So in a recent forum when Indian Usability & Information Architecture professionals began discussing Hindi translations for “interaction design” and emerging practices in their field, I was suddenly reminded of my lack of proficiency to think in Hindi. What would Usability or Information Architecture mean in Hindi? They can’t be literal translations as they would fail in meaning. But finding the right word is a challenge and the slew of posts have been discussing just that. I am curious to learn about the outcome if any. My sense is that this is going to be an ongoing discussion.

In the meantime, I’ll stick to English and hope that in some way I can practice my Hindi and begin to think in a language that offers a limitless ocean of creativity which when explored can create poetic intonations that English as a language fails to offer.

1. It still takes me a day to get home from a major city
2. Trains are never on time and air transportation is even better. They cancel without explanation
3. My mother still “saves” her money in a cash box at home
4. The cop outside my family’s business establishment continues to take bribes and let people park illegally
5. Movie theaters are still frequented by ruffians who guffaw at every love scene
6. Power cuts are unpredictable and part of everyday existence
7. Local courier service is still unreliable and you’ll be surprised if your package reaches a destination intact in 4 days
8. The cobbler who sewed my high school shoes continues to own his little shack
9. My nephew enjoys reading the same adventure books that I grew up on
10. Arranged marriages are still a common tradition

So while my India decides to have a makeover every year, with each year bringing new globalized chains springing all around my small coastal city and more English speaking youth with strange American accents frequenting these areas, the facade is just a lure. India is still young and will need another century to oust the first world and create it’s own identity. Eradicating red tapism and poverty needs to be more important than getting Walmart and Dolce & Gabbana to open up stores. I am hopeful that with this identity crisis will come a new approach and new way of looking at revitalizing India within it’s traditional boundaries and rich cultural heritage as opposed to changing it to be something that it’s not.

Growing up, I sometimes would read Indian comic books that covered stories of epic heroes. The visual depiction was traditional and often lacked the sophistication in story-telling that you are accustomed to in the Western world. Story-telling and character development is in our history, as is evident in the numerous Hindu gods and goddesses that we worship. And comic books would have been the ideal medium to instill the sense of pride and awareness that as a child, I completely lacked. Sadly, epic stories were not as popular as Archie comics. I often knew more about Veronica than about Tansen.

So imagine my surprise when I found out about Virgin Comics and their efforts to revive Indian history through comic books. What was even more surprising was to know that filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor is behind this effort. I have friends in the animation world that have done mini-projects backed by his vision and I have understood that his passion to put Indian history on the world map has been relentless.

So to see what these comics were doing different, I played hookie from my weekend errands and spent a few hours checking out the illustrated Ramayana. I admire the work and the the artists behind the illustrations. While the visual design surpassed my expectations, I was disappointed in the character visualization and story-telling style. Rama looks like a cross between a western superhero and the Indian god Shiva while Ravan had the flavor of an evil Manga character. The language had a yuppie spunk to it that is not typical of Indian story-telling. Call me old skool but I am still not sure if I really like this compared to what I have been used to growing up. I realize that to cater to a western world the characters were modified. This is heartening and despite my initial impressions of the visual impact, Virgin comics will be on my “interesting things to track” list.

Cheti Chand is celebrated on the first day of the Chaitra month known as Chet in Sindhi. Hence it is known as CHET-I-CHAND. The Sindhi community celebrates the festival of Cheti Chand in honour of the birth of Ishtadeva Uderolal, popularly known as Jhulelal, the Patron Saint of the Sindhis. This day is considered to be very auspicious and is celebrated with pompous and gaiety. On this day, people worship water – the elixir of life.

A procession is taken out to the river front or sea shore. Lakhs of people participate in the long processions taken out in different cities, with colourful floats, depicting the life of the Saint and other aspects of Sindhi culture. The Sindhi folk dance called “Chhej” is performed with the procession. People go to a river or a lake and Bahrano Saheb is immersed in the water along with rice and sugar prasad called “Akho”. It is customary to sing Lal Sain’s Panjras and Palav to seek his grace.

As a child I remember participating in this procession and as I watched the rituals of the immersions, I always wondered if being part of this procession qualified me as a Sindhi. Nothing of that day made sense to me then. Why were we damaging our pristine waters for the sake tradition? What purpose does it serve to have to burn all the gasoline that carried the idol? Is this what it is to be a Sindhi?

I am still finding answers to my questions.

The significance of these colours is related to change in weather that is prone to cause certain ailments. Hence it is assumed that the playful throwing of the coloured powders has a medicinal significance as the coloured powders are made of medicinal herbs well-known to Ayurvedic medicine.

It’s also the time when I am scrounging my trusted resources to see if someone in some part of the DC metro is celebrating Holi with the grandeur that is associated with this festival back home. Sadly, it is the price you pay for moving away from home. Today is like any other day.