Celebrating Hyderabadi Hindi in Hyderabad

When you meet a local person in Hyderabad, the first thing that you will notice is their unique accent of speaking Hindi combined with Urdu and Telugu. They chew and blurt out their words in such a way that a newcomer will be left wondering what to say next. This city has an exclusive place of being a fusion of Hindu, Muslim, Telangana, and Andhra cultures. Manifestly, the combination of three languages to create one Hyderabadi Hindi sometimes feels absolutely hilarious. You can spend long hours just listening to the Hyderabadi locals, and having the time of your life.

The best part about the residents of Hyderabad is that they are proud of their language. With time, their dialect has gained such substance that we cannot imagine Hyderabad without the Hyderabadi Hindi. The concept of plurals is entirely different in the city. While in English, we add an ‘s' or ‘es' to pluralize a word, we find ‘aan' being added to any English word to make it plural. For example, the word ‘bottles' becomes ‘bottlaan,' ‘phones' becomes ‘phonaan,' and the Hindi word ‘log' becomes ‘logaan'!

They have their own version of calling someone a stupid, which is ‘haula.' When you find someone using the word ‘haula' in their conversation, take it lightly. The ‘yes' or ‘no' have their equivalents in ‘hau' or ‘nakko,' which are invariably easy to learn. You can be a part of the Hyderabadi culture just by learning a few phrases and words. The ‘yes’ and ‘no’ are the easiest to grab and use them as much as possible but do not forget to catch the accent as well.

Reaching a place on time is something the Hyderabadis do not care about. You will not find them punctual at all, as you may find so in other metropolitans. When a local person says he will reach your place by 8 pm, never trust him; he might not even leave his place by 8 o'clock! Yes, that is an accepted norm, and you can also take the benefit of it. However, the new generation of the educated class is changing this attitude as they finally have to subsist with the rest of the world.

While talking about past, they would habitually say that they had been to a place ‘parso', meaning ‘the day before yesterday. However, it is just a way of telling some day in past, not exactly the day before yesterday. It may mean today, yesterday, or even last year! Now you know where you might be lacking if you do not understand the slangs of the Hyderabadi Hindi.

Another interesting, yet annoying fact about the people here in the city is that they do not have a good sense of direction. As per the locals, every place in their town or the world is situated either on a straight street or in the web of gullies. Since Hyderabad is an ancient city, it is not planned according to the modern architecture. That is why; it is no surprise if you lose your way in the city, but asking directions from a Hyderabadi may not be a bright idea. He may send you to an entirely opposite direction with a confidence equaling to the Google Maps! Therefore, if you are a tourist in the city, it is better to use Self Drive Cars in Hyderabad to travel and an actual mobile application of Google Maps to find your way. Still, you might want to ask yourself, ‘kaiku’ or ‘why’ on several occasions when you cannot find answers to several questions.

Even though the Hyderabadi Hindi is a little absurd, you will never find a Hyderabadi who does not enjoy speaking it. The people will always choose their unique way of conversing over any other national or international language. While being in Hyderabad, be a part of their culture by speaking how they speak.

I, Manoj Upadhyay, a digital marketer by profession, believe in just that! I cherish each aspect of life, which has driven me to the idea of my blogging website, namely Wandererfoodie.