The last time I was in India was four years ago for study abroad during college. At the time I was taking intensive Hindi for three to four hours a day, and left with conversational speaking skills and good reading and writing skills. In the four years in between my two trips, I spent a few hours on Rosetta Stone and flipped through my notes once or twice, but still stepped off the plane in India with an extreme confidence in my Hindi skills. When I opened my mouth to tell the cab driver where we were going, nothing came out. I had forgotten everything without realizing it.
So, the next morning I went to the bookstore to buy the basic Lonely Planet phrasebook and refresh my memory. Talking to people over the last two weeks has helped it come back, but it's still rusty. Surprisingly though, after reading over the alphabet a few times, I started being able to read again and I've been attempting to entertain our guides and rickshaw drivers by reading signs to them.
We walked by this little printing shop one afternoon, and I stopped to translate the sign. It says "Patak Press" I believe, but I couldn't find a translation for "Patak," maybe the name of the family that owns it? Or does it mean "Printing"? I can usually read the signs, but have no idea what they mean. Are there any Hindi speakers reading?
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