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When the Sea Saved Humanity

on August 10, 2010

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When the Sea Saved Humanity

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Of Hinglish, Creoles, Pidgins and Registers

By Kim Hansen - Own work Translations: [1][2], CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9879355 This is something that's interested me a long while, and I've done some reading on it. When two languages meet, and people must communicate across the language divide, what happens? Especially, what is the status of Hinglish? This question arose not today, but ever since different groups of humans diverged from each other, and then needed to interact. The first pidgins and creoles would have arisen in the time of the Stone Age – why there might have been an inter-species Cro-Magnon – Neanderthal pidgin even! But let's not meander here and there, but try to make a more methodological study. The meeting of minds Languages end up side by side for many reasons – migrations, military adventures, trade, and even due to natural events. A few examples to start with. Migration is a very common reason, especially now as people migrate to find jobs. Military con...

Fair = Handsome?

Disclaimer:- This blog has nothing to do with any brand whatsoever. It neither criticises nor praises any branded or generic product. The blogger understands that in a amrket economy, products are manufactured to meet demand for them. If demand exists for a certain kind of product, and profit is made by catering to that demand, the market happens, the economy happens and that is that. South Indians have a massive penchant for fairness. They absolutely love fair heroines. South Indian men prefer fair wives, and fairness is their chief criterion for selecting girls. It is not second even to dowry size, though the latter is distinctly more profitable. South Indians also have a massive affinity for mustachios. They like thick oiled ones, that stand out as ferocious symbols of their virility. Being without a mustachio is considered a sign of effeminate weakness in a man, a sign that he is not capable of honourable manly work. Unlike many northeners and urbanites, South Indians have not adop...

A voice silenced, A voice found

Iqbal Bano died on 21st. There's very little I know about her, except that she had a voice with magic in it. Magic that could incite an entire country to revolt against oppression. A voice that brought Faiz Ahmed Faiz's poetry to vivid life. A voice that will haunt me forever. Here's a video of her singing Hum Dekhenge, though it is not the same performance which nearly overthrew the regime of Zia-ul-Haq in 1985 (wish it did!): For the Urdu verses and translation, click here . Though Faiz was a Communist, this poem reminds the listener about the promise Islam makes to its followers - that oppression will be overthrown and the righteous will get justice - a dream also shared by Communists. And here's another of her singing Faiz's incredibly romantic Dasht-e-tanhai: Man, I could never write so touching a ghazal like this:- dasht-e-tanhaai mein, ai jaan-e-jahaan, larzaan hain In the desert of my solitude, oh love of my life, quiver teri avaaz ke saaye, the shadows o...

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