Saturday, October 21, 2006

on this anodyne night, as fire crosses the sky

happy new year to all those who celebrate the new year now. may this be a peaceful and prosperous new year for you.

but it probably shouldnt be written as 'diwali' -- it is deepavali or divali -- as we do not have the proper "w" sound in any indian language, as was pointed out to me some time ago by a reader. there are no words in indian languages that use the "w" sound as distinct from "v", except perhaps if it's a complex sound. i guess you could say it's "saraswati", but i prefer "sarasvati", and "visvanathan" rather than "viswanathan". the "w" sound with the curling "o" shaped lips is alien to indian languages.

No comments: