By now, if you’ve been following these lessons from the start, you should be able to have the necessary tools to participate in a brief conversation in Hindi. If you missed a lesson, or if you feel you would benefit from brushing up on previous material, then please don’t hesitate to go back and have a quick skim over lesson one, lesson two, lesson three and/or lesson four. Don’t worry, a quick skim should be all that’s necessary, and I promise I’ll be here waiting for you when you’re ready!

Now for our final conversational component. Lesson 5: Goodbyes. 

Every meeting must bring a parting, and whether it’s with a stranger, a friend or a potential business partner, if we learn manners and how to say a goodbye in Hindi, then it will finish off your interaction nicely; It will both impress them and show a level of cultural sensitivity for the Hindi-speakers culture.

But first, a thankyou:

धन्यवाद dhanyavaad/dhan-ya-vaad – Thank you

To this you can add the word ‘bahut’ to emphasise your gratitude, ‘bahut‘ meaning many/very much.

बहुत धन्यवाद bahut dhanyavaad/ba-hutt dhan-ya-vaad – Thank you very much

This is not the only way to express your gratitude, Hindi often borrows Urdu expressions to give a more informal, colloquial feel. This is seen with:

शुक्रिया shukriyaa/shu-kri-yaa – Thanks (Informal/Colloquial)

बहुत शुक्रिया bahut shukriyaa – Thanks a lot (Informal/Colloquial) 

We’ve had the thankyous, now for the goodbyes.

Goodbyes and Farewells

Some of you may remember that we already know one way to say goodbye, and it’s already been said in this lesson, and every other lesson. Remember?

नमस्ते namaste/na-ma-ste - Goodbye

That’s right, namaste means ‘goodbye’ as well as meaning ‘hello’! Literally Namaste means “I bow to (your) form”, so its natural that it could be used when parting. Can you remember the more formal, more plural way of saying hello and goodbye? 

In India, rather than shaking hands, it is customary to perform a special gesture when meeting or leaving somebody. This is performed by placing your palms together in front of your chest, fingers pointing up as if praying, and bowing slightly. You can see a Mohiniattam dancer making this Namaste gesture below.

Like in English, there is more than one way to say ‘goodbye’ in Hindi. An alternative expression would be to “See you again”:

फिर मिलेंगे phir milenge/phir mee-len-gay - Goodbye/See You again

 Phir means ‘again’ and milenge means ‘we will meet’ literally meaning “We will meet again”. A variation of phir milenge is:

फिर मिलते है phir milte hai/phir mil-tay hai - See you later 

A less common way of saying goodbye, is again, borrowing an expression from Urdu.

अलविदा alvidaa/al-vi-daa – Bye/Farewell

This word, alvidaa, literally means farewell.

And with alvidaa it is phir milenge - we have completed our first five lessons of forays into the world of the Hindi language. But this is not goodbye forever; there is a whole realm of beauty and expression to explore. Make sure you leave a comment with any questions, feedback or general desires for this series, all will be appreciated.

Until next time, phir milenge!

Learn More Hindi:
Lesson 1: Greetings
Lesson 2: Introducing Yourself
Lesson 3: Talking Nationality
Lesson 4: Now You Can Always Get What You Want 

Solstice, December 20, 21, or 22.

In the Northern Hemisphere this is the day of the year with the least sunlight, the first day of Winter. In the Southern Hemisphere it is the day with the most, the first day of summer. It is typically celebrated with bonfires, singing, and feasts. It is closely related to the ancient celebration of Saturnalia, which was moved to December 25 when the old Calenders changed to the new Julian system.

Image via Wikipedia

Festivus, December 23rd.

This celebration has no ancient origin and was actually made popular by the television sitcom Seinfeld. Festivus is a non-denominational holiday marked by the airing of grievances and feats of strength. It is a stand against the commercialism that Christmas has become.

Hannukah, an 8 day celebration, usually starting in December.

This is also known as the Festival of Lights and celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Each night candles are lit on the Menorah, one each night, as well as another for the purpose of lighting those ones.

Kwanzaa, December 26 to January 1.

This holiday is celebrated typically by people of African decent and is marked with feasting, lighting candles, and sharing of gifts.

Saturnalia, December 25.

Originally celebrated as a day to honor Mithra, the sun god, this holiday is pagan in nature and predates Christmas by hundreds of years, although the traditions are pretty much the same. Heck, they even had a nativity, and virgin birth! It has been established that most Christmas traditions originate from Saturnalia, others from Yule (below).

Yule, December 25.

Like Saturnalia, Yule as absorbed into, or covered by Christmas, but had the same traditions long before Christmas came into being. This was the pagan holiday of Germany.

And there are more….

So, why can’t we wish each other Happy Holidays if we want to?

Related Reading

The Origins of Christmas Traditions

Should Atheists Celebrate Christmas?

If you have ideas that you would like to write about and would like to get paid for doing so, CLICK HERE.

            “Language is a well-defined object in the heterogeneous mass of speech facts. It can be localized in the limited segment of the speaking-circuit where an auditory image becomes associated with a concept” (Saussure 960-961). This passage begins my essay on greetings from an auditory standpoint or verbal communication. What a particular person says to another person signifies, or represents, different types of relationships. For example, a simple “hello” may signify that the people involved really don’t know each other that well but are just acknowledging each other in passing. Or perhaps, they may have met before, but are not really considered friends, but still have the courtesy to speak to one another.

            To continue along the topic of verbal greetings, a simple hello might be replaced by any number of other words or phrases, once again depending on the relationship between the people involved. “When we speak of the value of a word, we generally think first of its property of standing for an idea, and this is in fact one side of linguistic value” (Saussure 968). This statement by Saussure, brings into account the idea of a word, or in this case a greeting, standing as an idea on its own. Earlier I mentioned that the word “hello” could be replaced by another word or phrase. I’ll use the phrase “what up” as the replacement phrase.  This particular phrase represents Saussure’s statement perfectly. 

“What up” clearly has the ability to stand as a clear idea all on its own. It is a phrase that asks, what’s going on with the particular person and or what’s going on in the surrounding area. These are two separate but similar ideas created by one simple phase that’s used in the form of a greeting. But greetings are not just verbal; usually, the verbal part of the greeting serves as a set up for the actual physical part that usually follows.

            The actual physical part of the greeting is what interests me the most. There are several different acts of physical greetings ranging from a simple handshake to a hug but they seem to serve different purposes. First we begin with the handshake. This is a greeting that seems to be the most popular among society. The hand shake seems to be an easy way to let people know that they mean no harm. For example, in almost every situation where there is some sort of language barrier, the handshake seems to always be the way that individuals show respect and it also serves as a sign of politeness.

            Now on the other hand, there is the handshake and the hug greeting. This is where an individual shakes the other persons hand and pulls them in for a hug also. I find this type of greeting more common with young adults, especially African Americans males. It seems this type of greeting is more popular with this particular group due to the hip hop culture and masculinity itself. From a cultural standpoint, the hip hop industry is mainly African American so it’s easy for young African Americans, and others who follow hip hop, to mimic the actions and culture of the hip hop industry. It kind of relates to the research of Levi Strauss:

I handed out sheets of paper and pencils.

At first they did nothing with them, then

one day I saw that they were busy drawing

wavy, horizontal lines. I wondered what they

were trying to do, then it was suddenly borne

upon me that they were writing or to be more

accurate, were trying to use their pencils in the

same way as I did mine. (Levi-Strauss 1421)

All of the young hip hop heads mimic or imitate the very people that they enjoy and follow all the time similar to a child and parent relationship. Not forgetting about the female gender in this essay, women seem to thrive more on the touch value. Thus, most of the time when women greet each other, it is with open arms of embrace and smiling faces. I feel the reasoning behind this is because it is easier to embrace someone who looks the same as you. Interestingly, this also relates back to the concept of mimicking. Doing what feels comfortable because it is what you’re used to seeing and therefore, it must be right.

A lot of Greetings and Hello’s, depends on the society that surrounds it. In this ever changing post modern society, people are required to adapt or get left behind. Even for something like a simple greeting, there is still a necessary need to adapt. It is obvious that the cultural differences in society today, also makes a difference in why and how a greeting is interpreted.  Along with societal differences, class also can prove to be an important factor. For example, someone from a bourgeois class may not understand or even acknowledge someone from a lower class greeting. But the same can be said for working class of the bourgeois class.

Bottom line, this society seems to be stuck in a phase of repetition and familiarity. No one wants to move away from what they feel is their comfort zone. On this earth, we are bound to come into contact with someone we do not know and in order to further the relationship there must be an exchange of greetings and hello’s. And no matter the language or technique involved, if all else fails, nothing says hello like a smiling face and a firm handshake.    

WORKS CITED

Leitch, Vincent,B,et al. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. New York: W.W.

Norton & Company 2001.