Author Archives: Amy Kao

Akbar and Birbal: Kichri Story

Text: 

“One day, Akbar challenged this dude to sit in a cold puddle all night, and he bet him he couldn’t do it. I don’t really know why, it’s just one of those dumb things that you bet with other people. The dude ended up completing the challenge, but Akbar wouldn’t give him the reward he promised him because he said that there was a lamp nearby that gave the guy heat. The guy said that the lamp was too far to give him any heat, and plus, it was out of his control, but Akbar refuses the excuses. The next day, his servant/advisor Birbal invited him to dinner. They sit and talk in the living room, and Akbar starts getting hungry and asks if the food is ready. Birbal assures him that it’ll be ready soon. Four hours pass and Akbar is getting really hungry, so he goes into the kitchen himself to see what’s going on. He find that Birbal placed the pot of Kichri (a type of lentil soup) on a very high cabinet, close to the ceiling, very far away from the stove. He gets angry and says, ‘Birbal! How do you expect this soup to cook?’ and Birbal replies, ‘the same way the lamp heated the guy you challenged.'”

Background:

My informant told me that Akbar was a real Muslim King, and Birbal was actually one of his wise servants who was Hindu. He said that Indians love Akbar because he was a progressive person, and didn’t kill Hindus even though the two groups don’t normally get along. Instead, he appointed a lot of Hindus to be a part of his cabinet, and even married a Hindu woman. He said that there are a lot of stories that revolve around these two characters and they are commonly told to kids. He thinks that the moral of this story is to be reasonable and fair.

Context:

These stories are normally told by parents to their kids.

Personal Thoughts:

It was very interesting because my informant didn’t remember the details of the story so he actually called his parents to ask them what the story was. I got to hear both his mom and dad retell him this story of Akbar and Birbal. I hear that there are a lot of Muslim/Hindu jokes that revolve around these two characters too, but they are never mean-spirited. I think this was a way for the two cultures to try to negotiate peace, and break the negative stigmas against the other culture by telling their kids these stories starting at a young age.

 

Chanda Mama

Original Text:

“Chanda Mama Door Ke

Puye Pakaye Bhur Ke

Aap Kaye Taali Mein

Mune Ko De Pyali Mein” (Hindi)

Direct Translation: 

Uncle moon from far away

Is making Puye (dessert) with sugar

You eat in a plate and

give the little child a little plate

Background:

This is a lullaby that the informant remembers hearing as a child. His dad mainly sung it to him, although his mom would sing it from time to time too. There was one night that his dad didn’t sing it to him and he couldn’t sleep. The informant said that it reminds him of his childhood now and going to bed.  When I asked if there was a deeper meaning to the lyrics, he said that it seemed pretty nonsensical, but he said that it’s significant that you let parents eat first out of respect.

Context:

The informant’s parents sung this lullaby to him when he was a child. He said it’s a pretty common song that parents would sing to their children in Indian culture.

Personal Thoughts:

When I first asked him what it meant, he said he didn’t know. But when I asked him to type out the lyrics, he started to realize what it meant because he speaks Hindi. I thought this was interesting because the song had simply started to represent a warm feeling of bedtime with parents, rather than what the lyrics actually were talking about.

 

Hovan

Text:

“There’s a festival we do for new houses. Oh, that’s just… We go in, we set up a fire. The fire just signifies that the prayers we say get lifted up in the air…. yes we do a fire inside. It’s a box made of wood with a fire lit inside. There’s prayers that are said, I only remember one of them. [Click the link below to hear the prayer that he recited to us] There’s a priest that stands next to the fire, and the immediate family make a circle around him. Then everyone else is outside of the circle. The priest says the prayer then everyone else joins them. Each time you say a certain word, you would put a certain type of offering in the fire, like an almond. It’s like food for the gods. These offerings are provided either by the priests of by the immediate family. If provided by the immediate family, the priest has to make it holy.”

Prayer for Hovan

Background:

My informant had no idea what it means. He said it’s different from everyday Hindi, and he only knows conversational Hindi.

Context:

The ritual happens when someone buys a new house. This ritual happens in order to bless the house.

Personal Thoughts:

There is once again a strong theme of family in this ritual, and is very heavily religious. The fact that my informant knew the prayer, but not what it meant, signals that this was more of a tradition for him, than an active practice of faith. It is an interesting liminal period between homes.

Nonexistent Fourth Floor

Text:

“In Asia, all buildings skip the fourth floor when they are numbering their floors.”

Background:

My informant said she noticed this when she was in Taiwan since every building followed this custom. She said that it’s because the character four in Mandarin sounds very similar to the character for death.

Context:

This is a custom that all buildings follow in Taiwan.

Personal Thoughts:

This custom is similar to how some buildings in the U.S. skip the 13th floor. However, since there is a higher chance of buildings to be at least 4 floors, than 13 floors, it’s more prevalent. I also believe that Chinese/Taiwanese people tend to be more superstitious than Americans.

Ladoo

Text:

“Ladoo is a common household dessert that moms make. Every mom will make it a little bit differently, but its mainly made out of besan (gram flour), sugar, and ghee (butter).”

Background:

My informant told me that he saw the treat as a token from home, since his mom always made it, but he doesn’t know the exact recipe.  He also told me that “ladoo” is a name that is also used to make fun of fat people since the dessert is made into round balls. He used to call another girl on his street ladoo because she was fat.

Context:

Ladoo is a semi-sweet dessert that is made in a lot of Indian households.

Personal Thoughts:

My informant had two more left in a container, so he offered me one for me to taste. I could tell that this dessert meant a lot to him especially now that he was at college and away from home since he rarely got it anymore. My informant’s roommate was also in the room at the time and said that his mom made the same thing too. It tasted semi-sweet, and had a solid, dry, cake texture. I can’t think of any American desserts to compare it to, but I’ve had similar Chinese desserts.