Glossary

aangan: courtyard

AID: Association for India’s Development

AID-MN: Minnesota chapter of AID auqat: rightful place

Awadhi: the language of Awadh, predominantly spoken in the rural areas of central and eastern Uttar Pradesh, including the districts of Bahraich, Barabanki, Faizabad, Gonda, Hardoi, Lakheempur, Lucknow, Raibareli, Sitapur, Sultanpur, and Unnao

Baa: my father’s mother

BDO: block development officer

bevaqoof: idiot

Bhaiyya: brother

bidi: hand-rolled cigarette

bindi: dot worn on the forehead

cha bagan: tea plantation

chandlo: same as bindi

chautara: mixed, impure, or half-caste in common parlance

chhoti bahu: younger daughter-in-law

communal: pertaining to religious affiliation

Dadaji: my father’s father

dala-dala: small bus

dalit: name embraced by members of scheduled castes in India

Dar: Dar es Salaam

dharna: sit-in, protest

dhaba: small roadside restaurant

dholak: drum

dupatta: long, wide scarf

ghoonghat: head and face cover

gutka: a mild stimulant made from betel nut and tobacco

hekadi: arrogance

jawaabdehi: accountability

juloos: procession

kem chho?: how are you?

kisaan: farmer

Kisaan Bahi: administrative land record that determines a peasant household’s access to fertilizer

kumhar: potter

kunba: extended family

labada: cloak

langar: community kitchen where anyone can eat for free

leyi: homemade glue

Maa-Baap: parents

maatam: mourning, refers here to mourning during the month of Moharram

madrassa: school where pupils learn about Islam

majlis: refers here to a religious gathering

malik: boss, employer, owner

maraham: healing ointment

mazdoor: laborer

mayaka: natal home

mehfil: refers here to a religious gathering

MS: Mahila Samakhya, a national level program for the empowerment of women

MSS: Mahila Samakhya, Sitapur (district level branch of MS)

MSUP: Mahila Samakhya Uttar Pradesh (state headquarters of MS)

Muhindi: “Asian”

Mzungu: “European”

nahar: distributary channel

nalayaq: useless

Nani: my mother’s mother

NGO: nongovernment organization

NREGA/NREGS: India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which authorized India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

padyatra: march

Pradhan: elected head of the village council

rangmanch: theater

razai: quilt

saathi: companion, member of SKMS

saathiship: fellowship for activists given by AID

sahaj: easygoing

Sangathan: organization, refers here to SKMS

sangtin: Awadhi word for a woman who shares solidarity, reciprocity, and close companionship with another woman or with a group of women

Sangtin: the organization registered by sangtins in Sitapur, out of which SKMS emerged

sangtin yatra: the journey of sangtins, which began as a journey of nine women in Sitapur district in 2002 and evolved into SKMS

Sangtin Yatra: the title of a book in Hindi published in 2004 (Anupamlata et al., 2004); in the 2012 revised edition, the authors are identified as Sangtin Lekhak Samooh

sasural: conjugal home

sawarn: upper caste

Shi’i: Shia, Shitte

sindur: vermillion

SKMS: Sangtin Kisaan Mazdoor Sangathan (Sangtin peasants and laborers organization)

tabqa: class

tempo: small eight-seat bus

thelia: a manually pulled wooden cart used to haul goods and people

Wahindi: “Asians”

Waswahili: “Africans”

yatra: journey