Linguistic Imperialism

Re: # 159
indikad75,
Sanskrit is not a dead language. It is second langauge for lot of indian students and I am sure they all know the sanskrit grammarian panini. All indian languages are either based on sanskrit or influenced by sanskrit to a great deal. For example even a guy in kerala
can understand if you say yaatrik instead of musaafir. It is ironic that the languages that are closest to sanskrit in north are preferring alien words to sansrit words. That will only distance people from their own civilization. Sanskrit is the cornerstone of our long running indic civilization.

beej,

........ this quote from carlin might make you feel better :

...... ``i`,m embarassed that india is ahead of us now in assassination of single-family political people. we have only two kennedy`s to our credit, they have three gandhis. they have three separate f*#*in gandhis, we only have two kennedy`s! ``

Re: # 158

astakh-fur-illah

comapring good looking Pakistanis w/ ugly Indians. How dare you?

beej,

.......... i went back and actually read through what you wrote and i couldn`t make any sense out of it ......... what the heck are you talking about ..... how did mukhtar mai get into this discussion over gorge carlin and the idiosyncracies of urdu and hindi ? ....... what does religion have to do with it ? ........ why did you call me a coward ?......... uh ?........

.......... anyway, if it makes you feel better, i take back everything i said about gandhi even though it makes me feel bad about myself ..........

p.s. if you are not careful you will end up like urstruly and arjun ..........

Re: # 177

beej mian,

........... whoa !........... i think you need to take a break - you like some others are beginning to take this too seriously ..........

........ i agree with whatever you said even though i couldn`t get past the first few lines given the tone and tenor ......... as my daughter would say, ``take a chill pill !``

Re#174 Hamidm2

[p.s. i hope you have recovered ....]

Hamidm2, cut out the bulls***! I have always had and shall always retain the same level of sanity (or the opposite) that the good Lord ever gave me. There is nothing TEMPORARY or fake about this interactor – those who have been watching me for the last one year ought to know me well enough by now – unless they have no desire to do so!

Simple as that!

It was not your poking fun at a long-dead Gandhi (who is certainly not MY role model), but the hypocrisy that individuals like you display and practice which bothers me!

How often one sees it – too scared to face the criminal so blame the victim! And it’s best to get a free pass from both sides – from the criminal as well as from the conscience – blame both the sides – the proverbial equal opportunity blamer! It’s the easiest thing in the world to do – least risky and maximum theatrics!

And also the lousiest thing!

It’s the SAME logic used by the type of people who ``also`` blame Mukhtaran Mai for raising a ruckus – because otherwise the real culprits will have those people for lunch! The type of people who ``also`` blame the lady doctor for being where she was in the first place – otherwise, you know who will crush them before they can say boo!

The type of people who ``also`` blame Ms. Naz for going and sticking her neck out – what was she expecting – soda water? The fakers who bring up matters of “taste” as if she had a choice of beverage?!

Without naming names – there are people here whose views reach extreme ideological fringes. They say so and whatever one thinks of their ideological aims, their candidness can not be discounted. Good thing is that there are very few individuals at those extreme fringes.

But the reason such people can exist and function is because of cowards like you! YOU provide the body of buffer that every little dangerous microbe needs – to settle down – to practice its act before going out and wreaking havoc elsewhere.

Knowing fully well that the warm bosom – the chicken bosom – will always be there to receive them upon return and protect them through evasion and verbal garbage – perhaps even humor!

My dear, you have a lot of company – so don’t take ALL of it personally!

And talking of pictures, the real problem my dear is that guys like you see the pictures – but don’t GET the picture. You think that a joke here and there will come and rescue you from your coward reality. Sweetheart, the joke is actually on YOU! Guess who will be the first item on the cat’s menu?

Perhaps it’s your darn Pakistani brain-washing and conditioning, perhaps its your sheer individual idiocy and cowardice, and who knows, perhaps (somebody has to bell the cat!) it is a distinctive requirement or feature of your religion – to be submissive!

I have seen extremely few examples on this web site to dissuade the conclusions from heading that last way!

And that fact remains, no matter what language one uses to express it – or to cover it up!

Sincerely,
Beej.

Re: # 175

........... having a national anthem in persian is not as bad as having to read the book in arabic ! ........ but, to be honest, most pakistanis don`t pay too much attention to the fact that they don`t understand the anthem and think nothing of it ........they all memorized it as kids and can sing along just fine ............ at least, i never thought about it until somone just mentioned it ........... i guess it must be the same thing with people who pray five times a day in a language they do not understand - they don`t care ! .......... logic has nothing to do with faith, and nationalism is a form of faith ..............

An interesting article which seems to have appealed to all chowkies. This is evident from the fact that just within two days of the article appearing there have been 175 interacts. Is that a record?
Many posts on Pakistan`s national anthem. I do not understand why a country`s anthem should be in a foreign language! At partition time when literacy was abysmally low in Pakistan, who would have understood the Persian text except for those few who studied Persian in universities ( which were in any case too few then)? So let us imagine an illiterate rikshaw puller in a Punjab town; Could he remember by heart the national anthem which was not in a language he understood? Even if, let us suppose, he managed the rote, did he understand the meaning? The answer would be in the negative and that defeats the very purpose of any anthem.
The only possible answer to this is that the then Pakistani rulers possibly were mainly reacting to the Indian anthem which was in Sanskrit. If the Indians could have an anthem in Sanskrit, why could not the Pakistanis have theirs in Persian? An anthem in Urdu( which then was in any case Hindustani) would not mark Pakistan distinct from India. To hell with whether anyone understood it or no.

Re: # 173

carlin (pbuh) is my prophet - i turn to him for answers to all sorts of things that perplex me and he has never failed me (yet) ........... he is also a real linguist unlike shysters like noam chomsky and temporal ............. and if you say one word against him i will flood this site with his pictures ! .........

p.s. i hope you have recovered from your temporary bout of insanity - i never knew that the mahatma was in the same league as shri rajneesh and mahrishi mahesh ! .......... differnet strokes for different folks, i guess - carlin has the same effect on me

Re#171 Hamidm2

Who is Carlin, and can I have him for lunch (instead)?

Scout and the rest, no cutting in, please - just wait for your turns! And be patient!

#166 Romair

You have made this silly statement so many times that it can not be ignored. Change your neighborhood and start meeting some higher level people. However, if you can not afford that, think this way:

- Per capita income of Punjab is higher than your countrymen, supposedly the smart ones
- Largest Indian pharmaceutical firm is owned by Sikhs
- Hilton Hotel chain in India was owned by our folks too (last time I checked)
- I won’t mention MM Singh and chief of armed forces since you know for sure that they will kick your smart ass if you try anything stupid.

Attached is a link for Ajay Banga, who was impressive enough, even with a turban, for Citigroup that he has been appointed as Head of Retail Bank reporting to the Chairman and CEO. If you are trying to get hired or get programming business with citigroup, watch your language :)

Now those were turbaned Sikhs. There are so many non-turbaned Sikhs (like me) in professions and industry that your head will spin. Well, I take it back, it needs a reasonable head. Since their names are identical to Hindu names, it’s not possible for folks like you to see this variety of Sikhs.

Romair, we beat you in strategic thinking and modern industry, whether our people are in armed forces or finance, in India or overseas.

And all this while keeping our own language, regional, and religious pride intact and never having to kiss any Arab’s as$ for donations, which seems to be your people’s specialty.

You silly man, the only reason we accept you, and let you guys associate with us, as our own is because a) you are after all our Punjabi brothers, moron brothers though, and b) we believe that some day you will get over this Islamic fundamentalist virus from Mecca and Medina and become civilized again so that we can truly become one of the great civilizations once again by spending our resources on our own people and not on MIGS and F16s.

Chowk interactions tell me that it will be another 1000 years wait, if not longer. Price for our ancestors’ incompetence in not dealing with murderers from Arab world will have to be paid for long long time.

http://in.rediff.com/money/2005/aug/24citi.htm (Ajay Banga)

........ language is a funny thing ........ as carlin notes:

If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times, does he become disoriented?

If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren`t people from Holland called Holes?

Why do we say something is out of whack? What`s a whack?

Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?

If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?

If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

When someone asks you, ``A penny for your thoughts``, and you put your two cents in, what happens to the other penny?

Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

Why do croutons come in airtight packages? It`s just stale bread to begin with.

When cheese gets it`s picture taken, what does it say?

Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist but a person who drives a race car not called a racist?

Why are a wise man and a wise guy opposites?

Why do overlook and oversee mean opposite things?

Why isn`t the number 11 pronounced onety one?

``I am`` is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that ``I do`` is the longest sentence?

If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn`t it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked, and dry cleaners depressed?

If FedEx and UPS were to merge, would they call it Fed UP?

Do Lipton Tea employees take coffee breaks?

What hair color do they put on the driver`s licenses of bald men?

I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older, then it dawned on me ... they`re cramming for their final exam.

I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks! So I wondered what do Chinese mothers use? Toothpicks?

Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office? What are we supposed to do, write to them? Why don`t they just put their pictures on the postage stamps so the mailmen could look for them while they delivered the mail?

If it`s true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.

No one ever says, ``It`s only a game,`` when their team is winning.

Ever wonder what the speed of lightning would be if it didn`t zigzag?

Last night I played a blank tape at full blast. The mime next door went nuts.

If a cow laughed, would milk come out her nose?

Whatever happened to Preparations A through G?

Romair #168
Did you get bumped on head recently?

Well written Zia.. I enjoyed reading this piece.. though I would like to say that languages evolve all the time and nothing can stop it. Some changes are good some bad, but we have to live with it.. I am sure no one is going to stop you from using Khuda haafiz.. so just be it.

Like most other interacts, the ones here have come down to personal attacks and the usual India vs.Pakistan thing. Sad.

Salil

Also, if Indians call their language, ``Hindi,`` or ``Hindustani,`` how come we cannot call our language, ``Muslimi,`` or, ``Pakistani?`` I suggest we change the name of Urdu to Muslimi.......to compete with the Indian name, Hindi..........

Indian news (what the hell is samachar) are very difficult to understand. Can even Indians understand them? While Indian movies are very easy to understand. And Pakistani news are easy to understand also.

This brings us to the conclusion that Pakistani news and Indian movies/music are actually in Urdu. While Indian news are in some other strange language, that even Indians probably cannot understand. If they could understand the news, then Indian movies would be in that same language, also......

Hence normal Indians and Pakistanis, including Pakistani newscasters, basically speak Urdu. While Indian newscasters speak Hindi or Hindustani, or some other wierd langauge........

I read somewhere that Lata couldn`t speak Urdu when she started singing. And her Urdu had to be cleaned up, by Naushad (?). He didn`t clean up her Hindi. He cleaned up her Urdu. Since she wanted to be a movie singer, in India, her Urdu had to be cleaned up.....Had she wanted to be a newscaster, her Hindi would have been cleaned up......

This brings us to the question: Why do Indian newscasters (and politicians) speak this wierd language, to begin with, when the rest of India and Ashwariya Rai and Shahrukh Khan and Kumar Sanu and even Lata speak Urdu..............

Re: # 166

``And it makes Sardarjis happy, since the words, ``Sardarji`` and, ``Intellect`` are mentioned in the same sentence...........``


haha