Aandhi

In one of my recent trips to Delhi, I experienced ‘आँधी’ for the very first time. ‘Aandhi’ in Hindi can be translated as a dust storm in English. But somehow the associated meaning of aandhi gets lost in translation. My mother tongue is not Hindi (its marathi) and the synonym for aandhi in Marathi (it can be 'वावटळ' or something else..) does not convey the same ‘associated’ feeling either. The melancholy feeling attached to this phenomenon by Hindi speakers is, in my opinion, the real meaning of aandhi – more than its literal meaning referring to the dust storm. But then why can I so strongly relate to this word – in Hindi?!! Blame it on Hindi movies, me thinks!!


Note: All these thoughts flashed in my head as I was struggling to get to the car from the office building (without eating dust or letting it into my eyes between the lens and retina!) and contrary to the feelings that ‘aandhi’ should have evoked, it actually brought a smile on my face!!