Malgudi Days (38 page)

circar:
government

dakshina:
fee

darshan:
grace conferred on the beholder of a godly person

dhall:
lentil

dhobi:
laundry boy or washerman

dhoti:
sarong-like men's garment, tucked and knotted at the waist

dosai:
fried cake made of rice paste

idli:
steamed rice cake

jaggery:
product similar to brown sugar, made by boiling sugarcane juice

Javali:
a musical composition

jilebi:
a sweet

jutka:
two-wheeled, horse-drawn carriage

karma:
Hindu theological idea meaning destiny, desert; the doctrine that one's present actions continue to have effects in another incarnation

kurta:
flowing shirt

lakh:
a hundred thousand

lathi:
heavy stick, often bamboo, bound with iron

Muhurtam:
auspicious moment

namaste:
greeting—‘I bow before thee'

Om:
a mystical syllable

paisa
(pl.
paise
):
the smallest coin; one hundred make one rupee

Pallavi:
special item in a musical concert

pandal:
special shed put up for an assembly

payasam:
sweet soup

pie:
the smallest coin in the old currency

Pongal:
harvest festival

puja:
worship, offering

punnaga varali:
a particular melody

pyol:
platform built along the house wall that faces the street

ragi:
millet

rasagulla:
sweet made from condensed milk

rasam:
lentil soup

sadhu:
hermit or recluse

Sandhi:
devotions at morning, noon, and evening

sanyasi:
an ascetic who has renounced the world

shikari:
professional hunter

sowcar:
businessman or financier

Swarga Loka:
heaven

teapoy:
small table

thali:
sacred marriage badge, symbol of wifehood

thambura:
stringed instrument used for accompaniment