After the disappointment of seeing a playground but not being able to use it, we walked across a large clay field where there were some young boys playing with soccer balls. August stopped to watch them, then one came over and gently kicked the ball to August. They passed the ball back and forth and as they played more and more boys came over to join in. Erik, Annika and I sat down to watch August play with the big boys.
After they played for awhile, a few of the boys trickled over to where we were sitting. The first question is usually "What country". I usually say "United States" but the answer they're looking for is "America" or "California".
Anyway, they asked what the kids names are, so I said August and Annika. They chuckled. One boy said "What is the sister's name?" And again I said Annika. They chuckled. Then they said something to each other and more chuckling ensued. So I was a little concerned about the translation of her name.
This afternoon the kids were playing in the front yard and that gave me an opportunity to speak with a very friendly neighbor. As we were chatting, I asked her what Annika means in both Hindi and Kanada (the language of Karnataka, the state where we live).
In Hindi, Annika is a medicinal herb used as a remedy to help many ailments, it is very positive.
In Kanada, it means hail.
I know, anticlimactic.
1 comment:
Hi there..
I was searching for the meaning of Annika on the net and that led me to this post. My 4 month old daughter is also Annika, and we too moved from California to India a couple of years ago. (Though in my case, I am from Pune, and that's where we came back to).
Good to know that there's someone out there, who has something in common with you, and is a complete stranger.
Good luck on your adventure.
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