Season of the Rainbirds (27 page)

Authors: Nadeem Aslam

BOOK: Season of the Rainbirds

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‘People have already forgotten about last night, Maulana-ji. The whole town is in turmoil. The deputy commissioner has telephoned back a list of people to be arrested. They say there was an attempt on the General’s life two days ago. They’ve been arresting people since dawn. They shot one man in the shoulder as he tried to escape through his back window. In some cases they’ve taken children away to force fathers out of hiding.’

‘Someone tried to kill the
General?
’ Maulana Hafeez asked, incredulous.

‘Two days ago,’ the woman answered through the holes arranged in a honeycomb pattern before her face. ‘The curfew in the big cities which I told you about last night is due to that.’

Maulana Hafeez asked, ‘And over the telephone, did the inspector tell the deputy commissioner anything about last night?’

A gentle breeze blew from the west. There was a smell in the air, of sweet pulp rotting.

‘I don’t know, Maulana-ji.’

The waters were at their yearly highest, the rivers tightening their grip on the town. The narrow lanes of the lower side would soon be under water. The couple would have great difficulty in reaching the Christian neighbourhood.

Maulana Hafeez’s wife, walking three paces behind him, asked, ‘How do you greet a Christian, Maulana-ji? Can we say
salam-a-lekum
, or is that used just with Muslims?’

Now fully swaddled in cloud, the sun had offered a reluctant profile about an hour ago. Kites and buzzards were wheeling and soaring in the sky.

Maulana Hafeez half turned towards his wife. Nearby a hen papiha peeped. The cleric summoned his remaining strength and tried to think.

The End

GLOSSARY OF URDU WORDS

Aambi
Unripe mango

Ahmadiya
The Ahmadiya movement was founded in 1889 in Northern India by Mirza Gulam Ahmed who proclaimed that he was the Promised Reformer whose advent was awaited by the adherents of Islam. This claim is contested throughout the Islamic world and the Ahmadiyas are denounced as blasphemers. There are, nevertheless, ten million Ahmadiya Muslims living in 120 countries around the world

Apa
Form of address of older female

Asar
Third prayer of the day

Baba
Form of address for old man

Banéra
Short wall or filigreed fence used to mark boundaries on flat roof

Bérry
Large thorny tree bearing edible berry-like fruit; of jejube family

Bésan
Gram flour

Bhoot
Ghoul

Bote
Fledgling

Burka
Cloak

Chacha-zad
Cousin

Chappati
A flat bread

Chaval
Rice

Chodhi
Untouchable

Daig
Cauldron

Dhi
Daughter

Dhrake
Tree of Margosa family

Djinn
Spirit of supernatural power able to appear in human and animal forms

Eid
Festival celebrating the end of the month of Ramadan

Fakir
Ascetic/mendicant

Falsé
Kind of berry

Ghat
Approach to a river

Goonda
Henchman

Gora
White man

Gul-é-lala
Tulip-like tropical plant (
gul
, flower;
lala
, red)

Harami
Bastard

Hira mundi
The district of prostitutes

Isha
Last prayer of the day

Ishq-é-péchan
Straggly trailing plant bearing pink and red flowers in bunches (
ishq
, a love affair;
péchan
, complex)

Jand
Large tree with white flowers

Janvar
Animal

Jinaza-gah
Place assigned for funeral prayers

Kulcha
Unleavened flat bread

Kurio
Girls (sing,
kuri
)

Langra mango
Superior variety of mango

Magrib
Fourth prayer of the day

Mahfil
An evening of pleasure

Mardood
Corpse (used as swearword)

Maulana
Title and form of address for Muslim clerics

Mazdoor-Kisan party
Marxist party (
mazdoor
, labourer;
kisan
, farmer)

Méva
Sweetmeat

Mimber
Pulpit

Motya
Jasmine

Mukaish
Form of embroidery done with thin strips of silver

Na-pak
Unclean

Neem
Margosa tree

Nyka
Female brothel keeper

Papiha
Migratory bird of cuckoo family; in the poetic traditions of the land which is now Pakistan its cries are represented as heralding monsoon. In prose and in everyday life, the bird is referred to as
koyal

Pir
Holy man

Punjangala
Bridal ornament covering back of hands

Putar
Son

Sapas-nama
Framed tribute presented to dignitary

Shahzadi
Princess

Shamiana
Marquee

Soor
Swine

Spara
Qur’anic reader

Sufi
Mystic

Sunnat
Guidelines derived from the Prophet’s daily conduct

Sura
Section of the Qur’an. (The Qur’an is made up of thirty books: these books are further divided into sections called suras.)

Surkhi
Lipstick