INDIA: A 26 day odyssey.

Yeah....Sure, Why not?



Namaste: Hello
Aap Kaise Ho? : How are you?
Main Achha Hoon(for males), Main Achhi Hoon(for females): I am fine.

India Bahut Achha Hai: India is Fantastic! (Whoa, Good to Flatter Them) :wink:

Aapka Naam Kya hai? : What is your name?

Main Tum se Pyaar karta hoon/karti hoon. : I love you. ( incase you fall in love during your visit)


Any other you want?

do you speak english please?

Thanks for the lesson, spidergal! Can you give those of us who don't know a quick pronunciation lesson?

I have a Malayalam phrasebook - it sounds like water running over pebbles, and words are l-o-n-g.

Cool! I'm learning a bit of arabic from a Bahranian friend. It's got a bit of throaty noises like German.

yeahh....i am here. Any questions on Hindi?

Yes please spidergal

What is the most commonly spoken language in India?

A total of 800 something languages are spoken in our country. Out of them, Hindi is the dominant one and English coming in second.

Interestingly, India has the highest English speaking population in the world.

Thanks. What do you think of the RSS?

RSS ???

Please enlighten me!

Spidergal, foreigners need not learn Hindi in India as much as one needs to learn Mandarin in China or French in France ....

Indians are well aquainted with English... But knowing Hindi does help in strange situations though...

I have already stated that India has the highest English Speaking population in the world.

However, among all my friends abroad, I notice a trend that they want to learn Hindi to better identify with the Indians- Englisgh is still a stranger for rural India. That is where the foreigners have a chance to penetrate into the real Indian culture.

And a little knowledge of Hindi does Help a lot.


Just saying Namaste is so warm a compliment to those indians over there.

Hey Clary,

So you visited Mumbai 30 years ago! You might just be apalled at how much busier it has become...and bangalore is pretty maddening too ..

I hope you will have a lovely trip.

Luckily I know some Hindi, but in South India (at least 30 yrs ago) they often preferred English to Hindi, which was seen as having replaced English as the language of political dominance. But they all watched Hindi movies and this may no longer be an issue.

I can only imagine Mumbai and Bangalore 30 years on. In my day nearly all Indian women wore Indian dress, but in photos of the cities I see everyone looking much more cosmopolitan. And as for the buildings... and traffic... mind you, where we lived in Delhi was extremely busy with cars and buses and occasional bullock carts and camels at night bringing booze over the state border (they are so quiet).

Malyalam IS beautiful. i have a few music cds, love listening to them, just for the language. it's so elvish. and people are beauuuuutifuuuul. both young men and women are just jaw-droppingly gorgeous in kerala.
so are the backwaters, and the old port in cochin. if you have time, clary and mctag, do travel up to the tea plantations above Vagamon - it's about a 2-3 hour ride, you'll see elephants on the way, and when you get all the way up, the views are breathtaking. there are some ayurveda centers up there too - some "magical" lake (with water that is hot and has some sort of minerals in it)... i can ask my students from the DC School of Management up in Pullikanam (above Vagamon) what/where is it and such...

Oh yes, I'm VERY interested to visit that area, Dagma! If you have any links to ayurvedic centres and magical lakes, I would be happy to have them.

Also thinking about Lakshadweep, if I can go by boat.

Thanks Dag, these places are now on the menu.
I bought a map yesterday, and a mosquito net.

pith helmet?

quite jealous actually McTag

where are you flying from Manchester or London?Dont tell me you are going on the Empress of India from Southampton.

I suppose, he trained already this year on that tall ship.

I've heard some rumours he will start ... from a Scottish port: the have prepared the S.V. Glenlee in Glasgow, I think, for this trip.