Author | Lightnews

Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · 6d

Thanks to our robust vaccination programs, we have eradicated this deadly disease. Some years ago, I wrote a short essay for Himal on words from Indian languages describing vaccination, pandemic, quarantine etc.
www.himalmag.com/culture/dial...

Translating a pandemic: The impact of COVID-19 terminology on Southasian languages

This article is part of Dialectical, a Himal series that explores Southasia’s languages, their connections and shared histories. ***A lot has changed since the

www.himalmag.com

Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · 6d

I also learned that the word Hindi/Urdu चेचक chechak is derived from the Turkish 🇹🇷 word çiçek which originally meant flower, and later came to denote smallpox because of the red blisters it caused on the skin.

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Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · 6d

While watching the series 1883, I realized how short is our collective memory. In those times, there was the epidemic of smallpox, which is called चेचक, शीतला & बड़ी माता chēchak śītlā & baṛī mātā in Hindi. It was a deadly disease devastating many families and communties.

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Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · 10d

Tāk/Tāq in Hindi/Urdu originally meant a recess, niche, a ledge or shelf on a wall. In Arabic & Persian tāq ताक़ means an arch or recess. Arabic tāq (arch) was re-borrowed by Persian, which brought it to Indian languages. Arabic had earlier borrowed tāg (arch) from Middle Persian

Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · 10d

Tāq /tāk ताक़/ताक
Hindi has preserved this Arabic origin word in a common idiom niyamon ko tāk pe rakhnā नियमों को ताक पर रखना (to disregard the rules). So something kept on tāk is kind of left unattended or ignored.

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Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · 13d

In Yoga this posture is known as sukhāsana सुखासन (easy pose).

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Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · 13d

It is one of the most popular sitting style in India while having food on the ground level (non table settings). In Urdu pālthi is called चार ज़ानू बैठना chār zānū baiṭhnā. In Marathi it is called मांडी घालून बसणे māṇḍī ghālūn basṇe (māṇḍī means thighs).

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Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · 13d

Sitting cross-legged on one’s thighs is called pālathī पालथी in Hindi. This word traces its origin in Sanskrit paryastikā पर्यस्तिका (sitting upon the hams). In Hindi the usual verbs attached with pālthī are mārnā मारना (to strike) and bāndhnā बाँधना (to tie).

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Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · 13d

Interestingly, our body even has a muscle named after this posture, the sartorius muscle, running along the length of the thigh. Its name comes from the Latin sartor, meaning “tailor,” which is why it’s often called the “tailor’s muscle.”

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Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · 13d

The name goes back centuries, to a time when tailors would sit cross-legged on their work tables while sewing garments by hand.
This position kept the fabric from slipping to the floor and made handling heavier materials much easier.

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Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · 13d

Pālthī पालथी aka tailor pose
Did you know that pālthī पालथी i.e. sitting cross-legged on one's thighs is called the “tailor’s pose” in 🇬🇧 English and other European languages (as in Dutch 🇳🇱 kleermakerszit)?

https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/object/Kleermaker--ed90eed8f9605ef1f5a9c2d6250717f2

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Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · 26d

Nobel prize winners in literature by languages! What do you think?
#nobelprize

Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · 27d

Some activists also include India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka in the milk tea alliance. The recent uprising in Nepal against the authoritarian and nepotist regime has followed similar patterns to those of Hong Kong, Thailand, and Myanmar.

Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · 27d

The Milk Tea Alliance is a term used for pro-democracy networks of people from countries such as Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Myanmar against authoritarianism and Chinese state influence. It takes its name from the shared practice of drinking tea ☕ with milk in these countries.

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Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · 29d

From वेताल की प्रेमिका (Indrajāl comics) in 1988.

Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · Oct 6

Perhaps the only Indian connection is that Lea & Perrins concocted a mix of regular fish (anchovy) sauce with tamarind chutney made with molasses (शीरा shīrā). This could be their Bengal connection, as variants of Indian tamarind chutney had already reached Britain by that time.

Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · Oct 6

Worcestershire sauce
It's a folk etymology that the recipe for Worcestershire sauce was brought by an ex-governor of Bengal, India. This lore was created by the company Lea & Perrins to exoticize their product in 19th-century Britain. The said governor, Marcus Sandys, had never set foot in India.

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Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · Oct 5

So in Hindi विजयादशमी vijayādashamī and in Bengali বিজয়াদশমী bijaẏādaśamī is the correct spelling of the festival otherwise known as दशहरा daśaharā. [4]

Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · Oct 5

3. श्रवण नक्षत्र की भाद्र शुक्ल एकादशी या द्वादशी जो बुधवार को हो Bhadra Shukla Ekadashi or Dwadashi of Shravan Nakshatra, which falls on Wednesday
4. दिन के 15 मुहूर्त में से ग्यारहवाँ मुहूर्त। The eleventh of the 15 auspicious times of the day. [3]

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Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · Oct 5

These are the dates and times which are traditionally considered विजया
1. आश्विन शुक्ल दशमी Ashwin Shukla Dashami
2. पुष्य नक्षत्र की फाल्गुन (कृष्ण या शुक्ल) द्वादशी Phalguna (Krishna or Shukla) Dwadashi of Pushya Nakshatra...[2]

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Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · Oct 5

Is it विजयादशमी vijayādashamī or विजयदशमी vijayadashamī?
Vijayā विजया is a feminine noun in Sanskrit. In Hindu religious discourse, the 10th day of the bright half of Āśvina is called विजया vijayā. Vijayā is also the epithet of Goddess Durgā. [1]

Image of Durga. Photo by Souvik laha: https://www.pexels.com/photo/durga-puja-art-10852594/

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Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · Oct 2

Interesting find!
The Oral History of Tibetan Studies (OHTS) is a project that collects and archives the personal accounts and memories of individuals who contributed to Tibetan Studies as an academic discipline in the late 20th century.
oralhistory.iats.info/interviews/

Interviews

oralhistory.iats.info

Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · Oct 2

In some places, hunters even bring the Nīlakaṇṭh bird to the public for a glimpse, earning rewards. After this, household tools and weapons are worshipped with pumpkins and bottle gourd flowers. 3/3

Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · Oct 2

On this day, people in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh provinces consider it auspicious to see the नीलकण्ठ Nīlakaṇṭh (Indian roller bird). Therefore, they travel far and wide to see it. 2/3

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Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस @avtansa.bsky.social · Oct 2

Here's to your good future🙌
विजयादशमी की शुभकामनाएँ (vijayādśamī kī śubhakāmanāẽ) - Happy Dussehra!!
In northern India, seeing Neelkanth bird, fish, curd, & silver coins upon opening the eyes on the Dussehra morning, is considered auspicious and good omens. 1/3

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