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Wednesday, January 7, 2026

Happy to start Hindi



Hindi is the language. Hindu means the people or their religion. 

Most will understand the greeting namaste with hands held together as you bow as if in prayer.

 Jungle is a Hindi word.

I thought I should look at Hindi again, one of the languages I have signed up for in Duolingo. I thought I should spend five minutes a day on the languages which are not my language of the year. (This year until mid year, June, it's Spanish.)

I looked at my previous posts and found that Amma mean s mother. Ji is added to a name as a sign of respect, such as Ghandhi-ji.

 An easy to remember often used word in Asia is jungle.

A
Avatar
From Hindi अवतार, from Sanskrit, descent of a deity from a heaven

B
Bandanna
from bandhna (बांधना) to tie.
Bangle
from bāngṛī बांगड़ी, a type of bracelet.
Blighty
"Britain" (as a term of endearment among British troops stationed in Colonial India): from Hindi-Urdu vilāyatī (विलायती, ولايتى) "foreign", ultimately from Arabo-Persian ولايتى "provincial, regional".
Bungalow
from बंगला banglA and Urdu بنگلہ banglA, literally, "(house) in the Bengal style".[1]

C

Cashmere

soft wool from goats in Kashmir

Cheetah
from cītā, चीता, meaning "variegated".
Chit
from चिट्ठी Chitthi, a letter or note.
Chutney
from चटनी chatni, meaning "to crush"
Cot
from Khāt, खाट, a portable bed.
Chowkat
from Shokat, Urdu, a door frame.
Cummerbund
from kamarband , cf. कमरबन्द - Urdu کمربند, meaning "waist binding" [ultimately from Persian کمربند]
Cushy
probably from khushi, cf. Hindi ख़ुशी - Urdu خوشی "easy, happy, soft" [ultimately from Persian];[2] but some sources prefer an origin from "cushion"[3]


D
Dacoit
from Daku, meaning a member of a class of criminals who engage in organized robbery and murder. Hence also dacoity(banditry)
Dekko
(UK slang for 'a look') from देखो Dekho, the imperative 'look', (دیکھو देखो ) meaning look at or study something.
Dinghy
from Dinghi, small boat
Dungaree
Heavy denim fabric, also referring to trousers made thereof, from Hindi डूंगरी (ḍūṅgrī, “coarse calico”), the name of a village.


G
Garam masala
from Hindi and Urdu गरम मसाल‌ा گرم مصالح garam masālā, literally "hot ( = spicy) mixture",[4] from Persian گرم garm 'warm, hot' and Arabic مصالح maṣāliḥ 'benefits, requirements, ingredients'.
Guru
from Hindi guru "teacher, priest," from Sanskrit गुरुः guruḥ "one to be honored, teacher," literally "heavy, weighty."[5]
Gymkhana
A term which originally referred to a place where sporting events take place and referred to any of various meets at which contests were held to test the skill of the competitors. In English-speaking countries, a gymkhana refers to a multi-game equestrian event performed to display the training and talents of horses and their rider [-khānā from Pers. khānāh خانه "house, dwelling"]

J
Jaconet
modification of Sanskrit jagannaath, from Jagannath (Puri), [India], where such cloth was first made.[6]
Jodhpurs
Full-length trousers, worn for horseback riding, that are close-fitting below the knee and have reinforced patches on the inside of the leg. Named after Jodhpur , where similar garments are worn by Indian men as part of everyday dress.
Juggernaut
from Jagannath (Sanskrit: जगन्नाथ jagannātha), a form of Vishnu particularly worshipped at the Jagannath Temple, Puri, Odisha where during Rath Yatra festival thousands of devotees pull temple carts some 14m (45 feet) tall, weighing hundreds of tons through the streets. These carts seat three images of the deity, meant to be brothers for a 'stroll' outside after the ritual worship session. They are fed by thousands and thousands of worshipers with holy food, as if the icons were living. Early European visitors witnessed these festivals and returned with—possibly apocryphal—reports of religious fanatics committing suicide by throwing themselves under the wheels of the carts. So the word became a metaphor for something immense and unstoppable because of institutional or physical inertia; or impending catastrophe that is foreseeable yet virtually unavoidable because of such inertia.
Jungle
from जङल् jangal, another word for wilderness or forest.


K
Khaki
from खकि khākī "of dust colour, dusty, grey", cf. Hindi ख़ाकी - Urdu خاکی [ultimately from Persian].
Karakul
A hat shaped like a fez but made of real or imitation karakul and worn by Pakistani Muslims on occasion.[7] It is called a "Karakulli topi" (Topi meaning cap).
Karma
from Sanskrit, the result of a person's actions as well as the actions themselves. It is a term about the cycle of cause and effect.


L
Loot
from LooT लूट, meaning 'steal'. Robbery


M
Multan
from Multan, Pakistan: A kind of rug prevalent there.[8]
Mogul
from Hindi and Urdu: An acknowledged leader in a field, from the Mughal rulers of India like Akbar and Shah Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal.
Maharaja
from Hindi and Sanskrit: A king.
Mantra
from Hindi and Sanskrit: a word or phrase used in meditation.

N
Nirvana
(in Buddhism) a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and the subject is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth. It represents the final goal of Buddhism.
Nehru jacket
a kind of sleeveless jacket that worn buttoned up to neck - formal and often worn by the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.


P
Pashmina
from Hindi पश्मीना, Urdu پشمينه, ultimately from Persian پشمينه.
Poori
from Hindi poori, from Sanskrit पुर (pura) or "cake".[9]
Punch
from Hindi and Urdu panch پانچ, meaning "five". The drink was originally made with five ingredients: alcohol, sugar, lemon, water, and tea or spices.[10][11] The original drink was named paantsch.
Pundit
from पण्डित Pandit, meaning a learned scholar or Priest.
Pukka
(UK slang: "genuine") from Pakkā पक्का,پکا cooked, ripe, solid.
Pyjamas
from Hindi, पैजामा (paijaamaa), meaning "leg garment", coined from Persian پاى "foot, leg" and جامه "garment" .[12]

R
Raita
from Hindi and Urdu रायता ریتا rayta.[13] yogurt based dish, some add sliced/chopped/diced, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, pineapples, pomegranate or other salads to complement rice or roti meals.
Roti
from Hindi and Urdu रॊटी روٹی roti "bread"; akin to Prakrit रॊट्ट rotta "rice flour", Sanskrit रोटिका rotika "kind of bread".[14]


S
Shampoo
Derived from Hindustani chāmpo (चाँपो [tʃãːpoː]) (verb imperative, meaning "rub!"), dating to 1762.[15]


T
Thug
from Thagi ठग, meaning "thief or con man".
Toddy (also Hot toddy)
from Tārī ताड़ी, juice of the palmyra palm.
Typhoon
from Urdu طوفان toofaan.[16] A cyclonic storm. 


V
Veranda
from Hindi baramdaa बरामदा or another Indian language, but ultimately probably from Portuguese or Spanish.[17]


Y
Yoga

I tried this exercise once before and wrote a blog post about Indian words, using 33.
See my post:
http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/33-indian-words-used-in-english-and.html

Useful Websites on Hindi

duolingo.com

preply.com/en/blog/colors-in-hindi

mantrawordscoach.com/blog/hindi

https://www.duolingo.com/enroll/hi/en/Learn-Hindi

https://www.duolingo.com/characters

https://www.amazon.sg/Essential-Hindi-Words-Phrases-Travelers/dp/

https://wikitravel.org/en/Hindi_phrasebook   Many useful words, to print out when travelling. Several words are the same as English, pencil, police, tampon, taxi.

https://wikitravel.org/en/Devanagari_phrasebook (Showing charts of vowels and consonants written in the pretty, squiggly Devenagari characters)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_English_words_by_country_or_language_of_origin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Hindi_or_Urdu_origin

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Tuesday, January 6, 2026

Snow in London - streets, rooftops, cars, gardens

Snow on car, pavement and rooftops in Hatch End, NW London. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.


Snow on rooftiles in Hatch End NW London, England. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

A novelty for those who have not seen snow. Not seen snow for a while. Or not ever seen snow. 

January 6th 2026 in London, real snow fell. 

Snow In Streets 

 Snow covered the tops and bonnets of cars. (Americans call the front of the car the hood.)

In the street, snows fell on pavements (which Americans call sidewalks).

Snow on Rooftops

 The rooftops went white. Why is one roof white, the other dark, clear of snow? Has the snow melted on a warm rooftop? Is the roof over a warm attic? Does that mean a nice warm house? Or is snow a good sign, meaning that the attic is insulated from the house, so that the house is warmer?

Snow in Back Gardens

Snow covered the grass in gardens, turning the green to white. 

In back gardens (which Americans call back yards) snow fell on the leaves on trees, making what looked like white umbrellas on brown and white supports.

It looks romantic. It might be slippery underfoot. What about driving? The met office issues predictions. The met office, government and AA (UK Automobile Association) issue warning about not driving, or taking blankets, hot drinks in bottles, phones with full charge, chocolate snacks for energy. I would add a toilet container.

However, by lunch time, the snow had stopped falling, started melting, and the heat of cars was clearing the main road.

Snow On Cars

If you plan driving, allow extra time to clear the snow off the windscreen and other windows.

Photographing Snow

If you see snow, rush out and film it straight away. Take both still photos and videos. I missed my chance.

 My husband took photos and put them on his Facebook page. Being a statistician by training and profession, he fulfilled the old joke about the reply of a statistician to a beggar who complained that he had not eaten for a week, 'How does this compare with the same date last year?'

Useful Weather Websites

UK

https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/forecast/uk

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather

https://www.theweatheroutlook.com/forecast/uk/pinner--greater-london#google_vignette

USA

https://eu.usatoday.com/news/weather/

SINGAPORE

https://www.accuweather.com/en/sg/singapore/300597/weather-forecast/300597

Please share links to your favourite posts from my entertaining and informative blogs.


Legoland Holidays in England, Denmark and worldwide

 If you are a Lego enthusiast, like a family we know in London who have an entire room of Lego for their three children, you may be interested in an afternoon out, or even a whole holiday in a hotel devoted to Lego. Where can you do this?

1 A Lego Cafe in Surrey

Just for adults wanting an hour or more to play with lego. The UK has three Lego cafes. One is in Surrey, for an afternoon away from London. Indoor cafe, open all year. 

2 Windsor

Another afternoon away, a trip to Legoland theme park in summer.

You can also stay in a Lego theme hotel.

3 Lego In Denmark

Lego House, Billund, Denmark. See details in Wikipedia.

For a summer holiday, a trip to Legoland in Denmark. You can stay in a Legoland hotel.

4 Legoland in Germany

5 Legoland in the USA

Useful Websites

The English Lego cafes

https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/food-drink/article/rise-lego-cafes-uk-pjhwftcp7

Block Party Lego cafe in UK

https://www.thebrickerycafe.co.uk/

Lego shop website in Denmark

https://www.lego.com/en-gb?age-gate=grown_up

 Legoland in Billund Denmark (dk stands for Denmark)

https://www.legoland.dk/

Legoland theme park in Windsor UK

https://www.legoland.co.uk/

Lego House experience centre, Denmark

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_House_(Billund)

https://www.legoland.co.uk/short-breaks/accommodation/the-legoland-resort-hotel/

Getting from Copenhagen, capital of Denmark, to Legoland and Legohouse in Billund

https://www.rome2rio.com/s/Copenhagen/Legoland-Billund-Resort

Getting to Legland, Windsor, England, from London

https://www.legoland.co.uk/plan-your-day/before-you-visit/directions/

Details on other parks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legoland#:~:text=Legoland

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Saturday, January 3, 2026

Fire Safety In Public Places

 If you rent out a flat in the UK to one person or more, you need both gas and electric inspections for safety every year, for which the owner has to pay, tax deductable from profits. 

Cars need an MOT safety test every year.

Every restaurant, bar and night club should have a safety and fire inspection test. 

It's mandatory to have a now wash your hands sign over staff toilet basins. There should be signs saying no cigarettes, naked flames, candles, fireworks, except for cooking under cooker hood with fire blanket and trained person present..

Please share links to your favourite posts.

An article in the website of CROSS draws attention to two or three other safety factors not often mentioned.

1 In discos there is often a lot of noise which can disguise or delay calls for help or evalucatuion, even fire alarms

2 Dim lighting in night clubs or when illuminated firworks are used adds to conusion.

3 Unlike offices, events often take place in premises where patrons do not know the layout or the fire exit and door  and exit locations.

Please share links to useful blog posts.

When redecorating, you might wish to think about safety, which includes windows which open from the inside, and knowing how to open them.

I often feel unsafe in shopping malls, and toilets, which are at the ends of corridors, with no windows. And buildings which have solid walls street side. No room for a fire engine. No window to climb out of. Not even a window where you could raise a sign asking for help or show that a person is inside the building.

A restaurant up a flight of steps means that your emergency exit is a place which looks like people will fall in haste or fall over each other, and collide with would be rescuers..

A spiral staircase to a basement is not ideal for a fast exit.

If I don't see a fire exit. I try to sit near a door, away from the kitchen.

Useful Websites

SAFETY

https://www.cross-safety.org/uk/safety-information/cross-feature-article/fires-nightclubs-started-pyrotechnics

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+are+bengal+lights

WORLDWIDE FIRES

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fireworks_accidents_and_incidents

SWISS FIRE

https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/switzerland-swiss-bar-fire-owner-6z2nnv6fq

VIDEO

https://uk.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=mail+swiss+fire&type=E210GB885G0#id=3&vid=222bbd08dee9ddf4b2bab9916fa98119&action=click

Victims of Swiss Fire

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3vel0xvlvgo

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/swiss-ski-resort-fire-every-36490994

Please share links to useful posts from my blogs.

Friday, January 2, 2026

Fire Safety in buildings - what can you do? What should you know?

]



Lessons have been learned' about fire safety. 

Over New Year, new Year's Eve 2025, Hong Kong cancelled fireworks because of the recent fire in November 2025 multistorey residence blocks, with more than 150 believed dead. 

A Fire at a night club in Switzerland, in Crans-Montana, a ski and golf resort village, with views of Mont Blanc, claimed lives in the early hours of January 1st 2026. The place is known for skiing races, bike races, and once being the former home of Katherine Mansfield, the author, and Roger Moore, Bond star. Currently it is the location of a school of hospitality management. Those who died or were missing were Swiss, from nearby Italy, and other countries, and were transferred to hospitals in France and Germany.

What lessons have I learned? Apart from the old adage that nothing good happens after midnight, partly, perhaps because people short of sleep, or taking alcohol and drugs to keep awake, take risky actions or are slow to react to danger, or are victims of others.

Every public restaurant or disco should have framed checklist, including, 

number of fire exits, 

numbers allowed in the venue

fire extinguisher type and expiry date, 

staff and customers (menu) briefed not to allow candles, incense or fireworks, cigarettes, 

flame retardant wall and floor coverings. 

No highly flammable decorations nor furnishing. 

Display Number to call for fire brigade. ... police .... ambulance ....

Fire brigade or others should turn off electricity, evacuate.

Close down dangerous places or those with two dangerous events in one year.

Ban moving flames - carrying cakes with candles, sparklers etc. 

No flames above table height. 

No flames within three feet of the ceiling - same as hobs under cooker hoods.

Sound/acoustic baffling should not be highly flammable.

A license for events and late night after midnight opening should require a fire safety check.

no time should be allowed to implement safety measures. They must be done by nightfall or the venue closed down temporarily until the safety measures are implements.

Fire drills should be held weekly, with instructions on fire safety read out.

All staff should read and sign that they understand fire safety rules.

You may be interested in the four Ps of fire precautions

Prepare

Plan

Practise

Prevent

I don't think it is appropriate for mourners to light candles.

After reading

Fire Extinguishers



About this, I checked the expiry date on my kitchen fire extinguisher. My home has a back door, plus windows for escape.  Next job, check any property you or I are renting, letting or managing.

to my mind, two obvious fire preventions, all events for. Ban fireworks nights and have public displays or laser shows. Have dinners where people are sitting down, so that the numbers are limited. Ensure every person seated can reach exits in under five minutes without being blocked by long tables, which are a hazard, blocking escape. Do not block windows and exits. 

No fireworks or candles indoors, only electric imitation candles. (My grandmother made this rule years ago, after a fire in her house when curtains blew across candles.)

No candles or sparklers in basements.

All flames, if any, to be kept on tables, nothing carried or lifted overhead. Give workers right to refuse to do any unsafe practice. Material which is flammable should be labelled as unsafe for ceilings, like the warning labels on night dresses.

I have noticed that many religious buildings have signs banning alcohol. Wooden and other religious buildings such as churches distribute alcohol, albeit in small amounts. 

Religious buildings also sell candles or light candles to pray to deities or honour the dead. Also eternal lights burn. 

Nowadays eternal lights and commemorative boards often have electric lights instead of messy candles which need replacing.

Fir Warning Signs And Banning Signs

Any building which has a flammable ceiling should have a sign saying, no naked flame, candle or fireworks allowed in this area, with a crossed out sign like a no smoking sign.

You can easily check websites for fire prevention and fire signs in your country or a country you are visiting.

In basement restaurants I ask to be seated near the door, staircase of exit. I ask if there is a back exit through the kitchen. Though the kitchen exit is good to escape terrorism, a fire is more likely to start in a kitchen.

Google fire safety signs and you will see signs saying

No smoking No vaping

No candles

No naked flames

Text and visuals for no fireworks.

The United Nations should make Dec 31 fire safety day.

I was surprised to read that they don't yet know the width of the staircase. An emergency services official with a tape measure could find this. An online researcher looking for the last sale of the building on Zoopla should be able to find a floor plan. The sales of any door would tell you the width of the exit.

Useful Websites

Fire Tragedies

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15427131/Swiss-inferno-nightclub-one-escape-route-wooden-furnishings-foam-ceilings-allowed-deadly-

https://apnews.com/article/hong-kong-new-year-eve-fireworks-a

https://cfpa-e.eu/app/uploads/2022/05/CFPA_E_Guideline_No_9_2012_F.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Crans-Montana_bar_fire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Qaraqosh_wedding_fire

https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/switzerland-swiss-ski-resort-fi

Fire Prevention Or Escape

https://sprinklerdesigns.co.uk/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pomya-Emergency-Switch-Release-Security-

Travel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crans-Montana

https://www.crans-montana.ch/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fireworks_accidents_and_incidents

Borough Market Area, Revived Old London

 Under the arches of London Bridge are arched alleys leading to glimpses of old London.

The Market

The market has a myriad of restored historic  buildings  shops and eateries. Shakespeare's  Globe theatre attracts.

The  Globe runs tours. The walkway to it is alongside the river with views across the river to St Paul's cathedral. Sir Christopher Wren was the outstanding architect of his day, not just for beautiful buildings but practical engineering knowledge. The story goes that he defied the bosses who held a traditional view about columns being needed to support the dome and built his cathedral with decorative columns which did not reach the roof to prove his point. Eventually he was so famous that he had what seems to me to be a monopoly and built churches all over London after the great fire.

If you like history, this side of the river there's a big history panel telling you the history of the area with pictures of archaelogical finds.

For real history, there's a preserved rose window over an archeological garden from the Bishop of Winchester, whose grand home was used for a royal wedding, whilst the area was also a red light district for the ladies of the night euphemistically known as Winchester Geese. 

Borough Market is a market for food from all over Europe. First English meat, such as from supplier The Ginger Pig, which has another shop near Baker Street, next to  a cheese specilist, La Fromagerie, which has a walk in refrigerated cheese shop with all the British cheeses as well as French, Spanish, Italian. Here in Borough Market you have a traditional cheese shop, Neil's Yard. Also Spanish speciality shopl 

One local pub, the Anchor, has an outdoor patio as well as traditional pub interior.  Another pub is called the Globe. You can eat traditonal British fare such as British fish and chips. Or a Sunday roast dinner.

Opposite the taverns is a reproduction ship, rebuilt using traditional British oak from bygone eras.

If you also like modern art and architecture, The Tate Modern art gallery, built with donations originally from Tate of Tate & Lyle sugar company. 





Thursday, January 1, 2026

Hidden Hawksmoor Restaurant, a Haven in Bustling Borough Market, London, England


Outside entrance of Hawksmoor Restaurant in Borough Market, London, England. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The bar area of the Hawksmoor restaurant in Borough Market, London, England. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The restaurant table area. Hawksmoor restaurant. London. England. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Hawksmoor Steak

Steak is their Speciality.

They have English, French and wholegrain mustard and horseradish but you. Have to ask for it.

Muscat not sweet enough for me.

Delightful, Delicious Dessert - Pavlova

Pavlova pastry was delightful. Good to look at. Strong, dramatic, delicious taste of black cherry.

Chocolate looked good. At the last, no real chocolate flavou. Like confectioners' chocolate or Hersheys which was created to not melt in summer tropics in the pockets and hands of wartime soldiers, so it was made waxy with oily ingredients instead of melting milk. I am a British Cadbury's fan.

Pavlova? A small piece of solid, hidden underneath, white meringue. The Australian and New Zealand summer favourite with summer fruit, with summer being December, which is winter in England. Yes. But in England the fruit in winter is traditionally preserved, the dried currants and sultanas in Xmas pudding and cake, dried dates. Here you have preserved cherries, their flavour intensified. 

Altogether Impressive looking. 

As Shakespeare said, all's well that ends well.

My husband is a huge fan of Hawksmoor.

Wrapped toothpick.

Getting there

From Stanmore station on the Jubilee, with no changes.


Useful Website

https://thehawksmoor.com/locations/london/