The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken (41 page)

dhol - double-headed drum traditional to Punjab.

didi - 'sister'.

dippers - headlights.

dhurrie - a thick, flat-woven rug used in homes or taken for picnics or large public gatherings.

Diwali - the winter festival of lights. This is the biggest Hindu festival of the year.

diya - a lamp usually made of clay with a cotton wick dipped in vegetable oil.

djinn - a genie.

duffer - slang for 'stupid person' or 'fool'.

dupatta - long scarf, usually cotton, silk or chiffon, worn by women to cover their head and bosom.

durbar - 'court'.

Dussera - the harvest season festival, held across north India.

gobi - cauliflower.

golgappa - a thin fried shell used to hold spicy tamarind water; a very popular north Indian street snack.

goonda - a thug or miscreant.

gulab jamun - a dessert made of dough consisting mainly of milk solids in a sugar syrup. It is usually flavored with cardamom seeds and rosewater or saffron.

Gurbani - the sacred verses of Sikh guru, Granth Sahib.

gurdwara - Sikh holy temple.

haveli - private mansion, sometimes with architectural or historical significance, much like a Moroccan Riad.

hawala - an informal monetary transfer system operated by a vast network of brokers, primarily in South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. It is a parallel or alternative remittance system that operates outside traditional banking channels.

jaan - an honorific suffix denoting endearment.

jalebi - a sweet made from batter fried in swirls and then soaked in sugar syrup.

jasoos - spy or private detective.

Jat - originally a pastoral or agricultural caste in the Punjab region. Jats can be Hindu, Sikh or Muslim (usually in Pakistan). Today, the term Jat has become synonymous with 'peasant'.

jawan - a male constable or soldier.

Jezail musket - a long muzzle-loading musket once commonly used in Afghanistan and the tribal areas of today's Pakistan.

ji - honorific suffix.

jugghi - a slum dwelling.

jugaad - an improvised arrangement or work-around, which has to be used because of lack of resources.

kabari - recyclable junk.

kadai ghosht - a creamy mutton dish cooked in a kadai, a wok-like pan.

kadhi chawal - a spicy dish of fried pakoras, or fritters, in a sour, spicy gravy made of chickpea flour and yoghurt.

kafir - unbeliever.

kala namak - literally 'black salt'. Actually pinkish gray, this is a rock salt used in India to spice up lemon drinks as well as fruit or savoury snacks.

kalava - the sacred Hindu thread also called mauli in Hindi. It is worn while performing rituals.

Kannadiga - people who speak Kannada, a language of south India.

kara - thick bangle traditionally worn by Sikh men and Hindu wives.

kaun - Hindi for 'who'.

kedia - a rectangular piece of unstitched cloth, wrapped around the waist and legs.

Keralite - a native of the coastal Indian state of Kerala.

khadi - Indian hand-spun and hand-woven cloth.

khana - literally 'food' or a meal, whether breakfast, lunch or dinner.

khatam - Hindi for 'finish'.

kheer - milky pudding often made with rice vermicelli and raisins.

khichri - a boiled rice and red lentil dish, culturally equivalent to chicken soup; something eaten when sick or just for comfort.

kirtan - Sikh devotional music.

kothis - bungalows.

kulfi - milky ice cream flavored with cardamom and pistachios.

kurta pajama - long shirt with fitting pajamas.

ladoo - a ball-shaped sweet made of flour and sugar and drowned in syrup.

lakh - a hundred thousand.

lassi - drink made from buttermilk; can be plain, sweet or salty, or made with fruit such as banana or mango.

madarchod - Hindi for mother fucker.

maha - literally 'great'.

Mahabharata - one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Ramayana.

malai kofta - spicy deep-fried vegetable balls served in a rich tomato cream gravy.

methi - fenugreek leaves, used fresh or as seeds in Indian cooking.

metro - a city or town.

mirchi - chillies or meaning 'spicy'.

mixie - a food mixer.

moola - a slang term for money.

motu - Hindi for 'fatty' or 'fatso'.

naan - a yeasty white baked flatbread.

naswar - a type of chewing tobacco popular in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

nautch - a performance by a dancing girl.

neta - politician.

nimboo pani - lemonade, salty or sweet or both.

paan - betel leaf, stuffed with betel nut, lime and other condiments and used as a stimulant.

paani - water.

Panda - hereditary Hindu priest found in Indian holy cities. Pandas perform last rites and are also the keepers of family ancestral records.

paisa - a hundredth of a rupee.

pallu - the loose end of a sari.

papdi - crispy fried dough wafers made from refined white flour, often served with boiled potato, boiled chickpeas, chillies, yogurt and a variety of chutneys.

parantha - flat Indian wheat bread pan-fried and served with yogurt and pickle. Often stuffed with spiced potatoes, cauliflower or cottage cheese and eaten for breakfast.

Patiala peg - measure of liquor equivalent to 90 ml or about 50 per cent larger than a shot glass. Originated in the Punjabi city of Patiala with the intention of getting drunk faster.

pedi worker - a Gujarati diamond cutter and polisher.

peon - a messenger, servant or assistant.

peepul tree - a species of banyan fig with heart-shaped leaves, native to South Asia.

puja - prayer.

pukka - Hindi word meaning 'solid', 'well made'. Also means 'definitely'.

poori - puffy wheat bread deep-fried in oil.

rajma chawal - Punjabi dish; rajma are red kidney beans cooked with onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and spices. Chawal is rice, usually basmati.

rudra tandava - the violent dance performed by the Hindu god Shiva, the Destroyer.

rupiya - Indian unit of currency like the dollar or pound.

saala kutta - slang, along the lines of 'damn dog' or 'lowdown dog'. Expression of disgust.

saar - a bad pronunciation of 'sir'.

safari suit - a square-cut, short-sleeved jacket with a broad collar unbuttoned at the top, epaulettes and four pockets, worn with long pants; usually khaki or sky blue and popular in India until the late 1990s.

sahib - an Urdu honorific now used across South Asia as a term of respect, equivalent to the English 'sir'.

salwar kameez - a salwar is a pair of baggy, pyjama-like trousers; a kameez is a long shirt or tunic.

sardar - a male follower of the Sikh religion wearing a turban.

satta - Hindi word for 'gambling'.

sehra - a headdress made of flower garlands used to cover the face of the groom during an Indian wedding.

sevpuri - a popular Mumbai street food dish consisting of 'sev', crisp vermicelli made from gram flour, mixed with raw mango slices, yogurt, spices and tamarind chutney.

shaadi - Hindi for 'wedding'.

shikari - Hindi for 'hunter'.

supari - chewable form of areca nut, a stimulant. Also refers to the payment made for a contract killing.

super chor - a high profile or successful criminal.

tamasha - a form of theatre in western India, but in colloquial Hindi it means a public spectacle, usually an embarrassing one.

Tani - a family of languages spoken in the eastern Himalayas.

ta'wiz - a locket or similar ornament containing verses from the Koran or Muslim prayers worn for protection and good luck.

teen patti - 'three cards', also called Flash, a gambling card game popular in South Asia.

thali - round steel or brass platter with small bowls traditionally used to serve a large meal.

tilak - red mark on forehead usually applied after aarti (see aarti).

topi - hat.

Vaishno Devi - a shrine located in northern India at the top of a mountain dedicated to the Hindu goddess Laxmi. Most north Indian Hindus make an annual or a regular pilgrimage to the site.

wallah(m.), walli (f.) - generic terms in Hindi meaning 'the one'. Hence auto wallah, phool (flower) walli, chai wallah, etc.

yaar - equivalent to pal, mate or dude.

Note: The rupee exchange rate at the time of writing is PS1=81 Rupees.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I could not have written this book without having read Urvashi Butalia's The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India (Penguin India 1998). For those wishing to learn more about the brave and resourceful Indian women who saved hundreds of abductees, there is no better account.