The metro zipped over the familiar names and not-so-familiar names. When my father and his colleagues from AG’s office built his house in Yousufguda, Hyderabad way back in the 70s and for the next decade or so, we shared space with some goats and cows along with expansive open spaces. If we missed the direct bus home, we had to walk home from Ameerpet, a good mile away. If we had to go shopping or to the doctor’s it was to Ameerpet, we had to trudge. Friends hardly visited us for we lived so far away. Going to movies were akin to going for a picnic, and here I was, some four decades later, whizzing over the bus stop where I waited for ages, the distance covered in a jiffy trying to see among the senior citizens some familiar faces.
Hence, I choose to cover the word Nostalgia for this week’s column on etymology. The term “Etymology” is the study of the origin of words. The practice of etymology is uncovering the truth by tracing the root of a word and its evolution thereafter.
The dictionary meaning of nostalgia is a sad pleasure experienced in recalling what no longer exists: a wistful sentimental yearning for a return to or the return of some real or romanticized past period or some irrecoverable past condition or setting.
Although we now associate nostalgia with fond memory, the word was coined to refer to an unwanted medical condition. The –algia in nostalgia means “pain.
Johannes Hofer, a Swiss physician named the condition, which he identified as a mania tied to homesickness in Swiss mercenary soldiers. The nost- in nostalgia meant “homecoming,” and such sentimental yearning for home during field operations was viewed as a disorder of the brain, with symptoms ranging from melancholy and malnutrition to brain fever and hallucinations. It was characterized as sadness, loss of appetite, weakness and sleeplessness. It also meant loss of gaiety, energy and a person who preferred aloneness. He remembered with fondness where he was brought up.
Overtime, discussion of nostalgia as an ailment seemed to fall out of favour by the end of the 19th century, but soon afterward its use to describe a longing for something from the past or far away began to take hold.
Somerset Maugham, in his The Moon and Sixpence, 1919 wrote: I have an idea that some men are born out of their due place. Accident has cast them amid certain surroundings, but they have always a nostalgia for a home they know not. They are strangers in their birthplace, and the leafy lanes they have known from childhood or the populous streets in which they have played, remain but a place of passage.
But then I am of the firm opinion that we do have the tendency to romanticize our past particularly our youth. I had penned a piece, An ode to the much-maligned modern day a few years back. Life might be more hectic today but then the fact remains that we are luckier to see so many changes wrought by development all within our lifetime. Yes, development comes with its problems but life has definitely become easier and that is so evident in the ease of travel. Needless to say, it has added to the traffic woes but then that is life, I suppose.
Do share your opinion.
This blog post is part of ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’
hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Cerebration – Think with body, mind & soul.
Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/nostalgia-word-origin-history-homesickness
Image credit: https://pixabay.com/vectors/owl-book-animal-literature-297413/
6 comments
In the day when language is more symbolic than systematic, I like your idea of writing this series. I liked that Maugham says, “I have an idea that some men are born out of their due place. Accident has cast them amid certain surroundings, but they have always a nostalgia for a home they know not. They are strangers in their birthplace, and the leafy lanes they have known from childhood or the populous streets in which they have played, remain but a place of passage.” I feel we glorify our past a lot more! But it was good to know the origins.
Now this post surprised me. I had no idea that algia in nostalgia means pain! New learning! Thank you for sharing this, Chandrika and for this very intriguing series.
This piece made me pause more than once. I like how you don’t just explain a word but follow its journey into our everyday behaviour, especially online. It quietly nudges the reader to question reactions, outrage, and how easily we take offence without context. Thought-provoking without being preachy—that balance worked really well here.
What a nostalgic post this was! Pun unintended. As a Xennial I’ve seen everything from floppy disks to pen drives, sleeping under the stars with my cousins to video calling them and riding on dusty potholed roads to breezing through swanky highways now. Change is a constant but that’s what makes life fun, isn’t it? Fondly remembering old times is a blessing.
Its a thoughtful post and some new word addition in my dictionary … Known words different meaning . But in regards to homesickness… I never had althought after my 18th birthday I was out of home and studied in different cities followed by job and finally marraige. I hardly rememeber a month I spend completly at home after my 18th. Home coming was a great feeling but home sickness never happened , may be my brain disorder was not there :) I left after 18th because i wanted to explore better and further and so might be I consiously accepted the changes in me. Am I odd?
The old times gave us some real closeness among those we valued the most. Now with technology, the feeling we get while waiting to hear the voice of a loved one is not there but to be able to see and talk to them in seconds with the help of technology is nothing but a blessing that the new generation enjoys.