This story comes from the January 21st, 1899 issue of Country Life Illustrated—a British magazine dedicated to country living and pursuits, published in London. Written by a woman who signed her work with the initials D.F.,

In 1982, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints AKA Mormon Church published the Hindi translation of 'The Book of Mormons'. It was titled मॉरमन धर्मशास्त्र Mormon dharmashāstra. On the cover, you can see the image of Angel Moroni who 'revealed' the book to Joseph Smith.

Khunnas खुन्नस Khunnas is a Hindi word meaning anger, rage, resentment, hatred etc. In Hindi you keep a khunnas खुन्नस रखना khunnas rakhnā, or some people rear it खुन्नस पालना khunnas pālnā, and some take it out खुन्नस निकालना khunnas nikālnā.

Even though the world's many sign languages are progressively becoming visible, sign languages in Southasia are still languishing in obscurity,” www.himalmag.com/culture/sign...

A busy balling room in the opium factory at Patna, India (1850). The word ball was used in opium factories of India in the 19th century for a weight of raw opium weighing 3 pounds (approx 1.37 kilograms). In the opium factories there were these balling rooms.

The tea languages - a ⛓️ Singpho is a Sino-Tibetan language belonging to the Jingppaw-Asakian group of languages spoken in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. It is closely related to the Jingpaw languages of Myanmar and the Jingpo languages of China.