Author Archives: Hannah Butler

Jhansi Ki Rani

My informant is a young Indian-American woman who loves to tell the stories of her Hindu faith and national identity. I sat down with her and recorded her telling me the story of Queen Rani of Jhansi, a historical figure who over time has over time morphed into a legend. I have transcribed the story here, in as exact phrasing as I could manage.

Informant: “Okay, so Jhansi Ki Rani is the- ‘Jhansi Ki Rani’ means ‘Rani of Jhansi’, her real name was Lakshmibai, and she was married when she was very young. She’s originally from the court- her dad was in the court of a very important Maratha general. There were different kingdoms… yeah, different kingdoms-ish in India at this point: there were the Mughals, there were the Marathas, and there were the Rajputs.”

Me: “And around what time period is this?”

Informant: “Um… whenever the Mughals were there *laughs* Okay, this was when the Mughals were there but also the British. The British were involved in India as well at this point. And… basically she got married really young, she had a son… Also when she was young. And then her husband died who was the king of Jhansi, so she had to take over. And, she was kind of great. Um, there are a lot of stories about like her generosity, and just her generally being a badass. And like, she would dress in men’s clothes, and wear like a turban. Um, oh god this is not gonna be very good I’m so sorry *laughs* Um, but yeah. So, she was known for being just like, a great general. And like military strategist and she just struck fear into the hearts of the British. Like, there was one particular general I don’t know what his name was but he was particularly afraid of her, and he was one of the higher ups. And when she died, she died at like late 20s early 30s or something like that, so she died really young. But she died in battle. And they say she died with two swords in her hands on the back of her horse and she took out like eight people with her. And she thought- like she knew she was going to die so she asked her servants to burn-like, cremate her body so that the British couldn’t do anything stupid with it *laughs* I told you about this but I think they weren’t actually able to but the British didn’t do anything stupid out of respect for her. And um, I mean since then she’s been like a huge figure in all of India like there are many, many statues of her. Um, and I think the first all-female regiment of the army is called-is named after her.”

Me: “Nice.”

Informant: “Yeah, and so like in common language and phrases and stuff she’s like- her name is used like… when um- so the same way in America when you hear something you don’t believe you would say like ‘I’m the Queen of England’ or ‘I’m the Queen of Sheba’ *laughs*

Me: “Yeah, ‘I’m the Queen of Sheba'”

Informant: “So you would say, like, ‘I’m Jhansi Ki Rani’ the same way you would say all of those things. Like when you hear something you don’t believe.”

Me: “So she’s like a historical figure but also a legend almost?”

Informant: “Yeah there are a lot of like, I tried to stick to what I know, because there are a lot of really crazy stories about her and what she did. Rumor has it that she was a lesbian, because all the greatest historical figures are.”

Me: “Excellent. Do you know of any, like, crazy outlandish stories? That probably aren’t true but are still kind of popular?”

Informant: “I mean like the most common prevalent story is like… she killed twenty men in battle, like, in some crazy way – like she took out twenty dudes and then like she made a British general like turn tail, like his whole army turn tail and run because he saw her in the distance on the battlefield. Which I don’t completely believe that but it’s cool. It’s fun to think about.”

I love the idea that India has such a powerful female legendary figure in common vernacular. She seems to be a powerful nationalist figure, especially in her resistance to the British at the time.

Bengali Insult

My informant is the daughter of immigrants from Bangladesh, and a close friend of mine. She has often told me of the unique Bengali insults and phrases that her family would use with each other. Here is a notable example:

আপনি একটি গাভী ডিম ডাল মাথা হয়

Āpani ēkaṭi gābhī ḍima ḍāla māthā haẏa

Literal translation: “You are a cow’s egg vegetable head”

My informant expressed to me that she was unsure if it was a widely used Bengali phrase, and it would be difficult to find out with a simple google search, but she assured me that most everyone in her extended family uses this phrase. It simply means to refer to someone who is insignificant or idiotic.

I might classify this phrase as a “surrealist insult”, as it seems to be a string of words tied together with little meaning outside of simple degradation.

Namaskar(am)

My informant is a young Indian-American woman who told me about an important symbol of deference in Indian culture.

In India, it is customary and a sign of respect to touch the feet of people who are considered to be your social superior. This includes mainly elders, teachers, and highly respected individuals. One generally greets the person, kneels down, and touches their feet before standing back up again. Occasionally, the person might stop this individual from touching their feet, insisting that they do not need to be so formal. My informant tells me that it is then extremely awkward if the individual then insists on touching the person’s feet, so they usually drop the matter then.

Naturally, this gesture carries over to the gods when Hindus pray. However, the gesture is a little different when interacting with gods than when doing the same to other people. The act of symbolically touching a god’s foot is known as Namaskar in the north, or Namaskaram in southern Indian regions.

During this process, one does not actually touch the god’s foot, but it is implied through action. Men and women perform this task differently. Men lay flat on their stomachs in a prostrating position, with their arms in front of their head and hands put together in a pointed shape. Women curl over in a face-down fetal position with their forehead touching the floor and their hands laid flat in front of their head. This is a very important form of Hindu prayer.

My informant tells me that a common theme in Hindu mythology includes the negative ramifications of not touching someone’s feet, especially the gods. One particular example of this includes a story of Vamana, one of Vishnu’s incarnations. Vamana has the appearance of a poor old monk, and one day he visited the home of a demon king who used to be kind but had become arrogant and dangerous. Vamana showed up to this king’s home and pretended to beg for alms. The demon king boasted about how he would be glad to give the monk anything he wanted, because he would be able to do so. Vamana then asked for four steps of the demon king’s land, to which the king readily agreed. Vamana grew to a massive size, and made three steps that encompassed first heaven, then earth, then the underworld. When he asked for the fourth step, the demon king realized that there was nowhere left for Vamana to stand and so he offered up his head, thus redeeming himself and restoring his humility. This story has significance to the practice of Namaskar because offering oneself to come into contact with another’s foot is an intense sign of humility. Feet are gross, and furthermore are at the lowest possible point of a person. By willingly touching the foot of someone else, you are lowering yourself in respect to their position.

I always find it fascinating to see the intersection between mythology and cultural practices/values.

Lucky Finger

My informant is the daughter of immigrants from Bangladesh.

A common belief in Bangladesh is that if a person is born with a sixth finger, they are considered to be a lucky person. If they are born with six fingers on both hands, then they are extremely lucky and blessed with a good life. My informant’s mother had a friend while growing up in Bangladesh who had an extra finger, and she recalls everyone mentioning this girl in conversations as having a lucky charm.

Interestingly, this belief is not specific to just Bangladesh. I have a close friend whose family is from India, and her mother has six fingers on both hands. Her nickname growing up in India was “Lucky”, and she was frequently told as a child that it was a great blessing to have these extra fingers.

Considering the fact that Bangladesh has only been around for a couple of decades, and that it was created as a haven for Indian Muslims, it is not surprising that there are shared cultural beliefs between the two nations.

Garba

My informant is a young Indian-American woman who is well-versed in the customs of her culture and frequently participates in these traditions. She told me about Garba, a traditional Indian dance.

Garba is a non-choreographed dance celebration usually performed during the festival of Navratri (based on the Hindi words for nine + nights). Garba is typically performed by North Indians and Gujaratis but is sometimes celebrated by Punjabis.

Garba usually celebrates the Hindu goddess Durga, who is considered to be the main mother of creation. It consists of two circles, one in the center of the other, with an idol inside the inner circle. The inner circle is supposed to represent the womb of the universe, while the circles represent time because the Hindu concept of time is cyclical due to reincarnation. The dancers are always switching dance partners, so they are constantly moving.

The traditional outfit worn during Garba is a chaniya choli: a top that sometimes has a vest or jacket, with a long skirt and a scarf. People come to this celebration dressed up in bright colors and the women wear lots of nice jewelry – essentially people choose to come dressed up and looking their best.

The version of this dance that my informant is familiar with is called Dandiya. In this dance, each dancer wields two wooden sticks roughly 2cm in diameter and 1.5ft in length. Sometimes these sticks are decorated but they are usually plain. Two people act as dance partners and hit each other’s sticks together: first one stick, then the other, then both, then they spin, and then move on to the next person. This is the basic movement, but people tend to improvise in fancier patterns so their partner has to keep up (my informant jokingly told me that this is why North Indians tend to be good dancers). This style of Garba (also known as dandiya-raas) is associated with Krishna. “Raas” means play/dance. This style is supposed to imitate a sword fight.

I am glad that my informant knows so much about the symbolism behind this dance, as it adds so much more depth and beauty to the understanding of this practice. I also find it interesting that there is a rendition that combines the idea of creation and the flow of time with battle.