Jaipur, January 2023.

What unites people from different stratas, culture and religion is language. As a country that is home to over 120 major languages, two languages in particular connect the two ends of our country, Hindi & English. The World Hindi day is celebrated every year on January 10th, also known as Vishwa Hindi Diwas, this day is marked to celebrate the popularity and use of Hindi language, scripts and literature around the world.

But do you know why and when we started celebrating World Hindi Day? In 2006, Mr.Manmohan Singh, the then Prime Minister of India, proclaimed that every year, January 10 would be honored as World Hindi Day to commemorate the first-ever World Hindi Conference held in Nagpur, Maharashtra, on January 10, 1975. The first World Hindi Conference saw participation of 122 delegates from 30 countries to celebrate Hindi which at present is the fourth most-spoken language in the world, spoken in more than 20 countries and taught in over 176 universities across the world.

About 43% of our country’s population speaks in Hindi but do you know what a mobile phone is called in Hindi? We bet you don’t. On World Hindi Day, Duolingo - the world’s most popular language learning app - brings to you a few words that we use almost daily basis but most of us would not know the Hindi translations for them:

1.     Our everyday lifeline, a Mobile Phone, is called चलंत दूरभाष यंत्र (Chalant durbhash yantra). Surprising isn’t it? Did we know a mobile phone would have such a unique Hindi term?

2.     Could you have ever guessed that India’s favorite sport Cricket is called - गोलगट्टम लकड़ पट्टम दे दनादन प्रतियोगिता (Gol guttam lakad pattam de danadan pratiyogita)

3.     The most important global network, the Internet, is अंतरजाल (Antarjaal) in Hindi.

4.     Not (rel gadi) रेल गाडी but a Train in Hindi is called- लौह पथ गामिनी' (Loh path gamini).

5.     Apparently India is the second country in the world with the highest number of engineers but did you know that an Engineer is called अभियांत्रिकी (Abhiyantriki).

6.     Another vital device to process informations and data, a Computer- संगणक (Sangnak)

7.     Tube Light in Hindi is called प्रदीप्ति नलिका या प्रकाश नलिका (Pradipti Nalika), lit, isn’t it?

8.     With summer around the corner, know that a Soft Drink/Cold Drink is called शीतल पेय पदार्थ शरबत (Sheetal pay padarth sharbat).

9.     You’re cool if you know that a Refrigerator is called शीतक यंत्र (Sheetak yantra) in Hindi.

10.  A microwave is a widely used device all around the world. This heating device is called सूक्ष्मतरंग (Sukshmatarang) in Hindi

Surprised to know the Hindi words for these English words? While there’s a lot of aadan-pradan (give and take) in learning a language, Duolingo is the most popular way to learn a language online. This online learning app has lessons for everyone, for beginners as well as advanced level learners, available in Hindi and other 103 total language courses. Now is your turn to tune into the app and start learning a new dialect in a fun yet easy way!