River of Gods

GLOSSARY

AARTI: Hindu ceremony of offering light to a deity. ADIVASI: ancient Indian tribal cultures, beneath the caste system. ANGREEZ: Hindi-isation of “English”

APSARA: celestial nymph, often a bracket support in a temple, originally tree spirits.

ARAHB: Hindi number equal to 10⁹. Indians have useful names for very large numbers.

ARDHA MANDAPA: entrance porch, leading into the mandapa, or colonnaded hall of a temple.

BABA: term of endearment. BABU: civil servant or bureaucrat.

BADMASH: a nasty and brutish little hood. With attitude. BAHADUR: proud, self-important, pompous. BAKHTI: the path of devotion.

BANSURI: North Indian six- or seven-hole bamboo flute.

BARADARI: Pakistani/Pashtun affiliation group somewhere between a clan, a gang, and a Massive.

BASTI: settlement or slum, also (confusingly) a Jain temple complex.

BEGUM: term of respect to a Muslim married lady.

BEHEN CHOWD: sister-fucker, most common Hindi term of abuse.

BHAI: suffix after a proper name, indicating respectful closeness.

BHAVAN: house—usually one of some distinction.

BHEESTY: domestic servant in charge of water supply.

BIBI: Hindi term for a married woman.

BIDI: a native Indian cigarette, tapered towards the tip. Deathsticks, if ever there were. BIG DADA: low hood; literally means “big arm.” Strong arm boy.

BINDI: forehead mark indicating caste, though it can be worn decoratively. The tilak is the religious equivalent.

BRAHMIN: the highest of the four main castes; the priestly caste, so holy not even the gods could harm them. (See also varna.) In context, also the genetically modified children of the rich.

BRINJAL: eggplant.

BULBUL: common, titlike bird with black head and white cheeks and a famously sweet song.

BURQA: traditional public attire of a Muslim woman, anything from a thin headscarf to a full marquee.

CHAKRA: energy node in the human body. There are seven: from the pubis to the crown of the head.

CHARBAGH: water garden, of Islamic design, divided into quarters.

CHARPOY: rope-strung, low bed frame, very popular in rural India for lolling on to observe the passing world.

CHHATRI: small decorative Mughal pavilion in the form of a cupola on open pillars.

CHITAL: most common species of Indian deer, with a spotted hide. Also known as the Buddha’s deer: his last incarnation before becoming human was a Chital.

CHO CHWEET: common term of endearment.

CHOLI: short-sleeved, tight undershirt worn by women under a sari.

CHOWKIDAR: a nightwatchman.

CHUUTYA: “cunthole” in Hindi slang.

CRORE: 10⁷.

CUTCHA: opposite of pukka.

DACOIT: armed gangsters/robbers. Still widely used. DAL: lentils, the staple of rural India.

DALIT: the lowest caste. Literally “the Oppressed,” they were formerly known as Untouchables.

DARSHAN: the auspicious glance of a temple deity, or a rich and powerful person. DARWAZ: entrance gate to a mosque.

DESI: Indianness as perceived by the overseas community—a nostalgic, affectionate sense of India. In UK Asian youth parlance, means the same as pukka: real, genuine.

DEVA/DEVI: god/goddess. Also a common name. DHABA: roadside/streetside eating establishment.

DHARAMSHALA: guest accommodations for pilgrims, students, and travellers. DHOBI: laundry, usually on a flat dhobi-rock by the side of a river or a well. DHOL: a type of drum.

DHOTI: long loincloth, less common in cities, as worn by Gandhi.

DHURI: woven cotton rug.

DIKPALAS: guardian figures on a temple roof.

DIWAN: open-pillared Mughal audience hall.

DIYA: floating candle set in the river Ganga as an offering.

DUPATTA: long scarf traditionally worn with the shalwar kameez, or trouser suit.

DVARAPALA: gateway guardian deity at Hindu temple doorways: literally doorkeeper.

FIRENGl: foreigner, one of several Hindi words appropriated by Star Trek. (See also jemadar.)

GAJRA: the ubiquitous marigold garland, a good auspice.

GALI: an alleyway.

GANJA: exactly as in Jamaican.

GARBHAGRIHA: inner womb sanctum of a Hindu temple. GHAZAL: Islamic song of love, usually in Urdu. GODOWN: workshop, warehouse, often impromptu.

GOL GUPPAS: Indian street food: stuffed wheat balls. Better than they sound. GOPIS: milkmaid companions of the Lord Krishna. They liked his flute playing. GORA: contemptuous expression for a white person. GUNDA: a common street thug. GUPSHUP: vaguely scurrilous gossip.

GYANA CHAKSHU: the third eye of Siva, literally the “eye of wisdom” that penetrates illusion.

HAVELI: traditional courtyard house of the better off, usually Muslim.

HIJRA: literally “eunuch.”

HINDUTVA: the essential spirit of Indianness as being essentially Hindu: religious nationalism.

HOWDAH: large, often ceremoniously dressed saddle for an elephant. IFTAR: meal that breaks the Ramadan dawn-to-dusk fast. IWAN: Sufi dancing hall.

IZZAT: military term for respect, esprit de corps. JAI: “glory” or “victory!”

JANUM: term of endearment usually used of males. Means “sweet.” JATI: the system of subcastes within the four main castes of varna. JAWAN: Indian soldier or paramilitary policeman.

JELLABA: long, light cotton robe worn extensively and comfortably by Muslim men from Morocco to Malaysia.

JEMADAR: Indian noncommissioned military officer. JHAROKA: projecting window or balcony. JIVA: the immortal essence of a living being. JOHAD: a semicircular dam for run-off water.

KADAI: Indian cooking pan, shaped rather like a wok with two handles. KALAMKARI: dyed and painted highly decorative fabrics from Andhra Pradesh. KARSEVAK: Hindu fundamentalist pilgrim/activist. KATHAK: a North Indian dance.

KETTUVALLAM: a Keralese houseboat, about seventy feet long. Originally used to transport rice.

KHIDMUTGAR: chief steward in a household, almost a butler. LAKH: 10⁵.

LANGUR: also known as Hanuman’s monkey. Monkeys are therefore sacred in India. LARRI-GALLA: a workshop among housing. LASSI: cool yogurt-based drink.

LAVDA: penis, prick.

LINGA: phallus as a sacred object, usually in the shape of a rounded stone. MACHAAN: an observation platform in a tree for big-game hunting. MADAR CHOWD: same as behen chowd, only this time it’s your mother. MADRASSA: Islamic school where Arabic and theology are raught. MALI: a gardener.

MELA: a gathering of people: anything from a big family get-together to the Kumbh Mela.

MEVLEVI: Turkish sufi order, originators of the “whirling dervish” dance.

MOKSHA: release from the cycle of death and reincarnation. Those who die by the Ganga achieve moksha, thus encouraging the peculiarly Indian institution of “death-tourism.”

MUDRA: hand gesture in Indian classical dance, conveying great subtlety of meaning.

MUSNUD: Mughal throne, a simple large slab of marble upholstered with cushions.

NAGA SADHU: the naked sadhu, who goes sky-clad to show his disdain for the world of illusions.

NAQQAR KHANA: ceremonial gatehouse with turret for drummer and musicians to welcome guests.

NAUTCH: traditional semiformal dance party for the entertainment of gentlemen.

PAAN: a near-ubiquitous confection of spices, nuts, and a mild narcotic wrapped in a betel leaf. Makes your gums red, a bit of a giveaway.

PALLAV: the section of a sari worn over the shoulder, usually richly decorated.

PANDAL: marquee or stage made of cloth and bamboo.

PARIKRAMA: Clockwise sunwise circuit of a Hindu or Buddhist sacred site.

PHATPHAT: motor rickshaw, ubiquitous and terrifying.

PRASAD: sacred food, food offering.

PUJA: prayer and offerings to deities.

PURDAH: the segregation of the sexes in traditional Islam and Hinduism. PURI: deep-fried puffed bread, often stuffed. Delicious if appallingly calorific. QAWWALS: Islamic songs of praise, as opposed to ghazals, songs of love.

RATH YATRA: divine temple/chariot, the vehicle of Rama, the centrepiece of the Orissa jagannath (juggernaut) celebration.

ROTI: Indian fried flatbread.

SADHU: Hindu ascetic, holy man. (For woman, see sadhvi.) SADHVI: female sadhu. Hindu nun who has renounced worldly things. SAMADHI: the meditative state of undifferentiated “Beingness.” SANGAM: spit of sand where sacred rivers meet. SANYASI (PLURAL: SANYASSINS): priest(s).

SATHIN: informal village social worker (literally “friend”): usually female, often doubles as midwife.

SATI: the (now illegal) custom of widows burning themselves on their husbands’ funeral pyres. Sati stories crop up several times a year even today, usually in rural Rajasthan.

SATTA: originally illegal betting on commodity prices, generally extended into any kind of dodgy bookies.

SEMA: the dervishes’ mystical whirling dance. SEPOY: old Raj term for native infantry.

SHAADI: wedding preceremony. Also India’s biggest online matrimonial agency. SHAMYANA: a decorated awning over the front of a building. SHATABDI: Indian high-speed express train.

SHERWANI: long, richly decorated frock coat usually worn by Islamic men. SHIKARA: main spire on a North Indian temple. SMASANAKALI: that aspect of Kali that rules over the funeral ghats. SOWAR: Indian elite cavalry.

SUBADAR: Indian military commissioned officer roughly equivalent in rank to captain.

SUDDHAVASA: one of several intermediate heavens in Mountain Buddhism, literally “Abode of the Pure.”

SUNDARBAN: the tiger-haunted jungles of the Ganga/Brahmaputra delta. In context, equally wild and dangerous data-havens for breeding unlicensed software.

SURA: verse of the Holy Koran.

SURYA NAMASKAR: the salutation of the sun, a sequence of yoga asanas performed at dawn to greet the sunrise.

SWABHIMAN: self-respect, both personal and national.

SWAMI: Hindu honorific similar to “master,” implying mastery of body and soul. TAMASHA: festive excitement.

TANDAVA NRITYA: Shiva’s cosmic dance of destruction—and regeneration. THALI: a metal dish, also a selection of different foods on one compartmentalized dish. TILAK: sacred mark of the forehead. Siva and Vishnu have different ones. TIRTHA: a divine ford, or a crossing place between the mortal and the divine worlds. TRIMURTI: the Hindu “trinity” of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva.

TRISHUL: sacred trident of Siva, carried by devotees. Often made from empty ghee or Red Bull cans.

VAHANA: the animal “vehicle” of each god: Brahma the goose, Durga the tiger, Ganesha the rat.

VAJRA: the divine thunderbolt of Indra, ancient Aryan Vedic god of rain and thunder—in many ways analogous to the Scandinavian Thor.

VARNA: the divinely ordained system of caste, the main groups being Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras, conforming roughly to priests, warriors, traders/farmers, and servants. Beneath them all come the Dalits .

VASUS: in Vedic Hinduism, the eight attendants of Indra: means “excellent.”

VIBHUTI: white scared ash-powder worn by Sadhus in devotion to Siva.

WALLAH: “fellow”: a very common suffix, as in “chai-wallah” and “dhobi-wallah”

YAKSHAS: semidivine beings living under the Himalayas.

YALI: mythical leaping leonine beast.

YONI: the vagina as sacred source.

ZAMINDAR: Indian village landowner.

ZENANA: the women’s part of a traditional Muslim house.

Thanks to Ritu Parvaaz for Hindi assistante.