Hammad Rind
@hammadrind.bsky.social
Writer and translator working across English, Urdu, Welsh, Persian and more. Novels پانچویں درویش کا قصہ, Four Dervishes (Seren Books), translation الجھا غم Uljha Gham (Zuka Books), co-translation Nodiadlyfr bach y wawr (Cyhoeddiadau'r Stamp)
Feels strange to think I had no Welsh at all two years ago
Mae'n teimlo'n rhyfedd meddwl nad oedd gen i unrhyw Gymraeg o gwbl ddwy flynedd yn ôl
colegcymraeg.ac.uk/newyddion/ne...
Mae'n teimlo'n rhyfedd meddwl nad oedd gen i unrhyw Gymraeg o gwbl ddwy flynedd yn ôl
colegcymraeg.ac.uk/newyddion/ne...
October 18, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Feels strange to think I had no Welsh at all two years ago
Mae'n teimlo'n rhyfedd meddwl nad oedd gen i unrhyw Gymraeg o gwbl ddwy flynedd yn ôl
colegcymraeg.ac.uk/newyddion/ne...
Mae'n teimlo'n rhyfedd meddwl nad oedd gen i unrhyw Gymraeg o gwbl ddwy flynedd yn ôl
colegcymraeg.ac.uk/newyddion/ne...
I'm starting a free online course for readers and learners in Balochistan to explore literature and translation across Urdu, Persian, and English.
Places limited to the first fifteen sign-ups.
Message me here or email at hammadhrind@gmail.com to register
Places limited to the first fifteen sign-ups.
Message me here or email at hammadhrind@gmail.com to register
October 8, 2025 at 9:55 PM
I'm starting a free online course for readers and learners in Balochistan to explore literature and translation across Urdu, Persian, and English.
Places limited to the first fifteen sign-ups.
Message me here or email at hammadhrind@gmail.com to register
Places limited to the first fifteen sign-ups.
Message me here or email at hammadhrind@gmail.com to register
How to laugh properly in the US of A
September 22, 2025 at 12:39 PM
How to laugh properly in the US of A
Stumbled upon these during my stroll by the sea. I recognize образ "image"/"shape" and дом "house" from a few Slavic languages. Does anyone know what оборище and образцов mean?
September 20, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Stumbled upon these during my stroll by the sea. I recognize образ "image"/"shape" and дом "house" from a few Slavic languages. Does anyone know what оборище and образцов mean?
Two interesting things going on in this sentence: تلبرل talabrala from English liberal, “to liberalise (superficially?).” And إخونجي ikhwanji, with the Turkish suffix -ji, meaning “Ikhwan guy” in a dismissive way. Good examples of how confidently Arabic absorbs foreign element, often to add nuance.
September 19, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Two interesting things going on in this sentence: تلبرل talabrala from English liberal, “to liberalise (superficially?).” And إخونجي ikhwanji, with the Turkish suffix -ji, meaning “Ikhwan guy” in a dismissive way. Good examples of how confidently Arabic absorbs foreign element, often to add nuance.
Reading an essay by Pamuk on Rushdie's Satanic Verses in Öteki Renkler. Pamuk acknowledges Rushdie’s fondness for wordplay, pointing to his use of Bostan بوستان as the name of a plane, then goes on to translate Saladin Chamcha as Samça, comparing him to Kafka's Gregor Samsa. He prob doesn't realise
September 11, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Reading an essay by Pamuk on Rushdie's Satanic Verses in Öteki Renkler. Pamuk acknowledges Rushdie’s fondness for wordplay, pointing to his use of Bostan بوستان as the name of a plane, then goes on to translate Saladin Chamcha as Samça, comparing him to Kafka's Gregor Samsa. He prob doesn't realise
Ustad Qamar – rat-catcher
Fee per rat/mouse 60 rupees
Urdu doesn’t differentiate between rat & mouse, though the word چوہا chūhā is more common for rat & the fem. form چوہیا chūhiyā for mouse. This is similar to the usage of موش mūš in Persian & فأر faʾr in Arabic, both gen used for both mouse/rat
Fee per rat/mouse 60 rupees
Urdu doesn’t differentiate between rat & mouse, though the word چوہا chūhā is more common for rat & the fem. form چوہیا chūhiyā for mouse. This is similar to the usage of موش mūš in Persian & فأر faʾr in Arabic, both gen used for both mouse/rat
September 5, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Ustad Qamar – rat-catcher
Fee per rat/mouse 60 rupees
Urdu doesn’t differentiate between rat & mouse, though the word چوہا chūhā is more common for rat & the fem. form چوہیا chūhiyā for mouse. This is similar to the usage of موش mūš in Persian & فأر faʾr in Arabic, both gen used for both mouse/rat
Fee per rat/mouse 60 rupees
Urdu doesn’t differentiate between rat & mouse, though the word چوہا chūhā is more common for rat & the fem. form چوہیا chūhiyā for mouse. This is similar to the usage of موش mūš in Persian & فأر faʾr in Arabic, both gen used for both mouse/rat
Probably the first person from Shahpur to have made it to the Welsh Learner of the Year competition finals
Hapus iawn o fod ar restr fer Dysgwr y Flwyddyn eleni
شیئت میں شاہپور چ جمن آلا پہلا بندہ ہاں جہڑا ویلش سکھن آلیاں دے مقابلے دی اخیرلی منزل تائیں اپڑیاں
Hapus iawn o fod ar restr fer Dysgwr y Flwyddyn eleni
شیئت میں شاہپور چ جمن آلا پہلا بندہ ہاں جہڑا ویلش سکھن آلیاں دے مقابلے دی اخیرلی منزل تائیں اپڑیاں
June 29, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Probably the first person from Shahpur to have made it to the Welsh Learner of the Year competition finals
Hapus iawn o fod ar restr fer Dysgwr y Flwyddyn eleni
شیئت میں شاہپور چ جمن آلا پہلا بندہ ہاں جہڑا ویلش سکھن آلیاں دے مقابلے دی اخیرلی منزل تائیں اپڑیاں
Hapus iawn o fod ar restr fer Dysgwr y Flwyddyn eleni
شیئت میں شاہپور چ جمن آلا پہلا بندہ ہاں جہڑا ویلش سکھن آلیاں دے مقابلے دی اخیرلی منزل تائیں اپڑیاں
This is μούτζα (moutza) / φάσκελο faskelo, a traditional Greek gesture of insult and contempt. It reminds me of a similar Sindhi gesture, ٻڄو (bbujjo) - or ٻُڄه (bbujja) in Saraiki and Shahpuri - which carries the same cultural meaning.
June 12, 2025 at 9:21 PM
This is μούτζα (moutza) / φάσκελο faskelo, a traditional Greek gesture of insult and contempt. It reminds me of a similar Sindhi gesture, ٻڄو (bbujjo) - or ٻُڄه (bbujja) in Saraiki and Shahpuri - which carries the same cultural meaning.
װער װעט בלײַבן? װאָס װעט בלײַבן? בלײַבן װעט אַ װינט,
בלײַבן װעט די בלינדקײט פֿונעם בלינדן, װאָס פֿאַרשװינדט.
.
.
װער װעט בלײַבן? גאָט װעט בלײַבן, איז דיר ניט גענוג?
Avrom Sutzkever
"Who will remain, what will remain? A wind will stay behind.
The blindness will remain, the blindness of the blind.
בלײַבן װעט די בלינדקײט פֿונעם בלינדן, װאָס פֿאַרשװינדט.
.
.
װער װעט בלײַבן? גאָט װעט בלײַבן, איז דיר ניט גענוג?
Avrom Sutzkever
"Who will remain, what will remain? A wind will stay behind.
The blindness will remain, the blindness of the blind.
June 8, 2025 at 5:40 PM
װער װעט בלײַבן? װאָס װעט בלײַבן? בלײַבן װעט אַ װינט,
בלײַבן װעט די בלינדקײט פֿונעם בלינדן, װאָס פֿאַרשװינדט.
.
.
װער װעט בלײַבן? גאָט װעט בלײַבן, איז דיר ניט גענוג?
Avrom Sutzkever
"Who will remain, what will remain? A wind will stay behind.
The blindness will remain, the blindness of the blind.
בלײַבן װעט די בלינדקײט פֿונעם בלינדן, װאָס פֿאַרשװינדט.
.
.
װער װעט בלײַבן? גאָט װעט בלײַבן, איז דיר ניט גענוג?
Avrom Sutzkever
"Who will remain, what will remain? A wind will stay behind.
The blindness will remain, the blindness of the blind.
Over the moon for Banu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhasthi! A historic win on so many levels. Stories of Muslim women from South India, the first Kannada work to win the International Booker, and Deepa’s brilliant, brilliant translation!!
May 22, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Over the moon for Banu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhasthi! A historic win on so many levels. Stories of Muslim women from South India, the first Kannada work to win the International Booker, and Deepa’s brilliant, brilliant translation!!
Today I learnt - Koroshi dialect of Balochi
May 15, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Today I learnt - Koroshi dialect of Balochi
"آج" کے تازہ ترین شمارے میں میرے اردو ناول "پانچویں درویش کا قصہ" کا ایک حصہ شائع ہوا ہے۔ احباب Book N Art کی پوسٹ میں دیئے گئے نمبر پر رابطہ کر کے منگوا سکتے ہیں ۔ شمارے میں ونود کمار شکل، ژولیاں اور جیم عباسی کی کہانیاں بھی شامل ہیں۔
May 9, 2025 at 10:37 AM
"آج" کے تازہ ترین شمارے میں میرے اردو ناول "پانچویں درویش کا قصہ" کا ایک حصہ شائع ہوا ہے۔ احباب Book N Art کی پوسٹ میں دیئے گئے نمبر پر رابطہ کر کے منگوا سکتے ہیں ۔ شمارے میں ونود کمار شکل، ژولیاں اور جیم عباسی کی کہانیاں بھی شامل ہیں۔
You should be able to find اتو in any modern Persian dictionary as it's the 'standard' word in modern Iranian Persian. See this entry in Dehkhoda for example. I also found out that اتی utti is the Tajik variant of the word (though the Wiktionary entry, as usual, doesn't provide a source for this)
May 6, 2025 at 8:07 AM
You should be able to find اتو in any modern Persian dictionary as it's the 'standard' word in modern Iranian Persian. See this entry in Dehkhoda for example. I also found out that اتی utti is the Tajik variant of the word (though the Wiktionary entry, as usual, doesn't provide a source for this)
Came across this Urduized form of the word sober in an online comment. The word is fairly common in spoken Urdu, used in the sense of 'sensible,' 'serious' or sometimes even 'graceful' - though never in the sense of 'not drunk.' I found the choice of the letter ص for representing the 's' interesting
May 1, 2025 at 7:17 AM
Came across this Urduized form of the word sober in an online comment. The word is fairly common in spoken Urdu, used in the sense of 'sensible,' 'serious' or sometimes even 'graceful' - though never in the sense of 'not drunk.' I found the choice of the letter ص for representing the 's' interesting
April 30, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Three different realizations of the letter غ (/ɣ/ in Arabic and Classical Persian) across 3 modern varieties of Persian, acc to the Wiktionary entry for سوغات. Unsurprisingly, the Dari variant retains the classical pronunciation, while the Tajik variant is reportedly pronounced like the French /ʁ/?
April 29, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Three different realizations of the letter غ (/ɣ/ in Arabic and Classical Persian) across 3 modern varieties of Persian, acc to the Wiktionary entry for سوغات. Unsurprisingly, the Dari variant retains the classical pronunciation, while the Tajik variant is reportedly pronounced like the French /ʁ/?
I can't claim to speak for such a large proportion of Pakistanis, but speaking for myself, many of those deported had lived in Pakistan longer than I did and most probably considered it home. Some were even born in Pakistan and had never been to Afghanistan before being forcibly deported there.
April 17, 2025 at 4:31 PM
I can't claim to speak for such a large proportion of Pakistanis, but speaking for myself, many of those deported had lived in Pakistan longer than I did and most probably considered it home. Some were even born in Pakistan and had never been to Afghanistan before being forcibly deported there.
Ces i gyfle i siarad am nofel newydd sbon ar y teledu heddiw
(had my first experience of being on live tv today)
Gwyliwch yma 👇
Prynhawn Da, Wed, 09 Apr 2025: bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod… via @bbciplayer
(had my first experience of being on live tv today)
Gwyliwch yma 👇
Prynhawn Da, Wed, 09 Apr 2025: bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod… via @bbciplayer
April 9, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Ces i gyfle i siarad am nofel newydd sbon ar y teledu heddiw
(had my first experience of being on live tv today)
Gwyliwch yma 👇
Prynhawn Da, Wed, 09 Apr 2025: bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod… via @bbciplayer
(had my first experience of being on live tv today)
Gwyliwch yma 👇
Prynhawn Da, Wed, 09 Apr 2025: bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod… via @bbciplayer
Happy belated Nauroz/Nowruz. The zebra in this painting (now in V&A museum) was presented to the Mughal emperor Jahangir during the Nowruz celebrations of 1621. The inscription in Jahangir's own hand reads
استری که رومیان از حبشه بههمراهی میرجعفر آورده بودند و شبیه این را نادرالعصری استاد منصور کشید
استری که رومیان از حبشه بههمراهی میرجعفر آورده بودند و شبیه این را نادرالعصری استاد منصور کشید
March 29, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Happy belated Nauroz/Nowruz. The zebra in this painting (now in V&A museum) was presented to the Mughal emperor Jahangir during the Nowruz celebrations of 1621. The inscription in Jahangir's own hand reads
استری که رومیان از حبشه بههمراهی میرجعفر آورده بودند و شبیه این را نادرالعصری استاد منصور کشید
استری که رومیان از حبشه بههمراهی میرجعفر آورده بودند و شبیه این را نادرالعصری استاد منصور کشید
My article on Urdu lit in translation in the latest issue of @wasafirimag.bsky.social : Divided by a Border, United in Translation reviews 3 Urdu books translated last year: Natiq’s Naulakhi Kothi by Naima Rashid, Rahman Abbas’s On the Other Side, Hijab Imtiaz Ali’s Belles Lettres by Sascha Akhtar
March 7, 2025 at 10:52 AM
My article on Urdu lit in translation in the latest issue of @wasafirimag.bsky.social : Divided by a Border, United in Translation reviews 3 Urdu books translated last year: Natiq’s Naulakhi Kothi by Naima Rashid, Rahman Abbas’s On the Other Side, Hijab Imtiaz Ali’s Belles Lettres by Sascha Akhtar