Some Lingo !
on Jen's Indian Adventure (India), 12/Jan/2010 14:17, 34 days ago
Well having sat through a very long 2 days of a senior manager’s meeting I have decided to sit myself down and properly try to teach myself some OriyaThe meeting itself was very interesting for the most part– the most part being the part in English- but it was always the bits I was looking forward to, mainly the bits that would effect my role in HR, when people decided to speak in Oriya. In most cases this happened in the afternoon sessions, when some of my colleagues were starting to get tired and it was easier for them to turn to their native language. Even though it was frustrating I could completely understand, as I would probably have done the same.I’ve had an Oriya book since leavingDelhi, but had thought I’d be ok for a year with my few words of Hindi. But in reality that hasn’t been the case. The people I meet every day, rickshaw drivers, shop assistants all speak Oriya. I’ve been getting away with bargaining the cost of a rickshaw journey in English and mostly numbers here are spoken in English mid-sentence and saying ‘thank you’ (danyavad) as it’s the same in both languages. But apart from that I am beginning to realize it could be worth forcing myself to learn some Oriya for the next 10 months. I definitely need to know the different fruit and veg in Oriya as most market traderstrade in Oriya, having no English due to their level (or lack of) education.And this week I have no excuse as my flat mate is gone on a field trip and so there’ll be no opportunities for gossiping in the evening. I am slowly realizing that Oriya will be more difficult than Hindi. In Oriya they rely heavily on a long ‘aw’ sound, which I sound very funny saying. It is already springing up in a lot of the vocabulary I am learning.This coupled with 3 ways of saying‘you’ I do wonder if I’ll ever get it.My book says to leave the book at home and go out and practice so I guess I’ll have to.I have also been advised that I will need Oriya if I get to go on a field trip to see a CYSD project which I hope to in the next month or so. CYSD work with remote tribal communities and it would be great if I could speak to the people Iwill be spendinga few days with. One of my colleagues had advised me that the tribal communities would be able to understand my Hindi, but would not be able to reply to me in Hindi– so Oriya it is.And then is it‘Oriya’ or ‘Odiya’?Am I living in‘Orissa’ or ‘Odissa’?It’s all down to where I am and to whom I am speaking. ‘Orissa’ and ‘Oriya’ is Hindi, but locally it’s ‘Odissa’ and ‘Odiya’. Most states here inIndia, and Odissa is no exception, are quite territorial and prefer to use their own native languages.Indiahas many languages, and yes I do mean languages, not dialects. Odiya may be a bit easier to learn if it was a dialect of Hindi, but unfortunately for me it’s a completely different language.But just to confuse me I’ll have to keep up some Hindi. If I ever leave Odissa and decide to travel, being fluent (I wish !) in Odiya will be of no use to me whatsoever. I may as well be speaking Irish if I try Odiya outside the state. The official national language is Hindi, and most people in larger cities will understand, but after that having the state language is the safest bet. Unfortunately it’s a misconception that everyone here inIndiaspeaks English. Offices, Banks, Hotels are all fine with English, but after that it’s just pot luck.On a final note– I wonder if my brain will ever start to register that when someone shakes their head from side to side they are saying ‘yes’. It’s still taking me a few seconds to realize they are agreeing with me and not saying ‘no’ as it would mean at home.