by Ian McDonald
‘And us, our faces.’
‘We were their gods. We were their Brahma and Siva, Vishnu and Kali. We are their creation myth.’
The light is almost gone now, deep indigo has settled across the river. The air is cool, the far clouds carry an edge of luminosity, they seem huge and improbable as dreams. The musicians have picked up the pace, the devotees take up the song to Mother Ganga. The Brahmins descend through the crowd. Father and child are gone.
They never forgot us, thinks Lisa Durnau. In all the billions - trillions - of subjective years of their experience and history, they always remembered this act of betrayal on the banks of the Ganga, and they compelled us to enact it. The burning chakra of regeneration is endless. The Tabernacle is a prophecy, and an oracle. The answer to everything we need to know is in there, if we only know how to ask.
‘Lull . . .’
He whips his finger to his lips, no, hush, don’t speak. Thomas Lull gets stiffly to his feet. For the first time Lisa Durnau sees the old man he will be, the lonely man he wishes to become. Where he goes this time, not even the Tablet can see.
‘L. Durnau.’
‘Kathmandu, then. Or Thailand.’
‘Somewhere.’
He offers a hand and she knows that after she takes it she will never see him again.
‘Lull, I can’t thank you . . .’
‘You don’t have to. You would have seen it.’
She takes the hand.
‘Goodbye, Thomas Lull.’
Thomas Lull dips his head in a small bow.
‘L. Durnau. All partings should, I think, be sudden.’
The musicians ratchet up a gear, the crowd gives a vast, incoherent sigh and leans towards the five platforms where the priests offer puja. Flames whirl up from the Brahmins’ aarti lamps, momentarily dazzling Lisa Durnau. When her vision clears, Lull is gone.
Out on the water, a flaw of wind, a current catches the garland of marigolds and turns it and carries it out into the dark river.
GLOSSARY
Aarti: Hindu ceremony of offering light to a deity.
Adivasi: ancient Indian tribal cultures, beneath even 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/seven hole bamboo flute.
Baradari: Pakistani/Pashtun affiliation group somewhere between clan, 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 married woman.
Bidi: a native Indian cigarette, tapered towards the tip. Deaths-ticks, if ever there were.
Big Dada: low hood: literally means ‘big arm’. Strong arm boy.
Bulbul: common, tit-like 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.
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 as 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: 105.
Cutcha: opposite of pukka.
Dacoit: Armed gangster/robber. Still widely used.
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: Indian-ness as perceived by the overseas community - a nostalgic, affectionate sense of India. In UK Asian youth parlance, means the same as ‘pukka’: real, genuine.
Dhaba: roadside/streetside eating establishment.
Dharamshala: guest accommodation 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.
Dvarapala: gateway guardian deity at Hindu temple doorways: lit. doorkeeper.
Firengi: 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 the Jamaican.
Garbhagriha: inner womb sanctum of a Hindu temple.
Go-down: 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 Indian-ness as being essentially Hindu: religious nationalism.
Howdah: large, often ceremonially decorated 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’.
Jawan: Indian soldier or paramilitary policeman.
Jellaba: Long, light cotton robe worn extensively and comfortably by Muslim men from Morocco to Malaysia.
Jemadar: Indian non-commissioned military officer.
Jharoka: projecting window or balcony.
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 70ft long. Originally used to transport rice.
Khidmutgar: chief steward in a household, almost a butler.
Lakh: 107.
Langur: also known as Hanuman’s monkey. Monkeys are therefore sacred in India.
Larri-galla: a workshop among housing.
Lavda: penis, prick.
&nb
sp; 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 taught.
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: sacred dance/hand gesture.
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 semi-formal 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 give-away.
Pallav: the section of a sari worn over the shoulder, usually richly decorated.
Pandal: marquee or stage made of cloth and bamboo.
Parikrama: Clockwise sun-wise circuit of a Hindu or Buddhist sacred site.
Phatphat: motor rickshaw, ubiquitous and terrifying.
Prasad: sacred food, food offering.
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.
Sadhvi: female sadhu: Hindu nun, who has renounced worldly things.
Sangam: spit of sand where sacred rivers meet.
Sanyasi (plural: sanyassins): priest(s).
Sathin: informal village social worker (lit. ‘friend’): usually female, often doubles as midwife.
Satta: originally illegal betting on commodity prices, generally extended into any kind of dodgy bookies.
Sema: the dervishes’ mystical whirling dance.
Shaadi: wedding pre-ceremony. Also India’s biggest on-line 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’.
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.
Tamasha: festive excitement.
Tandava Nritya: Shiva’s cosmic dance of destruction - and regeneration.
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, 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.
Vasus: in Vedic Hinduism, the eight attendants of Indra: means ‘excellent’.
Vibhuti: white sacred ash-powder worn by Sadhus in devotion to Siva.
Yakshas: semi-divine 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.
The soundtrack to River of Gods features tracks from the following artists.
Talvin Singh, Thievery Corporation, A.R. Rahman, AmarBaaba Maal, Asian Dub Foundation, Autechre, Badmarsh and Sri, Bjork, Black Star Liner, The Blue Nile, Boards of Canada, The Chemical Brothers, Dead Can Dance, The Fake Portishead, Future Sound of London, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Goldfrapp, Jamyang, Joi, Jeff Buckley, Kabhi Kushi Kabhie Gham: original movie soundtrack, Nitin Sawhney, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rakesh Chaurasia, Sigur Ros, State of Bengal.