12 Hindi-Urdu Words Which Are Frequently Used In Everyday English
Hindi and Urdu are two closely related languages spoken by over 600 million people in India, Pakistan, and other parts of the world. For a long time India and Pakistan belonged to the same country and Hindi and Urdu were spoken by people of both sides. Even after partition, these languages are spoken in both the countries. Both languages have a rich vocabulary, and many of their words have been borrowed into English. Here we give you 10 such words:

1. Yoga
The Indian Spiritual way of living life through yoga has now found its takers far into the western world. The word ‘Yoga’ is now a part of the English language and people easily understand what it means.

2. Jungle
Jungle is now used in English language quite commonly and it means chaos or wild , originating from the dense Indian forests. Jungle’ was one of the very few first words to be picked up from India by the Oxford dictionary

3. Bazaar
Long before malls and markets, we used ‘bazaar’ as the place where we bought things and people sold them. This word is now used in English too signifying a commercial area.

4. Guru
Guru for Indians is the person who leads one to the right path – be it spiritual or academic. The word was adopted in the same form and meaning in the English language too.

5. Loot
Loot has been a part of the English language from quite some time. Just like Hindi, it means to rob someone. It is also the bounty taken under custody after the robbery.

6. Thug
This word taken as it is from Hindi language, means a violent, aggressive person, especially one who is a criminal. It is derived from ‘thug’ the Indian clans of criminal ruffians who looted people and killed them.

7. Mantra
We all know what mantra means – a repeated sound or words to increase concentration or offer prayers. This word was adopted in English too as a statement or slogan repeatedly.

8. Karma
For us Indians, it is the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence and when adopted in English language this means the same -good or bad luck, viewed as resulting from one’s actions.

9. verandah
The word which describes the area just outside of the house which is covered is derived from hindi word ‘baranda’ or urdu word ‘baramda’. There are no Verandahs in houses in England. But when the British came to know about this word during their stay in India, they made it a part of their dictionary.

10. Pajama
It is derived from the word ‘pyjama’ very commonly used in Hindi as well as Urdu. It means ‘Pay’ – leg and ‘jama’ – cloth.

11. Bungalow
Bungalow is also a word that has been long accepted in English language but which originated from ‘bangla’ meaning a big house.

12. Avatar
It was the movie avatar that made this Hindi word popular around the globe but the word has been a part of English language long before that. Derived from the Sanskrit avatra, meaning “descent,” avatar first appeared in English in 1784 to mean an incarnation or human appearance of a deity, particularly Vishnu. Now this word id everywhre – from movies to online games to chat rooms.

Apart from these, there are many other words that are now a part of the English language – like jugaad, namaste, Chit, Chutney, etc. The world is becoming smaller so the languages are bound to coalescence.