Hindi Help: What do I do for a living?

proxyindian

"Aap kya kam kartaa hai?"

Okay, I think I got the "kartaa" part right, or maybe it was "karthaa". What I'm trying to ask is "What's your job?"

Anyway, I don't know the answer to what I do for a living, in Hindi. I could say "May librarian hu." But I'm not sure.
What is the Hindi word for Librarian?
And what about Grocer?

If you can show me those words Devanagari script that would be a great help because I can actually tell what the sounds should be when I see how it's spelled. When I transliterate or see it transliterated, it's all a guessing game for me.

Thanks

SHIMLA

It should be "Aap kya kaam karte hain?".

I'm not sure of the Hindi word for "Librarian", but "Baniyaa" will do for "grocer".

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Whoever said money can't buy happiness didn't know where to shop !

dani

from shabdkosh.com:
hehe funny word

AvidTrekker

dani's word "pustakaadhyaksha" is so scholarly, that only some academics will be able to figure that out.

For a normal middle of the road Hindi speaker, "librarian" will do. All school children know a "librarian". An illiterate autorickshaw driver may be difficult in this case... but can you ever please everyone?

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The Universe is an ellipsoid?... or a Spheroid?? If the sphere smiles... it becomes an ellipse. This IS Creation.

cyberhippie

So how do I translate "traveller in India"???

dani

traveller is यात्री yatri or the urdu variant मुसाफ़िर musafir

"I'm a traveller in India" sould be something like "मैं भारत में यात्री हूँ" "main bharat mein yatri hum"

AvidTrekker

Traveller in India is culturally difficult to explain. The question usually implies "What do you do for a living, for your daily bread?"

In India if you say "bhaarat mein musaafarii" [ans in hindii] then you will get more questions!!!

Example:

Someone asks you "aap kyaa karte hain?" [what do you do?]
you reply: "bhaarat/hindustaan mein musaafarii" [travel in India]

It sounds the same as ....

When you are eating an omlette & someone asks you...

"aap kyaa karte hain?" [what do you do?}
"aamlate khaa rahaa hoon" [am eating an omlette]

Now this person may be offended, or he will try to ask again, thinking you have not understood him...

"aap daal roti ke liye kyaa karte hain?" [what do you do for daal roti?]
you say "bhaarat mein musaafarii" ..... [travel in india]

This is possible only for saadhus and fakirs and beggars in India.... the poor fellow will now have a quizzical look on his face.... unless you want to dress up for any of the three parts.... then NOBODY will ask you what you do, you will be fed un-asked every day...

BTW, Happy Birthday, CH

SHIMLA

cyberhippie, you can say "Main Hindustan ki sair kar raha hoon", meaning "I'm touring India".