Deepaavali Habbada Shubhaashayagalu!

"Namaskara Geleyare! Let's Kannada blog ge nimagellarige mattomme aathmeeya swaagatha"

Nimagellarigu Deepavali habbada shubhaashayagalu (A Happy Diwali/Deepavali to all of you)


While I was trying to zero in on a topic for today's blog,  I realized that it is festival season and I  could write my blog on a short conversation around this festival.

Now going  back to my wishes:

Nimagellarigu=All of you
Habba=festival
Shubhashayagalu=best wishes

As more and more people travel to different parts of the world and country in search of jobs, we see a union of different cultures, languages and traditions happening around us. I am a nobody to judge if this is good or bad. However, sometimes this mix of languages can lead to some confusion especially if the same words mean different things in different languages.

It is a general practice to wish each other during this festival "Happy Diwali". While Diwali means the festival of lights in many of the Indian languages, when you are speaking to a Kannadiga or when trying to speak in Kannada, wish "Happy Deepavali". Deepa in Kannada means light.

Diwali on the other hand means something else all together in Kannada. Diwali in Kannada means bankrupt. So when you wish in Kannada Happy Diwali, you are literally wishing someone to be bankrupt !!! You wouldn't want to do it...do you??


So here we go with a small conversation:

Kannada	English
Deepavali Habbada Shubhashayagalu	Happy Deepavali
Pataaki Hoditheera?	Will you burst crackers?
Pataaki Hodiberi	Don’t burst crackers
Deepa ellinda thagondri?	Where did you buy Diyas (oil lamps) from?
Deepavali raja yaavathu?	When do we get Deepavali holidays
Deepa hachchutheera?	Will you light lamps?
Habba jora?	Are you having a great celebration?

I hope you will get an opportunity to show of your Kannada speaking skills this Deepavali.
Happy Deepavali to you all once again!! Let's meet again next week with another topic. Until then keep practicing to speak.

Deepaavali Habbada Shubhaashayagalu!

"Namaskara Geleyare! Let's Kannada blog ge nimagellarige mattomme aathmeeya swaagatha"

Nimagellarigu Deepavali habbada shubhaashayagalu (A Happy Diwali/Deepavali to all of you)


While I was trying to zero in on a topic for today's blog,  I realized that it is festival season and I  could write my blog on a short conversation around this festival.

Now going  back to my wishes:

Nimagellarigu=All of you
Habba=festival
Shubhashayagalu=best wishes

As more and more people travel to different parts of the world and country in search of jobs, we see a union of different cultures, languages and traditions happening around us. I am a nobody to judge if this is good or bad. However, sometimes this mix of languages can lead to some confusion especially if the same words mean different things in different languages.

It is a general practice to wish each other during this festival "Happy Diwali". While Diwali means the festival of lights in many of the Indian languages, when you are speaking to a Kannadiga or when trying to speak in Kannada, wish "Happy Deepavali". Deepa in Kannada means light.

Diwali on the other hand means something else all together in Kannada. Diwali in Kannada means bankrupt. So when you wish in Kannada Happy Diwali, you are literally wishing someone to be bankrupt !!! You wouldn't want to do it...do you??


So here we go with a small conversation:

Kannada	English
Deepavali Habbada Shubhashayagalu	Happy Deepavali
Pataaki Hoditheera?	Will you burst crackers?
Pataaki Hodiberi	Don’t burst crackers
Deepa ellinda thagondri?	Where did you buy Diyas (oil lamps) from?
Deepavali raja yaavathu?	When do we get Deepavali holidays
Deepa hachchutheera?	Will you light lamps?
Habba jora?	Are you having a great celebration?

I hope you will get an opportunity to show of your Kannada speaking skills this Deepavali.
Happy Deepavali to you all once again!! Let's meet again next week with another topic. Until then keep practicing to speak.

Jayanagara Hogthira? - Conversing with Autodrivers

"Namaskara Geleyare! Let's Kannada blog ge nimagellarige mattomme aathmeeya swaagatha"

There is a Kannada saying which goes like this "Oorige bandavalu neerige baarade iruvale?", which if translated in English literally means "Will a new comer to the village not come to the village well to draw water?" This Kannada proverb must have been coined at a time when villages had one well and all women came there to draw water, wash clothes, vessels etc., Simply put, village well was a hub of activity, gossips, small talk and even fight. Because, a new comer to the village would need water too, she would eventually come to the village well to draw water.

You might wonder what a village well has to do with a blog intended to teach people to speak Kannada. While I do want to spread awareness about Kannada proverbs along with teaching to speak in Kannada, the reason why I thought of this proverb is because of our Bengaluru auto drivers.
Well, what is the connection then?.

If it was inevitable for the new comer to visit the village well in olden days, for any new comer to Bengaluru, traveling by auto is an inevitable part of living in Bengaluru.

What with the BMTC buses which are always full, cab drivers who keep cancelling their rides the moment they realize they have to cross the Silk Board junction or the non existent metro trains, you have no choice but to befriend the ubiquitous auto drivers in Bengaluru. So we can twist the age old proverb like this: "Bengalurige bandavaru autodalli hogade iruttareye?"(Will a new comer to Bangaluru not travel in auto?")

I need not say what happens if you cannot converse with them in Kannada. So this post is dedicated to teaching a few lines in Kannada that you can use to speak with the auto drivers in Bangalore.

New words in this post:
Hogu=go (singlular)
Hog=Go(Plural or with respect)
Hogthira?=Will you go
Hogthini=I will go
Hogbeku=Want to go
Ellig. ellige=Where?

A typical conversation between you and an auto driver might go like this:

 

Kannada	Meaning in English
You:JP Nagar Hogthira?   Auto driver:JP Nagaradalli ellige hogbeku? You:JP Nagar 6th phase hogbeku So he might say one of the following dialogues: Auto: Vapas bartha kaali barbeku madam. 20 Rs extra kodi.  Or Traffic jaasti. 20 Rs extra kodi. Or Meter mele 20 Rs kodi Giving Directions in Kannada Seeda hogi Edagade hogi Balagade hogi Asking driver to stop illi nillisi	You:Will you go to JP Nagar? Auto. Where in JP Nagar do you want to go? You:I want to go to JP Nagar 6th Phase Auto. I have to come back empty. Give me 20 extra. Or There is heavy traffic on that route. Give me Rs 20 extra Or Give me Rs 20 extra on the meter. Go straight Take left Take right Stop here

Nimma Kiru Parichaya - A little about yourself

"Namaskara Geleyare! Let's Kannada blog ge nimagellarige mattomme aathmeeya swaagatha"


If you read my previous post, you must have understood most of the above sentence. Two new words that I have used this time are Geleyare and mattomme.

Geleyaru = Friends (Term Geleyare is used when you are addressing friends as in "My Dear Friends")
Geleya = a male friend
Gelathi = a female friend

Mattomme=once again
The other versions that can be used are:
Innomme=Once more, Thirigomme=Once again or once more

In today's post, let us learn to greet each other and also to talk a little bit about yourself or give a Kiru Parichaya. Before that, we will learn a few basic words:
naanu=I
nanna=my
neenu= you (singular, or for people younger than you)
Neevu=you (plural or You with respect)
Hesaru=name
ooru=hometown, town, place
Kelasa=job
odhu = Study
Chennagidhe=Nice
Chennagidheera? = How are you doing?, How do you do?

Note: 
If a word contains 'dh' then you need to pronounce it with the sound 'th' produces in the word 'then'.
If a word contains 'th' then you need to pronounce it with the sound 'th' produces in the word 'think'.

How to greet each other in Kannada? 

Namaskaara! chennagideera?/Hello! How do you do?

Naanu chennagideeni. Neevu? /I am doing good. How do you do?

Kiru Parichaya
The following table consists of a set of questions and answers to introduce yourself.

Kannada	Meaning in English
Q.Nimma hesarenu?	Q.What is your name?
A. Nanna hesaru <yourname>	A. My name is <yourname>
Q. Nimma ooru yaavudhu?	Q. Where are you from?
A. Nanna ooru Kolkatta	A. I am from Kolkatta
Q. Neevu enu maadutha idheeri?/Neevu enu kelasa maadutha idheeri?	Q. What do you do?/Where do you work?
A. Naanu Infosys nalli software engineer aagidheeni	A.I work as a software engineer in Infosys
Q. Neevu enu odhideeri?	Q. What have you studied?
A. Naanu BE odhideeni.	A. I have done my BE
Q. Bengaluru hegannisuthidhe?	Q. How do you like Bengaluru?
A.Bengaluru chennagidhe aadhre traffic swalpa jaasthi	A.    Bangalore is nice, but traffic is too much.

 

Hope you will use these words to strike a conversation with your friends, colleagues or neighbours. You can either use the questions to start a conversation and then go about answering when they start asking you questions. Do let me know if you want to learn about any new word that you came across during the conversation.

Until next week Shubha Vidaya!