Purdah

Purdah or Pardaa (Hindi: पर्दा, Persian: پرده, Urdu: پردہ literally meaning "curtain") is the practice of concealing women from men. According to one definition:

Purdah is a curtain which makes sharp separation between the world of man and that of a woman, between the community as a whole and the family which is its heart, between the street and the home, the public and the private, just as it sharply separates society and the individual.

This takes two forms: physical segregation of the sexes, and the requirement for women to cover their bodies and conceal their form.

Purdah exists in various forms in the Islamic world and among Hindu women in parts of India.

Khidmatgar

Khidmatgar is a waiter.

Purana

The Puranas (Sanskrit: पुराण purāṇa, "of ancient times") are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.

Puranas usually give prominence to a particular deity, employing an abundance of religious and philosophical concepts. They are usually written in the form of stories related by one person to another. The Puranas are available in vernacular translations and are disseminated by Brahmin scholars, who read from them and tell their stories, usually in Katha sessions (in which a traveling brahmin settles for a few weeks in a temple and narrates parts of a Purana, usually with a Bhakti perspective).

Jatav

Jatav, also called Jatia, Jatba and in the Jammu region Jatoi, is a sub-caste of the Chamar Scheduled Caste (SC) in India.

They consider themselves as a Kshatriya Shiva gotra - claiming lineage from Lord Shiva.

Khyaal

Khyal (or Khayal, Hindi: ख़्याल, Urdu: خیال) is the modern genre of classical singing in North India. Its name comes from an Arabic word meaning "imagination". It is thought to have developed out of the qawwal singing style. It appeared more recently than dhrupad, is a more free and flexible form, and it provides greater scope for improvisation. Like all Indian classical music, khyal is modal, with a single melodic line and no harmonic parts. The modes are called raga, and each raga is a complicated framework of melodic rules.

Paratha, and alu paratha

A paratha/parantha (Hindi: पराठा, Urdu: پراٹھا) is an Indian flat-bread that originated in the Indian subcontinent.
It is one of the most popular unleavened flat-breads in Indian cuisine, Pakistani cuisine and Bengali cuisine and is made by pan frying whole-wheat flour on a tava. The paratha dough usually contains ghee or cooking oil which is also layered on the freshly prepared paratha. Parathas are usually stuffed with vegetables such as boiled potatoes, leaf vegetables, radishes or cauliflower and/orpaneer (South Asian cheese).


Aloo (pronounced Aalu) paratha  is stuffed with spicy boiled potato and onions mix.

Kahar

Kahar is an ancient community of India. They are divided in to Hindu ,Muslim and Sikhs respectively. The muslim kahar chiefly found in Punjab,Haryana and western belt of Uttar Pradesh. Sikh kahar were they who have turned in sikhism from Hinduism.

Thandai

Thandai is a cold drink prepared with a mixture of almonds, fennel seeds, magaztari seeds (watermelon kernel), rose petals, pepper, khus khus(white poppy) seeds, cardamom, saffron, milk and sugar. Could be easily found in KPK mostly in Peshawar. It is native to India and is often associated with the Holi festival.

Jalebis

Jalebi (sometimes Jalibi) (jilebi, Hindi: जलेबी) is an Arabian sweet popular in countries of the Indian Subcontinent such as India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. It is made by deep-frying batter in pretzel or circular shapes, which are then soaked in syrup.

Haveli

Haveli (Hindi: हवेली) is the term used for a private mansion in India and Pakistan. The word haveli is derived from Persian meaning "an enclosed place". They share similar features with other mansions derived fromIslamic Architecture such as the traditional mansions in Morocco called Riads.

Achkan

Achkan (Hindi: अच्कन, Urdu: اچکن) is a long jacket worn in South Asia, and together with the Sherwani, is traditionally associated with the Northern Indian, and especially with the Muslim aristocracy.

Jacaranda

Jacaranda (usually pronounced /ˌdʒækəˈrændə/ in English) is a genus of 49 species of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of South America (especially Argentina,Brazil and Uruguay), Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. It is found throughout the Americas and Caribbean, and has been introduced to Australia, New Zealand, India, Fiji and parts of Africa. The genus name is also used as the common name.

Harsingar (or har singar)

Tree of the Oleacea family (Jasmine family).
Common name : Coral Jasmine, Tree of Sorrow, Queen of the night.
Botanical name : Nyctanthes arbortristis


Grows as large shrub or small tree depending on how it is trained. The large attractive leaves are rough and hairy. The sweet scented flowers are small, attractive with white petals and an orange-red tube in center and bloom profusely, opening at night and drop off in the morning, thus making a carpet of flowers in the morning. Used for worship.

Urdu

Urdu (Urdu: اردو) is a register of the Hindustani language identified with Muslims. It is the national language and one of the two official languages of Pakistan (the other being English), and one of 22 scheduled languages of India, as an official language of five Indian states. Based on the dialect of Delhi, Hindustani aka Urdu developed under Persian, Arabic, and Turkicinfluence over the course of almost 900 years. It began to take shape in what is now Uttar Pradesh during the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1527), and continued to develop under the Mughal Empire (1526–1858). Modern Urdu is mutually intelligible with the younger register of Hindustani, which is often simply called "Hindi".

Gazal

The gazal (Arabic/Pashto/ Persian/Urdu: غزل; غزل; Hindi: ग़ज़ल; Turkish: gazel) is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century Arabic verse. It is derived from the Arabian panegyric qasida. The structural requirements of the ghazal are similar in stringency to those of the Petrarchan sonnet. In its style and content it is a genre which has proved capable of an extraordinary variety of expression around its central themes of love and separation. It is one of the principal poetic forms which the Indo-Perso-Arabic civilization offered to the eastern Islamic world.

Paan

Paan, from the word pān (Hindi: पान, Urdu: پان) is an Indian/Pakistani and South East Asian tradition of chewing betel leaf (Piper betle) with areca nut and slaked lime paste. There are many regional and local variations. It is a Piper betle leave chew, chewed as a palate cleanser, a breath freshener, and for digestive purposes as well. It is offered to guests and visitors as a sign of hospitality (after meals at both personal and social occasions) and at the beginning of social events. It has a symbolic value at ceremonies and cultural events in India and southeast Asia. Paan makers may use mukhwas ortobacco in paan fillings. Most paan contains areca nuts as a filling. Other types include what is called sweet paan, where sugar, candied fruit and multi-colored, sweetened, candy-like fennel seeds are used.

Adaab

Adaab is similar to giving Salaam. It means "bless you". 

Tanpura

The tanpura, tambora, or tambura is a long-necked plucked lute (a stringed instrument found in different forms and in many places). The body shape of the tambura somewhat resembles that of the sitar, but it has no frets – only the open strings are played to accompany other musicians. It has four or five (rarely six) wire strings, which are plucked one after another in a regular pattern to create a harmonic resonance on the basic note (bourdon or drone function).

Tabla

The tabla (or tabl, tabla) (Hindi: तबला) is a popular Indianpercussion instrument (of the membranophone family) used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres. The term 'tabla is derived from an Arabic word, tabl, which simply means "drum."

Playing technique involves extensive use of the fingers and palms in various configurations to create a wide variety of different sounds, reflected in the mnemonic syllables (bol). The heel of the hand is used to apply pressure or in a sliding motion on the larger drum so that the pitch is changed during the sound's decay.

Sarangi

The Sārangī (Hindi: सारंगी, Punjabi: ਸਰੰਗੀ, sarangī) is a bowed, short-necked string instrument of India. It plays an important role in India's Hindustani classical music tradition. Of all Indian instruments, it is said to most resemble the sound of the human voice – able to imitate vocal ornaments such as gamakas(shakes) and meend (sliding movements). It is also said to be the hardest Indian instrument to master.

Shalwar kameez

Shalwar kameez (also spelt salwar kameez or shalwar qameez) is the dress worn by both men and women in South Asia and Central Asia. It is a unisex dress similar in manner to shirt and pants worn by westerners.

Sari

A sari or saree (Hindi: साड़ी sāṛī) is a strip of unstitched cloth, ranging from four to nine metres in length that is draped over the body in various styles. The most common style is for the sari to be wrapped around the waist, with one end then draped over the shoulder baring the midriff.

Bhabhi

Bhabhi ( भाभी ) means "sister-in-law" in Hindi and other South Asian languages.

Tonga and tongawallah

Horse drawn carriage, and the person who drives it.

"New Delhi to ban famous 'tonga' horse-drawn carriages" (The Telegraph, Nov. 2009)

Holi

Holi, or Holli (Sanskrit: होली), is a spring religious festival celebrated by Hindus and Sikhs.