About a month ago, Mr. Dew Bhardwaj called me from India. I was very happy to hear his voice. He informed me the next day he will call me again because Mr. Pathania wants to talk with me. And so it was. He talked with me in Romani! I was really impressed, i cried... I know mr. Janardhan Pathania more than 15 years, because he is the only native indian speaking the Romani language. He is well known through the internet.I will try to sumarize our discussion.
Mr Janardhan Pathania said:" I learned lonely the Romani language. I used to speak in the Romani language with the mountains of India, with its forests, and with its wild animals." He was a Drilling Engineer in India. He also joked, saying: "Mere ustad sas mere jukle, bare, bare ustad"- "My teachers were my dogs, they are great, great professors". This was a nice joke. He continued talking in Romani more than 30 minutes, and only him! And his Romani was divine! I cried like a little baby hearing his voice...In that moments i was PROUD to hear my language talked again in its historical Mother Land, India. His voice was like a revelation for me, because his Indian pronunciation brought back in our language its lost accent during the exodus. Mr. Janardhan Pathania, a native Hindu, is speaking again our Romani language in India, after hundreds of years! We, the Romani people can be very proud. I talked about many problems with Mr. Pathania. He was repeating one phrase: "I want the Romani language to be praised, not me!". Mr Pathania is right, our language gave to modern non-Roma lingvists money, names and fame! But they dont respect our language!
Mr. Janardhan Pathania, even is a native Indian, is the best Romani speaker i ever heard!
I was impressed when he said "in my future life i pray God to be reborn as a Roma!" Let God fulfill your desire, Pathania Ji!
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Romanian language
Janardhan Pathania- "în viața viitoare îl rog pe Dumnzeu să mă nasc Rom!"
Cam acum o lună, domnul Dew Bhardwaj m-a sunat din India. Am fost foarte fericit să-i aud vocea. El m-a informat că ziua următoare mă va suna din nou, pentru că domnul Janardhan Pathania vrea să discute cu mine. El a vorbit cu mine în limba romani! Am fost foarte impresionat, am plâns...Voi încerca să fac un sumar a ceea ce am vorbit.
Domnul Pathania a spus: "am învățat singur limba romani. Vorbeam în limba romani cu munții, pădurile și animalele Indiei." El a fost inginer de foraj în India. A și glumit, spunând: "Mere ustad sas mere jukle"-"învățătorii mei au fost câinii mei, ei sunt învățători minunați." Gluma lui a fost foarte faină. El a continuat să vorbească în romani mai mult de 30 de minute! Și limba romani vorbită de el era divină! Am plâns ca un copil ascultându-i vocea...În acele momente am fost MÂNDRU să îmi aud limba în Patria ei istorică, Mama India. Vocea lui a fost ca o revealție pentru mine, pentru că pronunția lui indiană a dat limbii romani demnitatea pierdută din cauza exodului. Noi, romii putem fi mândrii că un indian nativ, domnul Janrdhan Pathania, vorbește limba romani în India, din nou după sute de ani! Am vorbit despre multe cu domnul Pathania. El repeta doar aceste cuvinte : "eu vreau ca limba romani să fie slăvită, nu eu!". Domnul Pathania are dreptate, limba noastră a dat ligviștilor moderni ne-romi bani, nume și faimă! Dar ei nu o respectă !
Deși domnul Pathania este indian, este cel mai bun vorbitor de romani pe care l-am întâlnit vreodată!
Am fost impresionat când domnul Pathania a spus "în viața mea viitoare îl rog pe Dumnezeu să mă renasc Rom!" Să îți dea Dumnezeu ceea ce îți dorești, domnule Pathania!
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Mr. Janardhan Singh Pathania retired as a Drilling Engineer in 1991, worked for many years in fields for the exploration of Oil & Gas, Ground-water and Minerals all over India. History and languages are his favorite subjects. In 1976, he attended the 1st World Roma Festival at Chandigarh, which inspired him to learn Romani language. In 1983 the 2nd World Roma Festival took place at Chandigarh, there he made his maiden speech in Romani which was very much appreciated by Roma. He has got published many of his Romani poems and articles in European Romani magazines. He attended International Symposium on Romani language at Sarajevo in 1986 and read his paper on “Standard International Romani language”. He participated in IRU and WRO conferences and Roma Conference in 2001 at New Delhi. He is currently working on standardization and grammar of Romani language and its dialects.
http://kaflaintercontinental.com/writings/articles/Janardhan.Pathania_Cutomes.htm