A family friend of ours gets tapped for one of 35 Young Innovators of the Year by MIT's Technology Review magazine which is a popular cutting edge technology power magazine! Great to see him make so much progress in such little time, and another sabat surat in the technology field.As a result of this brave spirit, there grew up among the Sikhs a peculiar slang, which was called the Vocabulary of Heroes. In it the things connected with difficulties of life were expressed in terms of such cheerfulness and bravado, as if for the Sikhs pain and suffereing had lost all meaning. Death was familiarly called an expedition of the Khalsa into the next world. A man with an empty stomach would call himself mad with prosperity. Grams were almonds, and onions were silver pieces, while rupees were nothing but empty crusts. A blind man was called a wide-awake hero, and a half-blind man an argus-eyed lion. A deaf man was said to be a man in the upper storey. A baptised Sikh was called a brother of the Golden Cup, which, by the way, was only an iron vessel. To be fined by the community for some fault was called getting one's salary. The big stick was called a lawyer or the store of wisdom; and the speak was to roar.Sirdar Kapur Singh has some examples of this vocabulary of heroes in his writings too. But by and far the most extensive dictionary of Khālsā bolī that I have come across is available in the Mahān Kosh by Bhāī Kahn Singh of Nābhā. I just went through a few of them. Full interpretation and what is the context of the words used has not been done (yet!). Hopefully some of you will research some of the words...send me your thoughts!
Akaldān – sotā, stick – lit: that which graces wisdom or common sense
Arang barang – to lie down, to go to sleep
Samundar – milk
Savāiā – little bit – lit: “quarter more”!
Shīsh mahal – roof with a hole in it – lit: house of shining glass
Subedār – Sikh who is brooming/cleaning – lit: a military rank
Sūrmā – blind man - lit: wide awake hero, brave one
Sodhnā – cleansing a wrong doer, freeing land
Harā karnā – to finish, empty – lit: to make green, to blossom
Kājā – hungry
Kājī – chicken - lit: qazi - muslim mosque official
Kābulī kutā – ahmad shah durrani – lit: the dog of
Anna – extremist hindu – lit: blind person
Kanna – extremist muslim – lit: one eyed person
Kesar – haldi/tumeric – lit: saffron the spice (haldi is cheap spice, saffron is expensive..get it?)
Kotvāl – chākū – knife - lit: jail official
Gopāl ladū – eggs - lit: ladoos of Gopal
Gangā jal – alcoholic drinks – lit: water from the
Carhāī – to die – lit: an expedition - charhāī karnā is to wage a battle
Chāl mārnī – to fall - lit:to jump
Dharamraj dī dhī – sleepiness - lit: the daughter of the messenger of death
Dharamrāj dī dhī nāl judh karnā – to sleep – lit: to battle with the daughter of the messenger of death
Thānedār – donkey - lit: jail keeper
Deg masat – to run out of langar - lit: the kettle is tipsy - masat is from mastī
Langar mastānā - to run out of langar, langar not being ready – lit: langar is tipsy
Panjakha – one-eyed – lit: one with five eyes
Basant kaur – makki – corn
Badām – dry grams/chick peas – lit: almonds
Bhūtnī – rail, train – lit: female ghost, witch - train was result of British. Nihangs hated the British!!
Mithāī – sweet potato – lit: Indian sweets
Ransinghā vajāunā – to fart – lit: to play the ransingha, a panjabi wind instrument - I am not joking!!
Lakhnetrā – one eyed - lit: one with hundred thousand eyes
Lakhbahan – one armed - lit: one with hundred thousand arm
many more...consult the MahanKosh!!
Kīrtan, Gurū Rāmdās lulaby and Sohilā. It ran late so a couple of my kids fell asleep...woke them up for milk and cookies then it was..."Uncle, can we have a pillow fight tonight!!??"
