Someone had told me that India had many different languages, but it never occurred to me that there were 28+ languages, and counting. For each state, there is a state language and even within the same state, you may have a derivative of that state language.
The most spoken Indian language is Hindi, which is mainly used in the north. A few states are noted as Hindi spoken states, in addition to their own language. Hindi is part of the schooling curriculum here, so, Hindi seems to be the national language, but it’s rarely used in the southern region. It’s not strange to find that people can speak more than one language, like Ashwin, he can speak 5 different indian languages, as well as german, and is getting increasingly better at malayalam (Kerala state language)!
The country is very segregated, each state has their own chief minister (like our state premier), with their own rules, and culture and customs. For example, Ashwin is from Karnataka (speaking kannada), Arun is from Tamil Nadu (speaking tamil), while Rajesh, Jibi, and Roshan are from Kerala (speaking malayalam). What language do the different staties speak to each other in? English! So, when you hear an indian speaking english with an indian accent in Sydney, here, it's more like they speak english with WHICH indian accent. Trust me, there is a difference!
Indian people do separate themselves by, North (map, right) or South (map, above) India. The northern indians would eat chappathis (like roti) and naans with curry, whereas the south indians eat rice with curries.The northern indians are much fairer in skin tone compared with the south (Ashwin sometimes gets called a northern indian even though he is a southie), and the guys in south India generally have some type of facial hair. In Kochi, it's not as metro as the big cities (about 3 levels down), so you can still see the India of old, i.e. not touched by westernisation.
You don't get the sense of a unified India due to these culture clashes, once you're in the country. Some have nicknamed it a mini-Europe, or the even the United States of India (I thought that was quite funny), due to the differences in each state. But I’m sure when the cricket comes around, they’re all quite united. Sachin Tendulkar is their God, and you might be able to call cricket a religion here, as EVERYBODY follows it obsessively. The guys in the team are throwing player statistics at me, from the 1980s!! Gosh!
And guess what? They haven't heard of Russell Peters! Blasphemy! I’m going to infiltrate them with Russell Peters!
3 comments:
Wow Shar, you're going to return to Sydney as our resident expert on all things Indian. This is GREAT. You'll be able to take us to proper Indian restaurants now. I think I prefer North Indian food.... though anything Indian is nice.
Good thing you know cricket! Perhaps you can encourage them to have a game ... and impress them with your bowling action.
Ahhh Russell Peters .... memories of train trips....
heheh...couldn't show off my cricket prowess, as in the last week, the rainy season began.
That is why this state has green everywhere, it rains for 3 consecutive months, everyday! I don't see any water shortage for them, compared to us.
Although, it has been really wet and cold here in Sydney, I'm currently experiencing that now.
24 is the number spoken by one million or more. There are 1600+ mother tongues back home! :)
chk here ->
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_India
n Russel P - quite a funny fellow eh? i like his one line -watever makesyu happy!
way too filosofic for his brand of humor :O)
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