And the World Changed (55 page)

goonda
: Thug

g
ora
: White

gullies
: Narrow lanes

haan
: Yes

hai
: A general exclamation of lament

hakim
: Doctor; a practitioner of traditional medicine

haleem
: A special dish created by cooking a mixture of wheat, spices, and meat for many hours

hanh
: Yes

Hanuman
: Hindu monkey god

haraam
: Forbidden; sinful

haraam-kari
: Sinful doings

haveli
: House; large and spacious dwelling

Hehna
?: “Is it not?”

hijab
: Head covering that hides the hair

iddat
: The mandatory four months and ten days of seclusion that a widow must observe after her husband's death to ensure that if she is pregnant, the child's paternity cannot be questioned

Ik minit, yaar
: One minute, mate

Inglestan
: England

ittar
: Perfume or scent, usually oil based

jaan
: Dear, darling

jaib
: Pocket

jamun
: Tree with large purple edible berries

jee
: Yes; as an appellation, this is a term of respect

jenab
: Sir

jharoo
: A type of broom

joora
: Coiled hair worn as a bun at the back of the head

jora
: Two- or three-piece outfit

jungli
: Uncivilized; wild; from the jungle

kameez
: Shirt

karak chai
: Strong tea, usually a specialty in bazaars, or road stalls

Karbala
: One of the holy cities of Islam where the Battle of Karbala took place

Karbala Gamey Shah
: Site in Lahore where the Muharram processions end

Kathak
: A classic dance form in the northern areas of South Asia

keema
: Mince

khadi
: Handwoven cotton

khais
: Large shawl worn by men

khala
: Maternal aunt

khas ki tatti
: Large matting of sweet-smelling reeds

Kitni der laga di
: “It's taking so long”

koel
: South Asian cuckoo

kothi
: House

kothi-wallah
: Owner of the house or property

Kurukshetra
: The plain where the mythological Battle of Kurukshetra took place in the Hindu epic,
Mahabharata

kuwan
: A well

lassi
: Cool drink made of diluted yoghurt and sugar or salt

ma
: Mother

Maajee
: Mother

maatam
: The ritual and rythmic beating of the chest with the right hand in lamentation during the rites of Muharram

machera
: Fisherman

madar-chod
: Motherfucker

Mahabharata
: Sacred Hindu text and epic

maidaan
: Empty plot or open common land

mali
: gardener

mannat
: A religious supplication entailing a vow

mashak
: A large leather pouch in which water is carried

Mashallah
: By the grace of God

Masih
: Christian

masjid
: Mosque

maulvi
: Muslim cleric;
maulvi
sahib is a respectful form of address

mehfils
: Social or cultural gatherings

mehndi
: A party with specific rituals, including songs and music,
which is an intrinsic part of a wedding but takes place a night or two before the actual marriage ceremony

meri
: My; mine; for example,
meri jaan
means, “my darling”

Mia
: Lord, master; can also mean husband

mohajir
: Refugee; terms used for ethnic communities that migrated to Pakistan at Partition from India

mohalla
: Neighborhood

momani:
Maternal uncle's wife; aunt

mynah-bird
: A type of starling

na
: “No,” but depending on the context, if used as question, can also mean, “Isn't it so?” or, “Don't you agree?”

Na ro Zainab
: “Don't cry, Zainab”; Zainab was the granddaughter of the Prophet and among the captives after the Battle of Karbala. Her lamentation for her kin, including her martyred brother, Hussein, and her sons killed at Karbala, is central to the poetry and elegies recited in Moharrum. In Shia Islam, both she and Fatima, her mother (the Prophet's daughter) are venerated in their own right.

nani
: Maternal grandmother

namaz
: Prayer

nashta
: Breakfast

nazrana
: Money given as a blessing or offering

nikah
: Marriage ceremony

nutfa
: Seed, sperm

paan
: Leaf of the betel plant that is dressed with various condiments and chewed

pani
: Water

paratha
: Fried rounds of bread made from wheat flour

parda/purdah
: A curtain; also indicates the segregation of the sexes in a traditional Muslim household, and women who observe the veil

pari
: Fairy

patwari
: Steward

peshwaze
: A traditional dress worn by women since Mughal times that consists of a tightfitting, bodice-like shirt that flares out from the waist to the knees like a skirt. Worn over a type of pajama that clings to the legs.

pooja
: Form of worship for Hindus

prem
: Love

Qul
: The reading of a Quranic surah at the conclusion of a
soyem

Ram
: Hindu God, hero of the
Ramayana
epic

Ramazan
: The month Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset; Ramadan

randis
: Prostitutes, whores

rasmalai
: Light curd cheese balls soaked in cream and syrup

rishta
: Marriage proposal

sakhi/saheli
: Friend; a term used exclusively for women, indicating companionship and sorority

saqi
: The cupbearer; beloved; an image used metaphorically in Urdu poetry

shalwar
: Baggy, ankle-length trousers

sheesham
: Rosewood

shikar
: Hunt

Sindhi
: Belonging to the province of Sindh

sindhur
: Vermillion worn by Hindu women in the parting of the hair

sola topi
: A sun helmet made from the pith of the
sola
, a swamp plant

soyem
: The final mourning rite on the third day after the funeral

supari
: Small chips of betel nut, coated with condiments, to be chewed; also used to dress paan

Surah
: Chapter of the Quran

surma
: Collyrium used to outline and beautify the eyes

thali
: Tray, large plate

thero
: Wait

tika
: Jeweled ornament worn on the forehead—to adorn newly wed brides in particular

tilak
: Red mark worn on the forehead by Hindu women

vataan
: Country; homeland

Wa laikum Assalam
: “Peace be upon you”; is said in response to the greeting “Salaam aleikum,” which means the same thing

wah:
Wow! Wonderful!

Wazir
: Minister or counselor of state in a Muslim country, sometimes spelled “Vizier.”

Ya Ali! Ya Hussein
: Cries of lamentation in Muharram calling upon the names of Ali, the Prophet's son-in-law and his martyred son Hussein

yaar
: Mate; pal

zenana
: Women; the women's apartments in a segregated household

zindabad
: Long live

Zuljana
: The steed that Hussein rode at Kerbala; a white horse representing Zuljana is part of the processions of Muharram

ACKNOWLEDGMNENTS AND PERMISSIONS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank Saba Gul Khattak and Kiran Ahmed of the Sustainable Development Institute in Islamabad for bringing Ritu Menon and me together; Ritu Menon and Women Unlimited for making this book possible and for their kindness and hospitality in Delhi; Ameena Saiyid and Ramik Akhund at Oxford University Press in Pakistan for their continuing support; Rukhsana Ahmad and Moazzam Sheikh for their help; Aamer Hussein and Anjoli Roy for introducing me to new writing; The Feminist Press, in particular Gloria Jacobs and my editor Anjoli Roy for their cooperation and painstaking care; and, as always, I owe a special thanks to my family: Saleem, Saman, and Kamila.

—from the Editor, Muneeza Shamsie

PERMISSIONS

The Women Unlimited edition of this volume included the following stories, whose copyright information follows:

Talat Abbasi, first broadcast as a prize winner in the BBC World Service short story competition, 2000. Reprinted from
Bitter Gourd and Other
Stories
(Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2001) with the permission of the publisher and author.

Humera Afridi, first published as “Circumferece” in
110 Stories: New York Writes after September 11
(Ulrich Baer, Ed., New York: New York University Press, 2003). Revised version, “The Prince of Hubris,” printed with the permission of the author.

Fawzia Afzal Khan, altered and abriged version first appeared in
Aizah Magazine
, volume 3, issue 2, December 2003, Atlanta, Georgia. This version a chapter of a memoir in progress,
Sahelian: Growing Up with Girlfriends Pakistani Style
, is published with the permission of the author.

Feryal Ali Gauhar, excerpt from
chapter 9
from
The Scent of the Earth in August
(New Delhi: Penguin, 2002). Reprinted as “Kucha Miran Shah” with permission of the author and Penguin.

Uzma Aslam Khan, from
Trespassing
(New Dehli: Penguin, 2003). Reprinted with the permission of the author and Penguin.

Shahrukh Husain, first appeared as “Rubies for a Dog” in
Women Who Wear the Breeches: Delicious and Dangerous Tales
(London: Virago, 1995). Revised version, “Rubies for a Dog: A Fable,” printed here with the permission of the author.

Sorayya Khan, from
Five Queen's Road
(New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2008). Reprinted with the permission of the author.

Nayyarra Rahman, from
I Belong: A Collection of Short Stories
(Karachi: British Council, 2004). Reprinted with the permission of the author and the British Council.

Hima Raza, printed here with the permission of Anjana Raza and Begum Nasim F. Raza.

Roshni Rustomji, from
Asian Americans on War and Peace
(ed. Russell C. Leongand Don T. Nakanishi, Los Angeles: UCLA Asian-American Studies Center Press, 2002). Revised version reprinted with the permission of the author.

Qaisra Shahraz, to Prof. Liesel Hermes for the original publication of
the story in Germany, and
Holding Out: Short Stories by Women
(Manchester: Crocus Books, 1988);
Writing Women: Twentieth Century Short Stories
(Berlin: Cornelsen Verlag, 1991). Reprinted here with permission of the author.

The following stories are new in this edition of
And the World Changed
, and their copyright notices are as follows:

Bushra Rehman, from
Pulp Net: Online Home of New Fiction
(February 2007). Reprinted with the permission of the author.