Anuradha Roy - The Folded Earth

I throw the pieces of paper in the air. The shreds that drift over me are almost indistinguishable from the white butterflies dipping over the wild flowers in this garden gone to seed.

The eagles are still watching me from the mile-high crook of a deodar tree. Around them the afternoon has begun its rapid wintertime decline and the sun’s long rays slide gently now, and give no warmth. I will need to get up from the grass before the chill seeps into my bones.

The eagles feel the change in air and light. The first of them flexes its talons like an athlete, spreads its wings and leaves its branch. The other is still looking in my direction. Eventually it turns its basilisk gaze away and follows its mate. The day is over, they have to hunt for a perch to sleep on now. They are lifted higher and higher by air currents as they wheel and arc and sail towards the last hill of the world.

arrack

liquor distilled from the fermented sap of toddypalms, or from fermented molasses, rice, etc.

babu

suffix added to men’s names to show respect; bureaucrat

barasinghas

Rucervus duvaucelii , a species of deer with great horns, native to India and Nepal

batasha

crunchy sugar candy

beedi

cheap cigarette made of tendu leaf and tobacco

beta

affectionate term for male child

bhajan

Hindu devotional song

bhang

preparation from the leaves and flowers (buds) of the female cannabis plant, smoked or consumed as a beverage

Binaca Geet Mala

a popular music programme on radio in the 1960s and ’70s.

biryani

richly flavoured rice cooked with meat, a speciality of Hyderabad

carrom

a game similar to billiards, but played without cues on a lacquered plywood board. Popular in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh

chacha

uncle (specifically, father’s younger brother)

chadar

long scarf

chaiwallah

man selling tea

charas

hashish hand-made from cannabis, which grows wild throughout the Himalaya

chikoo

Manilkara zapota, Sapota , a common soft fruit

chootiya

strongly abusive word for fool

chota bachha

small child

chote sahab

young master

chowkidar

watchman

coolie

porter

darshan

holy audience

dekchi

a large cooking vessel

Deo Bhoomi

land of the Gods

Diwali

festival of lights celebrated everywhere in India

dosa

a pancake native to South India, made from a fermented batter of ground rice and lentil

dupatta

long scarf worn by women

durbar

court

firanghi

foreigner

ghee

clarified butter used in cooking and in rituals; also in cremations

gitti

a game played with five stones, similar to jacks

gongura

a sour, leafy vegetable found in South India

gutka

an addictive mix of crushed betel nut, tobacco, catechu and lime, sold in foil packets

half-sari

a full-length skirt and fitted blouse, combined with a long scarf, commonly worn by girls in South India

hawai chappals

rubber flip-flops

hum

we

jaggery

solid molasses

jalebi

a pretzel-shaped Indian sweet, both crisp and juicy with syrup when freshly fried

jhadu

broom

kheer

creamy rice pudding often flavoured with nuts and cardamom

khidmatgar

bearer or valet; a servant

kumkum

coloured powder used to decorate or anoint the forehead

kurta

long shirt

kutala

a digging implement with a curved blade

langur

monkeys of the genus Semnopithecu , widespread in South Asia

machan

improvised tree loft to hunt or watch animals from

madua

millet

mandi

wholesale market

murukku

a fried snack from South India

namaste

common Indian way of greeting anyone, by joining the palms

nilgai

literally, blue bull; Boselaphus tragocamelus , a large antelope

paan

betel leaf folded with areca nut, tobacco and other condiments, usually consumed after meals

paapam

Telugu expression meaning “You poor thing”

pakoras

vegetable fritters

papad

poppadum

poori-aloo

cheap, streetside meal made up of deep-fried Indian bread and potatoes

pugree

turban

roti

thin wholewheat bread baked every day, a staple food

sadhu

wandering holy man, mendicant

sala

bastard

salwar kameez

combination of a long shirt ( kameez ) and loose trousers ( salwar ) commonly worn by Indian women

samosas

deep-fried, triangular pastry filled with spicy vegetables

sanki

half-witted

shikari

hunter

sindoor

the red colouring in the parting of a married woman’s hair

sola topi

pith helmet worn in colonial times

thataiyya

Telugu for grandfather

theek

alright/well

tum

you

D. C. Kala, Amit Sen, and Ravi Dayal decoded the hills for me. Their erudition, wit, and individualism, their ability to combine austerity with pleasure, make them a unique Himalayan species now extinct.

Something Arundhati Gupta said started off this book. She also read its first draft as did Myriam Bellehigue, Sheela Roy, Shruti Debi, and Partho Datta. Rukun Advani suffered countless drafts and demands, and there is a lot of his writing and thinking between the lines. Christopher MacLehose, with his idiosyncratic genius, worked on successive versions as he would on an unmade garden: a space to inhabit, plant ideas in, and over time grow into a book.

Manju Arya’s insights have provided much entertainment and education. Mahiraj Mehra’s doctoral work on Ranikhet was a rich source of information, as were conversations with S. Ramesh and Akshay Shah. I have benefited from Janet Morgan’s Edwina Mountbatten: A Life of Her Own , Martin Booth’s Carpet Sahib , D. C. Kala’s Jim Corbett of Kumaon , and P. N. Dhar’s Indira Gandhi, the Emergency and Indian Democracy . Another delight was The Social Economy of the Himalayans , by S. D. Pant, which arrived out of the blue from MacLehose Press. The book is an example of the many overwhelming kindnesses of Christopher, Koukla, and Miska MacLehose, who break every cliché there is about the cruel impersonality of modern publishing. As do many others at MacLehose Press and Quercus, especially Katharina Bielenberg and Nicci Praca.

Ivan Hutnik and Thomas Abraham’s involvement in this book are fortuitous culminations of old friendships. Nasreen Kabir, Radhika Prakash, and Manishita Das will as always shelter me through its publication. To each of them I am ever grateful.