Read An Atlas of Impossible Longing Online
Authors: Anuradha Roy
All I felt was that life had finally floated down the river and reached me.
FINIS
aanchal | one end of the sari, covering the shoulders and sometimes the head |
achaar | pickle |
adivasis | tribal people |
almirah | cupboard |
aloo | potato |
apsara | divine beauty |
arre baap | lit. “Oh father”, exclamation of alarm |
arre bhai | lit. “Oh brother”, expression of affection |
Baba | father |
Babu | suffix added to men's names to show respect |
bael | Bengal quince, |
Bahu | daughter-in-law |
bathua | a wild spinach |
beedi | a cheap, strong smoke |
ber | a wild berry |
bhoot | ghost |
bhuttawala | corn-seller |
Bibi | affectionate Urdu term for a married woman |
biryani | richly flavoured rice cooked with meat |
bonti | a curved blade mounted on a wooden stand |
Boudi | older brother's wife |
Bouma | daughter-in-law |
brinjal | aubergine |
bulbul | Indian bird with a sweet call |
Chacha/Chachi | Uncle/Aunt |
chappal | slippers |
charpoy | rough, cheap string cot |
daal | lentil curry |
Dada | older brother |
Dadu | grandfather |
dalna | a light curry |
dekchi | large cooking vessel |
deodar | Cedrus deodara |
dhakai paratha | paratha layered with egg and meat |
dhoti | man's unstitched lower garment |
Didi | older sister |
doob | a fine, soft grass |
duree | rug |
Durga puja | an important annual festival worshipping the goddess Durga, who vanquishes evil |
Durvasa Muni | a mythological sage renowned for his temper |
gaandu | a term of abuse |
Ganga | the Ganges, one of India's largest rivers, considered sacred |
Gangajal | holy water from the Ganges |
garh | fortress |
ghat | steps to a river, bathing area |
ghee | clarified butter |
goondas | thugs |
gotra | sub-caste |
grihaprastha | one of the four traditional stages in a Hindu's life: the householder stage |
gulli | alleyway |
gulmohar | Delonix regia |
hakim | practitioner of traditional Islamic medicine |
haraami | bastard; term of abuse |
Hari, Hari | exclamation, something like “Dear God!” |
havaldar | low-ranking policeman |
huzoor | lordship |
jamun | Java plum |
jatra | folk theatre |
jhaal muri | spicy puffed rice |
jhinuk | a spoon for feeding babies |
jhola | cloth bag |
joota | shoe |
juldi karo | “Hurry up” |
junglee | savage [noun and adj.], used as mild, often friendly, abuse |
kachnar | Bauhinia variegata |
kajal | kohl; black eye make-up used in the East |
kanthas | thin, home-stitched quilts |
kashi | large, flat-bottomed vessel with a low rim |
khadi | rough, handspun cotton advocated by Mahatma Gandhi |
khansama | cook and bearer |
khurpi | humble garden tool for digging |
kukri | curved Sikkimese knife |
kurta | long, shirt-like garment |
kutcha | unmetalled |
lakh | one hundred thousand |
lungi | unstitched lower garment worn by men |
Ma/Mataji | mother |
machan | a high, sheltered bamboo perch |
madhabilata | Rangoon Creeper, |
Quisqualis indica maulvi | muslim cleric |
mela | fair/carnival |
memsahib | originally, white woman; any upper-class woman |
mishti | dessert; any kind of sweet dish |
mofussil | small town |
moong | green lentil |
moshai | Sir; respectful form of address which can be used sarcastically |
mulmul | soft, fine cotton |
muri | puffed rice |
namaskar | Indian greeting with joined palms and bowed head |
neem | Margosa, |
nullah | drain/narrow canal |
paan | an addictive concoction of betel leaf, areca nut, tobacco, and other condiments, usually consumed after meals |
pagli/pagla | crazy girl/man |
pakora | salty fritter |
papad | poppadum |
paratha | fried, unleavened flat-bread |
Parsi | Zoroastrian |
payesh | Bengali version of rice pudding |
peepal | sacred fig, |
peon | office boy |
phirni | Mughal version of rice pudding |
poori | fried, puffed bread |
puja | ceremonial prayer |
pukur | open water tank, often large and used for bathing |
purohitmoshai | priest |
raat ki rani | Cestrum nocturnum |
rezala | rich meat curry |
riyaaz | music practice |
rossogullas | a spongy, syrupy sweet |
roti | unleavened, wholewheat bread |
rui | a kind of carp |
sarangi | a stringed musical instrument |
Saraswati puja | yearly festival to invoke the Goddess of Learning |
semul | silk cotton, |
shehnai | wind instrument usually played at weddings |
shingara | deep-fried, triangular pastry filled with spicy vegetables or mincemeat |
sindoor | red mark in the parting of a married Hindu woman's hair |
stupa | Buddhist monument |
supari | areca nut |
swadeshi | a phase of the nationalist movement in India when people were urged to reject foreign goods in favour of those locally manufactured. Clothes made from imported fabrics were thrown into public bonfires as a mark of protest. |
tanpura | a stringed musical instrument |
Thak'ma | slang for “thakuma”, i.e., grandmother |
theek hai | “It's alright” |