Omair Ahmad: Delhi Noir

hafta : one week; refers to weekly protection money paid to police or gangsters.

hakim : traditional doctor.

harami : bastard.

haveli : old mansion or residence.

huzoor : sir.

Jai mata di : Hail to the mother goddess.

jalebi : fried sweet dipped in sugar syrup.

Jat : north Indian caste.

jawan : soldier.

jhuggi : thatched hut.

ji : suffix that indicates respect.

jooti : shoe.

kaabadi : physical-contact sport.

kaana : blind in one eye.

kadai : deep wok.

kaftan : one-piece dress.

kameez : shirt.

katta : single-shot country-made handgun that’s illegal, inexpensive, and crudely made.

kewra: Pandanus odoratissimus ; a fragrant flower whose essence is used to flavor food.

khadi : homespun cotton popularized during the independence movement.

khamba : colloquially, a 750 ml/1 liter bottle, usually of Indian-made foreign liquour; literally, a column or pillar.

khus : type of grass used to cool buildings.

kikar: Acacia nilotica ; a thorny small tree with yellow flowers.

kirpan : dagger carried by Sikhs.

kulfi : ice cream made from boiled milk.

kurta : loose shirt.

kurti : contemporary, casual, and shorter version of a kurta .

lakh : one hundred thousand.

lathi : wooden baton carried by a policeman.

loocha-lafanga : lecherous male.

Lucknow : capital of Uttar Pradesh, once a seat of Awadh (Muslim) power.

lungi : garment which consists of a single piece of cloth wrapped around the waist and legs.

madarchod : motherfucker.

mai : female domestic worker.

mai-baap : mother-father; colloquial, benefactor.

mandir : temple.

marg : street.

masala dosa : south Indian dish consisting of a thin rice-flour pancakes wrapped around potatoes.

Mataji : Mother (respectful).

matthi : salty fried snack made of flour.

mixie : blender.

muhalla : neighborhood.

mundu : cotton garment worn around the waist; akin to a lungi .

namaste : Hindu greeting of respect; literally, I bow to you.

namkeen : salty snacks.

neem: Azadirachta indica , a fast-growing tree in the mahogany family.

Narmada Bachao Andolan : An NGO that opposes the Sardar Sarovar Dam being built on the Narmada River.

nimboo : lime.

niwas : residence.

NRI : nonresident Indian.

nullah : large open drain; stream.

paan : betel nut.

paise : monetary denomination less than a rupee.

pakora : snack fried in chickpea flour batter.

pallu : end of a sari.

PCO : public call office; a place to make local phone calls.

prasadam : edible Hindu blessing.

pudiya : twisted pieces of paper that are used to store small things.

pucca, pukka : full, complete; certain.

qawwali : form of Sufidevotional music.

randi : prostitute.

rangbaz : colorful character.

rehvaasi : resident.

roti : bread; food.

rudraksha : berries from a Elaeocarpus ganitrus tree used to make special prayer beads.

SHO : station house officer.

saab, sahab, saheb, sahib : a superior; during colonial times, a white man; South Asian term of respect meaning sir, master, or lord.

saaf karo : clean it up.

saali : wife’s sister.

saas : mother-in-law.

sabzi : vegetable.

sabziwallah : vegetable seller.

salaam : Muslim greeting.

salwar : baggy pants.

sandow : sleeveless undershirt popularized by the early-twentieth-century strongman Eugen Sandow.

Sardar : man who practices Sikhism.

Sardarni : woman who practices Sikhism.

sari : female clothing garment consisting of five yards of fabric.

satya : truth.

shaitan : devil; colloquially, naughty.

shamiana : large, often luxurious tent for a celebration.

shikar : hunt.

shradh : in Hinduism, the name of the ceremonies performed by relatives of the dead.

sidey : sidekick.

surahi : round earthen pitcher with a long neck.

tandoor : drum-shaped clay oven.

thakur : landowner.

thana : police station.

theek hai : it’s okay.

thulla : traffic policeman; fat slob.

tiffin : container in which a meal can be packed.

vaid : practitioner of ayurvedic medicine.

veshya : prostitute; whore.

wala, wallah : suffix indicating an association with some type of activity.

yaar : friend; due; man.

Omair Ahmadis the author of a novel, Encounters, a novella, The Storyteller’s Tale, and a collection of short stories, Unbelonging . He studied at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University and has worked as a journalist and policy analyst.

Hartosh Singh Baltrained as an engineer and a mathematician before turning to journalism. He is coauthor of A Certain Ambiguity: A Mathematical Novel and is currently working on a travelogue set along the Narmada River.

Nalinaksha Bhattacharyahas published three novels and some short fiction in India and the U.K. A civil servant by profession, he has lived for more than twenty years in R.K. Puram, where his story “Hissing Cobras” is set.

Siddharth Chowdhuryis the author of Diksha at St. Martin’s and Patna Roughcut . He studied English Literature at Zakir Husain and Hindu Colleges in Delhi University (1993–98). In 2007, he held the Charles Wallace Fellowship in Creative Writing at University of Stirling in Scotland. He currently lives in Delhi and works in the publishing industry. “Hostel” is taken from his forthcoming novel, Dayscholar .

Radhika Jha, born in Delhi in 1970, is the author of Smell and The Elephant and the Maruti. She has received the Prix Guerlain and writes and performs Odissi dancing. She has also worked for the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, where she started up the Interact Project to educate children of the victims of terrorism in different parts of India. She now lives in Tokyo with her husband and two children.

Ruchir Joshi,a writer and filmmaker, lived in Delhi from 1997 to 2007. Joshi’s first novel, The Last Jet-Engine Laugh, was published in Britain, India, Australia, and France to critical acclaim. His films include the award-winning documentaries Eleven Miles, Memories of Milk City, and Tales from Planet Kolkata . Joshi is now taking a break from Delhi and spending his time between Calcutta and London.