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The two spice words that are not the same, and why refusing food once does not work.
Two words do most of the damage at an Indian table, and they are routinely confused. तीखा means chilli-hot. मसालेदार means well-spiced. They are not the same thing, and asking for food without मसाला removes the flavour rather than the heat. What you want is तीखा मत बनाइए — do not make it chilli-hot.
The essentials are short: मुझे भूख लगी है (I am hungry — literally hunger has attached to me), पानी दीजिए (water please), मैं शाकाहारी हूँ (I am vegetarian, and this is well understood everywhere), बहुत स्वादिष्ट है (it is delicious), बिल दीजिए (the bill please).
One cultural note that catches every visitor. Refusing more food once is treated as politeness rather than as an answer, and you will be served again. बस, बहुत हो गया — enough, that is plenty — said with a smile and a hand over the plate, is the phrase that actually works, and you may need it twice.
Ordering chai in India gets you tea, because चाय means tea. The spiced milk drink sold abroad as chai is simply how tea is usually made here.
| English | Hindi | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| I am hungry | मुझे भूख लगी है | mujhe bhookh lagi hai |
| I am thirsty | मुझे प्यास लगी है | mujhe pyaas lagi hai |
| Water, please | पानी दीजिए | paani deejiye |
| Not spicy, please | तीखा मत बनाइए | teekha mat banaaiye |
| I am vegetarian | मैं शाकाहारी हूँ | main shaakaahaari hoon |
| It is delicious | बहुत स्वादिष्ट है | bahut svaadisht hai |
| The bill, please | बिल दीजिए | bill deejiye |
| I have eaten enough | बस, बहुत हो गया | bas, bahut ho gaya |
Devanagari is easy to get slightly wrong when it is typed by hand — a missing matra, the wrong nukta. If something here looks off to you, trust a native speaker over this page and please tell us so it gets fixed — it takes a moment and a real person reads it. Romanised spellings are a guide to the sound, not a standard: there is no single official way to write Hindi in Latin letters.
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