Time was when zaari-sarees formed an essential part of every bride’s trousseau. Brightly coloured silk sarees with patterns woven in gold thread. Not gold coloured thread; but thread made by drawing pure gold into wire so thin it was almost as pliable as silk.
Zaari-sarees were precious, because they were so rare.
And then gold-coloured synthetic threads came into the picture. Though purists would have nothing to do with it, you could get rip-offs of zaari-sarees at a fraction of the cost. Anyone could afford ‘zaari’.
Any wonder that the modern bride prefers Swarovski crystals embroidered into her bridal ensemble?!
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There are words, and there are words. Some words can be easily translated, others need to be described. In April, I’ll attempt to capture the Soul of 26 'Indian' words in a drabble of exactly 100 words.
“Main yahan hoon/ I’m right here”, she told me when I called to check if she was keeping her appointment or not. Half an hour later, I was still waiting for her at the coffee-shop. When she finally turned up, forget apologising for being late, she actually made me feel guilty about arriving on time.
She had a point. I should have known better than to presume that ‘yahan’ meant ‘here’, when it actually meant ‘somewhere within a radius of roughly an hour of travel time, not accounting for traffic jams, and other distractions’.
Distance are not absolute, are they?
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There are words, and there are words. Some words can be easily translated, others need to be described. In April, I’ll attempt to capture the Soul of 26 'Indian' words in a drabble of exactly 100 words.
A long plait snaking down her back, swaying seductively in time to her movement, the free end bouncing off her hips. She turns around, draws her hair over her face, and gives a wide-eyed stare from above her “xulf”. If Bollywood is to be believed, long, lustrous hair is the ultimate fantasy of the Indian male.
When I was growing up, it was commonplace to see women with hair extending way past the hips. Indian women wear their hair much shorter now- it is rarely longer than waist length. But even in its shorter, straighter, more chemical avatar, "xulf" rules.
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There are words, and there are words. Some words can be easily translated, others need to be described. In April, I’ll attempt to capture the Soul of 26 'Indian' words in a drabble of exactly 100 words.
In the original Arabic, “watan” merely means ‘country’; to refer to ‘your country’, you used the word “watani”. But by the time the word entered the colloquial Indian lexicon, after being used in a song by a popular Bollywood playback singer, it acquired a whole new identity- it came to mean ‘motherland’. Strangely too, for a word that is essentially Islamic in origin, it acquired patriotic overtones of the kind Hindu fundamentalists love to exploit.
“Watan” is now almost a call to action. Sadly, the only time people really think of it is when the national team wins in cricket.
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There are words, and there are words. Some words can be easily translated, others need to be described. In April, I’ll attempt to capture the Soul of 26 'Indian' words in a drabble of exactly 100 words.
Considering there is an entire festival devoted to commemorating the advent of "Vasanth Ritu". Considering there are over a dozen unique names for the Season. Considering "Vasanth Ritu" is much celebrated in music, dance and literature. Considering all that, it’s strange that for all practical purposes, India doesn’t have a "Vasanth Ritu".
The brief interlude between Winter and Summer is just that- an interlude. One day you notice it is getting too hot for sweaters, the next day, you are sweating in a sleeveless tee-shirt. That’s how short it is.
And yet, we persist with the myth of "Vasanth Ritu".
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There are words, and there are words. Some words can be easily translated, others need to be described. In April, I’ll attempt to capture the Soul of 26 'Indian' words in a drabble of exactly 100 words.
It may be the favourite mount of Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity, but the only thing more derogatory than being called an “ulloo”, is being called an “ulloo ka pattha”/ son of an owl. An “ulloo” is a person who is not just foolish, he is totally devoid of any intelligence.
It is a curious dichotomy – in school you are taught the English simile ‘as wise as an owl’, but the reality that you live in indicates that an “ulloo” is anything but that. Like many other things, I suppose the status of an owl’s intelligence is complicated.
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There are words, and there are words. Some words can be easily translated, others need to be described. In April, I’ll attempt to capture the Soul of 26 'Indian' words in a drabble of exactly 100 words.
No part of a “tengai” is ever wasted, or so my grandmother used to tell me. You can drink the coconut ‘milk’, or use the ‘meat’ in your cooking. Coconut oil not only adds flavour to any dish, it is a great hair conditioner, and I massage my legs with it after a long run.
Husks are used for scrubbing dishes, and for making rope. The leaves are used to thatch huts, and the trunks make resilient beams. You can even climb them for fun.
Any wonder that people from coastal regions will never want to give up their ‘tengai’?
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There are words, and there are words. Some words can be easily translated, others need to be described. In April, I’ll attempt to capture the Soul of 26 'Indian' words in a drabble of exactly 100 words.
