jaggery

TIGER HILLS Sarita Mandanna

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GLOSSARY

Adig: Coorg choker, made of gold, rubies and pearls

Akka: Literally, elder sister, used as a term of respect to address a girl or woman older than the user

Anna: Literally, elder brother, used as a term of respect to address a boy or man older than the user

Appaiah: Father

Avvaiah: Mother

Ayappa: Hindu God

Ayurveda: Traditional form of medicine practiced in India

Ayya: Term of respect used to address an older man, or a man of higher status or income than the user

Bal battkara: The person who is first to touch a downed animal, whether dead or alive, in a hunt;

traditionally considered to be as brave as the first person to knock down an enemys flag, but not as brave

as the one bringing down the enemy (or the animal, in the case of a hunt)

Barfi: Indian sweet made of condensed milk and sugar

Beedi: Local Indian cigarette, made from tobacco wrapped in tendu leaves

Cent percent guarantee: Local syntax for guaranteed one hundred percent

Chee Chee: Derogatory slang for someone born of mixed Indian and British parentage

Chiroti: Sweet made of layered dough and powdered sugar

Chokra: Hindi for boy; derogatory usage for a boy of low status and income

Cowrie: A marine gastropod; cowrie shells are sometimes used for divining purposes

Dariya: Sea

Dilli: Delhi

Dosa: Thin pancake made from rice and gram


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Faggot: From fag, British public school slang for a student who was required to perform menial tasks

for a senior student

Galla mees: Traditional Coorg moustache and sideburns that a killer of tigers sported as a badge of

honor

Ganapati: Another name for Ganesha, a Hindu deity

Gilli danda: Childhood game in India played with sticks of two lengths, a gilli and a danda

Ginn: Sweet made from the colostrum- rich milk of a cow that has recently calved

Goolies: Slang for testicles

Goondah: Rogue, or hoodlum

Holig: Pancake like sweet

Idli: Savory cake of ground lentils and fermented rice

Iguthappa: Hindu deity

Inji: Polluted by virtue of coming in contact with someones saliva

Jaangir: Sweet of lentils and sugar syrup

Jaggery: Unrefined cane sugar

Jhumki: Hanging earring, typically with a top stud and a cupola-like bottom

Jodi kadaga: Coorg double bracelet of gold and rubies

Jomal: Coorg necklace of two strands of gold beads strung on black or gold cord

Junglee: Of the jungle; a mannerless person

Kabab: Meat or poultry dish roasted on a skewer

Kailpodh: Coorg festival that celebrates the appearance of the first ears of paddy in the paddy fields, and

the commencement of the hunting season

Kaimada: Shrine to venerate the ancestors of a clan


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Kartamani: Literally, black jewel; chain of black glass beads worn by married women in India

Kapad: Protect. Swami Kapad: Lord, protect (us)

Kokkthathi: Coorg necklace of gold with a crescent shaped pendant bordered with seed pearls

Koramas: Forest dwelling tribe in Coorg

Kunyi: Child

Kupya: Traditional attire of Coorg men . A wraparound, collarless, V necked tunic with short sleeves that

is fastened by a brocade and silk sash at the waist.

Laddoo: Ball shaped sweet made from flour and sugar

Lungi: Sarong fastened around the waist and typically worn by men

Maava: Father in law

Maavi: Mother in law

Machan: Hunting platform erected in the trees

Maryadi: From the Sanskrit maryada meaning border, limit, boundary. Used by extension to mean ethics

and a sense of propriety

Masala: A mixture of spices

Monae: Son

Mughal: From the Mughal Empire. The Mughals were Islamic kings who ruled much of the Indian

subcontinent beginning in the early 1500s

Mundu: Another variation of the lungi (see above); a sarong fastened around the waist and typically worn

by men

Naan: Indian bread

Nari Mangala: Tiger Wedding; ancient Coorg custom of venerating the killer of a tiger by a mock

wedding of the hunter with the spirit of the dead tiger

Odikathi: War knife with a broad, curved blade


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Ottis: Flat rice bread

Pathak: Coorg necklace of corals and gold, slung with a snake hooded pendant

Payasam: Sweet made from condensed milk, sugar, and rice or vermicelli

Peechekathi: Coorg dagger in a gold and silver scabbard with a handle made from ivory

Poli, Poli Deva: Invocation to the Gods at harvest time; literally, Shower, shower (your blessings) O

God

Pisachi: Evil spirit

Poleya: A tribe of people who traditionally worked on the landholdings of the Coorgs

Pooja: Indian prayer ceremony

Puthari: Coorg harvest festival

Puttu: Cake, typically savory

Sabse Achha: Literally, best of all

Sardarji: A title for men from the Sikh faith

Sepoy: Indian soldier

Shastras: From the Sanskrit shastra, meaning rules; used to mean a set of rules of conduct as laid down

in ancient texts and treatises

Swami, Swamiye: Term for God

Tamasha: Show or spectacle

Tantras: Ritualistic doctrine of enlightenment incorporating tenets of Hinduism and paganism

Tayi: Grandmother

Teli-neer: A mixture of clean water, cooked rice and embers from the fireplace, used in ritual purification

Tiffin: A midday meal or luncheon; used by extension to mean food

Tambola / Tombola : An Indian lottery


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Tuck shop: British term for a candy store

Vaidya: Traditional Indian physician

Veera: Spirits of men who suffered violent deaths

Verboten: German for forbidden

Vibhuti: Sacred ash, used in Indian prayer ceremonies

jaggery

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