# Hindi: sustii chhayii hui - use and conjugation



## xjm

In a previous post I found this very useful phrase: _susti chhayi hui.

_Illuminatus uses it as follows:
_aaj subah se susti chhayee hui hai_
My question is, why is it _hai_ and not _huun_?  Is it because it literally means "laziness has seized me" and _sustii _is the grammatical subject?  (And if so why is it conjugated in the feminine?)

Is _main_ understood, or _mujhe_, or something else entirely?

Or am I just terribly confused, and it does not mean "me" at all, but is rather more general?

Can anyone give me a couple examples so I can better understand how to use this phrase?

Edit: I understand that the word _sustii _is from Persian; that's not my question. I am just concerned with the verb conjugation.


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## omlick

xjm said:


> In a previous post I found this very useful phrase: _susti chhayi hui._
> 
> Illuminatus uses it as follows:
> _aaj subah se susti chhayee hui hai_
> My question is, why is it _hai_ and not _huun_? Is it because it literally means "laziness has seized me" and _sustii _is the grammatical subject? (And if so why is it conjugated in the feminine?)
> 
> Is _main_ understood, or _mujhe_, or something else entirely?
> 
> Or am I just terribly confused, and it does not mean "me" at all, but is rather more general?
> 
> Can anyone give me a couple examples so I can better understand how to use this phrase?
> 
> Edit: I understand that the word _sustii _is from Persian; that's not my question. I am just concerned with the verb conjugation.


 
yes, I assume a "mujhpar" is missing from the sentence, but it could be any animate noun + par, but for "me" it would then be:

aaj subah se (mujhpar) sustii chhaaii huii hai.

आज सुबह से (मुझपर) सुस्ती छाई हुई है।

literally:  since this morning, laziness is spread out on me.


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## xjm

That makes sense to me.  So सुस्ती is actually feminine, thence the feminine verb forms?


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## omlick

xjm said:


> That makes sense to me. So सुस्ती is actually feminine, thence the feminine verb forms?


 
Yes, but what you are saying is a verb is actually a verb being used as a  adjective predicatively.   That is how it is done in Hindi/Urdu, the verb is in a perfect participle, to match the subject's gender and number, followed by, (but this is actually optional)the matching huaa, huii, or hue and then the hai or hai.n follows.  Thus the छाई हुई  together should  be thought of as the adjective (spread over).


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## Faylasoof

omlick said:


> yes, I assume a "mujhpar" is missing from the sentence, but it could be any animate noun + par, but for "me" it would then be:
> 
> aaj subah se (mujhpar) sustii chhaaii huii hai.
> 
> आज सुबह से (मुझपर) सुस्ती छाई हुई है।
> 
> literally:  since this morning, laziness is spread out on me.



Ah, Omlick! In the original sentence <aaj subH se sustii chhaaii huii hai>, we don't always include <mujhpar> / <tujhpar> / <unpar> etc. They are not really necessary and often just implied. The context makes it clear.


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## MonsieurGonzalito

This is an example from the song "Muskaanein Jhooti Hain" of the movie "Talaash".
It describes the world of prostitution.

_यह है गुमराहों का रास्ता
This is the road for those who are erring
मुस्कानें झूठी हैं
The smiles are fake
पहचानें झूठी है
The identities are fake
रंगीनी है छाई
colorfulness is spread
फिर भी है तन्हाई
still, there is loneliness_

The colorfulness doesn't need an indication of what it is spread over. It is just spread.


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## littlepond

MonsieurGonzalito said:


> _रंगीनी है छाई
> colorfulness is spread
> फिर भी है तन्हाई
> still, there is loneliness_
> 
> The colorfulness doesn't need an indication of what it is spread over. It is just spread.



_रंगीनी _ is generally used for an atmosphere of debauch or something erotic rather than "colourfulness". Similarly, "rangiin aadmii" - a person who is always in an erotic mood, flirty, etc.


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## MonsieurGonzalito

Oh, I thought it was the heavy make-up!   
Thanks, @littlepond


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## MonsieurGonzalito

Another, from the song "Do Pal" of the movie "Veer Zaara"

_तुम थे या सपनों का था सावन
It was you, or it was a Sawan of dreams?
तुम थे कि ख़ुशियाँ की घटा छाई थी
it was you, or they were rainclouds of joy spread (over me)?_

Here the "over me" is implicit.


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## marrish

^ When rain–bringing black clouds (kaalii ghaTaa, or ghaTaa'eN) gather in the sky they cloud (or: cover) it — so normally the connotation of ghaTaa (or baadal etc.) + chaanaa is of clouds appearing (coming together) and closing the sky.


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## MonsieurGonzalito

marrish said:


> clouds appearing (coming together) and closing the sky.


Doesn't_ chaanaa_  convey the general idea of _"spreading in order to cover"_ rather than _"coming together, lumping to form a gap-less screen"_?
(even though the end result, a clouded sky, is the same, the two mental images are almost opposite).

Also, isn't it a common trope in all these songs, the idea of a lover's heart being dry, sandy, a parched desert, etc., and then the beloved's "clouds" spreading over it? (I find remarkable how dark rainclouds often have this positive, rather than ominous, connotation in Hindustani poetry).


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## marrish

I'd rather have others express their thoughts.


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## littlepond

MonsieurGonzalito said:


> Doesn't_ chaanaa_  convey the general idea of _"spreading in order to cover"_



Not at all. "chhaanaa" conveys a thickly gathering, massing together of something, typically rain-filled clouds.



MonsieurGonzalito said:


> (I find remarkable how dark rainclouds often have this positive, rather than ominous, connotation in Hindustani poetry).



It is rather very curious for Indians to find rains and rainy weather seen so depressingly in European poetry and literature. (However, now having known rains in Europe, it isn't that curious for me: rains in Europe indeed have a very different character.) Rains, especially monsoon rains, uplift our souls, bring elation, new thoughts, romance. That is a reality of our lives, hence obviously reflected in songs and poetry too.


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## MonsieurGonzalito

littlepond said:


> Not at all. "chhaanaa" conveys a thickly gathering, massing together of something, typically rain-filled clouds.



But, but, I insist! 
Doesn't a छाता have to छाना in order to shade you from the elements?
The thing is expanding, not contracting.


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## littlepond

MonsieurGonzalito said:


> Doesn't a छाता have to छाना in order to shade you from the elements?



No. A छाता does ढंकना (or ढकना) ("cover"), or does छांव देना ("give shade").

No contraction or expansion element is there. The thing that is being "chhaanaa" is gathering intensely at the spot, that's all. Mostly clouds, but of course figuratively could be a romantic feeling, etc.


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## MonsieurGonzalito

OK. So, for example, the licentiousness in the other verses

_रंगीनी है छाई
फिर भी है तन्हाई_

is also "gathering intensely" rather than "being spread" (in the ambiance, whatever)?
Or all the above just applies to rainclouds and their metaphors_?_


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## littlepond

MonsieurGonzalito said:


> _रंगीनी है छाई_



the erotic/romantic ambience/atmosphere is pervading

The intensity of the gathering/pervading is of course always there when you use the word "chhaanaa".


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## MonsieurGonzalito

littlepond said:


> the erotic/romantic ambience/atmosphere is pervading
> 
> The intensity of the gathering/pervading is of course always there when you use the word "chhaanaa".


Got it. 
Thanks, @littlepond, @marrish


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