by Rita Kothari
Haari: Cultivator, peasant, usually Muslim
Jamaat: The way Islam refers to a community, also communal gathering
Jamaati: One belonging to a jamaat, or communal gathering, kindred soul belonging to the religion of Islam
Jutti: Flat footwear
Kalash: Jug, pitcher
Kalima: The phrase of Islamic creed: ‘There is no god but God and Mohammed is His Apostle.’
Kasti: Kurta
Kazi: Judge
Lakhidar: A well-known area in the town of Shikarpur, Sindh
Lolas: Sweet rotis
Maee: Woman
Mehfil: Gathering
Mukhi: Community chief
Musla: Corruption of the word ‘Muslim’
Namaazi: A practising Muslim who does namaaz
Oadh: (also spelt as Odh) A lowly caste of Hindus who dig and supply loose earth and make mud walls
Otak: The main verandah of a house in Sindh, the place where men gather
Pesh imam: One who leads Islamic prayer
Pharwa: Berries of a particular kind
Phirni: Sweet
Putta: Child
Ratal: A form of measure, equivalent to a pound
Roza: The fast observed by Muslims during Ramzan
Sain: Sir
Ser: A measure of grain/oil
Takbir: The repetition of the Prophet’s creed (to repeat the words: ‘God is Great’)
Thaanv: Bowl, utensil
Thadri: Festival of the Hindu Sindhis when they observe fast and eat only food cooked the previous day
Tikaana: Sindhi temple
Vaanya: Bania or merchant, Hindu by religion
Wadhero: Elder of the community, usually an established landowner and village chief, usually Muslim
Watan: Country
Kirat Babani, Gordhan Bharti, Narayan Bharti, Vishnu Bhatia, Thakur Chawla, Popati Hiranandani, Mohan Kalpana, Gobind Malhi, Lachhman Kukreja, Ram Panjwani, Kala Prakash and Sundri Uttamchandani are Sindhi writers from India. And Gulzar Ahmed, Sheikh Ayaz, Muhammad Daud Baloch, Amar Jaleel, Ibrahim Joyo, Naseem Kharal, Shoukat Hussain Shoro are Sindhi writers from Pakistan.
THE BEGINNING
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Penguin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.
First published by Penguin Books India 2009
This Collection Published by 2018
Copyright Rita Kothari 2009
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Cover Designer: Puja Ahuja
ISBN: 978-0-143-06365-0
This digital edition published in 2018.
e-ISBN: 978-9-353-05345-1
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.