There are a few things in life that unite people across oceans – like love and music, for example. And then, unexpectedly, there is the humble exclamation, “Hain?” Or as the Portuguese would say, with a sophisticated shrug and nasal inquiry, “Hein?”
Now, do not be fooled by their similar spellings because much like butter chicken and coq au vin, they appear identical in theory (with verbal question marks), but in reality, they differ phonetically as well as temperamentally.
Let me explain. In India, “Hain?” is a national treasure. It is not simply a sound but an entire lifestyle because that is how everybody processes information, questions reality, and occasionally expresses cardiac arrest. So, for instance, if you tell an Indian Aunt that someone is 35 and unmarried, her instinctive reaction is not to offer support, not at all. She will bellow a ‘Hain’ that will come accompanied with three syllables, four decibels, and five judgments! Believe me, it’s true.
Whereas in Portugal, “Hein?” is far more civilised. I learned this during a trip to Lisbon when I confidently asked a café owner whether their galão was like café latte. He blinked once, tilted his head like a thoughtful puppy and said, ‘Hein?’ No scolding or panicked alarm. Just a soft, confused squiggle of a punctuation that sounded almost like an audio shrug.
However, the Indian “Hain?” is less of a question and more of a rhetorical gasp. It can mean surprise, suspicion, horror, indigestion, or the realization that your jeweller has gone bankrupt. “Hain?” (pronounced somewhere between “huh” and “hein”) is not just a word, it is an emotion, a reflex, and, dare I say, an institution.
It can mean, “Excuse me? What nonsense is this? Did I hear you right or has the universe taken a sharp turn? I refuse to believe it and I need you to repeat the entire stuff slowly and with subtitles”. Sometimes it expresses all of the above and also all at once!
Children learn it by the age of three and husbands perfect it to avoid uncomfortable questions. Mothers-in-law use it as a filter – say something she does not approve of, and you will be met with a “Hain?” so loaded it can be heard across several generations.
The Portuguese “Hein?”, by comparison, is gentle as well as delicate. It is the verbal equivalent of tapping someone on the shoulder with a single dainty index finger and prompting them to speak louder so that you can catch what they are saying. It sort of has one task only, which is to politely signal miscomprehension.
It does the job with dignity and comes with no emotional baggage or passive-aggression but is simply a mild invitation to repeat oneself. Which brings me to the scientific observation that both these exclamations are used by people of a certain age when they do not want to admit that they did not hear you the first time.
Meanwhile, I told my Portuguese friend who was going to visit India that after landing, she must use ‘Hain’ as a verbal eyebrow raise. To prepare her, I asked what would she do if she went to a market in Delhi and someone tried to sell her a single mango for 400 Indian rupees.
“Desculpa?” she exclaimed in alarm.
“Try again,” I encouraged.
“Hein?” she squealed with delicate restraint.
“I give up,” I muttered solemnly.
“Hain?” she gasped in loud indignation.
“Now you are set,” I applauded.
