Moment:
Wednesday, October 30th, 2002 at 2:38 PM CST
My little brother, Daniel, was born (and I got a certificate for being the best big sister!)
In my anthropology classes, I’ve learned about how a people group’s language reflects the elements and ideas that are significant to them. In a non-medical but still related example, the Inupiaq people in Alaska have four distinct words for snow, because it is such an integral part of their daily lives that they are able to make distinctions that someone like me, who can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen snow in Texas, would not be able to perceive.
This got me thinking about what the usage of different words in Hindi reveals about Indian culture, and the strongest example I have learned about in my Hindi class so far is the use of the phrase “to have.” The Hindi language has three ways of saying “to have,” depending on what you are talking about.
If you have an illness or a disease, you could say, “Mujhe {illness} hai,” which literally translates to “the {illness} is on me.” For example, “I have a fever” would be translated to “mujhe bukhaar hai.” My Hindi teacher explained that this use of the phrase “to have” is applicable when you didn’t ask for it, and it’s thrust upon you rather than something you would be proud to take ownership of. The disease attacks you, so you would be likely to try to get rid of it by fighting back. As someone who has been dealing with a sinusoidal wave of sickness and health due to the foreign environment and ever-changing climate, I can 110% say that sickness is never something I would never want to claim as my own.
Possessions are slightly less forced upon you, as you usually purchase them or have them for a reason that is beneficial to you. In this case the Hindi phrase for having an item would be, “Mere paas ek {item} hai,” which literally translates to “the {item} is near me.” Material things are never considered to be yours because they come and go. They can be broken and mended, lost and replaced, owned for a day or a lifetime, but they will never become a part of who you are.
Who you are, however, is largely shaped by those around you, especially your family and friends. There is a huge emphasis in Indian culture on kinship bonds and familial ties, which is why in Hindi, this use of the phrase “to have” is “Meri {loved one} hai,” which translates to “{loved one} is mine.” Your family members are a part of your identity, and you could never imagine yourself without them. Our Hindi teacher joked that in a sibling fight, a great comeback would be to say “Mujhe {sibling} hai,” but luckily I’ve never felt that way about my brother.
Mera ek bhai hai. His name is Daniel, but you can call him Danny, DK, or Dino Dan if you’re feeling especially feisty. He is turning 17 years old today, so I guess that means you could also call him a Danny-cing Queen (I know for a fact that he’s going to roll his eyes when he reads that one!). He is a super talented triple-threat who acts, sings, and plays guitar, and some of my favorite moments with him are the ones when I get to play music and praise Jesus with him.
He loves God with his whole heart, which is a lot because he’s got a really big heart, and there’s room for literally everyone in it. He's got a cornier sense of humor than I do, because as a theater kid, the world is truly his stage, and I’m kind of looking forward to laughing hysterically at his lame jokes when I get to see him again in exactly 40 days. This guy looks and acts like my older brother, which I used to get really annoyed about, but I’ve come to appreciate it, because in a world where people come and go, you need someone beside you (at least in spirit, we're currently on opposite sides of the globe) who has no choice but to always be there. Just kidding, we're friends now and actually enjoy hanging out, so it's cool :)
Happy birthday broski! Good luck on the PSAT today lol. I’m so proud to be your Akka <3
