Contents
Introduction by Rukmini Bhaya Nair
1 Classical heritages: Databases of memory
Ahimsa (ahinsā/hinsā/satya/asatya/śānti) by Gangeya Mukherji
Artha (artha) by Mohini Mullick
Aryan (āryan)/Dravidian by Lakshmi Subramaniam
Asmita (asmitā) by Sanjay Palshikar
Colonialism/postcolonialism by Ulka Anjaria
Darshana (darśana) by Sanjit Chakraborty
Dharma (dharma) by Bijoy Boruah
Dhyana (Dhyāna) by Bijoy Boruah
Guru (guru) by Sanjit Chakraborty
Heritage sites by A. G. K. Menon
Indian Ocean by Sanjay Chaturvedi
Itihasa (itihāsa) by Sibesh Bhattacharya
Janmapatri (janmapatrī) by Rama Kant Agnihotri
Kama and Kamasutra (kāma and kāmasūtra) by Gurcharan Das
Mahabharata (mahābhārata) by Sibaji Bandyopadhyay
Mantra, Tantra, Yantra (mantra, tantra, yantra) by Ranjit Nair
Manuvadi (manuvādī) by Sasheej Hegde
Moksha/Nirvana (mōkṣa/nirvāṇa) by Ranjit Nair
Mussalman (musalmān) by Taslima Nasrin
Parsi (pārsī) by Keki Daruwala
Pir/Murid (pīr/murīd) by S. Imtiaz Hasnain and Masood Ali Beg
Purana (purāṇa) by B. N. Patnaik
Kismat/Takdir (qismat/takdīr) by Shivangini Tandon and S. Imtiaz Hasnain
Ramayana (rāmāyaṇa) by Paula Richman
Sati/Jauhar (satī/jauhar) by Malashri Lal
Sufi (sūfī) by S. Imtiaz Hasnain and Masood Ali Beg
Zero by Iwan Pranoto and Ranjit Nair
2 Contemporary aesthetic modes: Reimaginings
Alankara (alaṅkāra) by Harsha V. Dehejia
Beauty parlour by Katyayani Dalmia
Bharatnatyam (bharatanāṭyam) by Leela Samson
Bhoot (bhūta) by Brahma Prakash
Gana (gānā) by Antony Arul Valan
Gorapan (gōrāpan) by Katyayani Dalmia
Hero/Heroine by Irwin Allan Sealy
Ishq/Pyar (iśq/pyār) by Shivangini Tandon
Jatra (jātrā) by Roma Chatterji
Nakhra (nakhrā) by Brahma Prakash
Padma Awards by Vibha Puri Das
Qawwālī (qavvālī) by Yousuf Saeed
Ramlila (rāmlīlā) by Sudha Gopalakrishnan
Rangoli (raṅgōlī) by Sudha Gopalakrishnan
Rasa (rasa) by Hemachandran Karah
Sahitya (sāhitya) by B. N. Patnaik
Saundarya (saundarya) by Harsha V. Dehejia
Shamiyana (śāmiyānā) by Ira Pande
South Indian films by Uma Vangal
Tamasha (tamāśā) by Arjun Ghosh
Vaastu (vāstu) by Rajat Subhra Banerjee
3 Economic mantras, media and technological change
Aadhaar (ādhār) by Vijayanka Nair
Aspatre/Haspatal (aspatre/haspatāl) by Kavery Nambisan
Benami by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
Breaking news by Pamela Philipose
Climate change by Navroz K. Dubash
Computer/laptop/mobile by Souvik Mukherjee
Corporate social responsibility by Arun M. Kumar
Demonetization by C. Rammanohar Reddy
Development by Pulapre Balakrishnan
Digital India by Sandeep Mertia
Green Revolution by Aditya Dasgupta
Human development by A. K. Shiva Kumar
Indian Railways by Vijaya Singh
Inheritance systems by Bina Agarwal
Jhuggi, Jhopri, Slum, Chawl (jhuggī, jhōpd.i, Slum, cāl) by Darryl D’monte
Jobless growth by Montek S. Ahluwalia
Land grabbing by Varsha Bhagat-Ganguly
Mai Baap Sarkaar (maiṁ bāp sarkār) by Parikshit Ghosh and Debraj Ray
Mandi/E-chaupal (maṇḍī/E-caupāl) by Jeemol Unni
Microfinance by H. S. Shylendra
Middle class by Pavan K. Varma
Nasbandi (nasbandī) by Poonam Muttreja
NREGA (naregā) by Reetika Khera
Outsourcing by Souvik Mukherjee
Policy paralysis by Vipul Mudgal
Pollution by Shahzad Gani and Pallavi Pant
Public private partnership by Bibek Debroy
Public health by Poonam Muttreja
Reserve Bank of India by Raghavendra Lal Das
Social media by P. Vigneswara Ilavarasan
4 Intimacies: Culture and material culture
Balti and Lota (bālṭī and lota) by Shivani Chopra
Behenji (bahanjī) by Ajoy Bose
Bhadralok (bhadralōk) by Supriya Chaudhuri
Bhailo/Bhaiya/Ghanti/Paklo by Rochelle Pinto
Bhukamp (bhūkamp) by Punam Tripathi
Chappal (cappal) by Gopika Nath
Choolah (cūl’hā) by Shahzad Gani and Pallavi Pant
Cycle-wala (sā’ikilwālā) by Jean Drèze
Danda/Lathi/Lathi Charge (ḍaṇḍā/lāṭhī/lāṭhī Charge) by Manindra Thakur
Female foeticide by Ravinder Kaur
Godrej almirah (godrej ālmirah) by Dipti Kulkarni
Haram/Halal (harām/halāl) by Amir Ali
Izzat/Sharam/Honour Killing (izzat/śaram) by Shivangini Tandon
Jagannath/Juggernaut (jagannāth/juggernaut) by Jatindra Kumar Nayak
Jagran/Kirtan/Bhajan (jāgaraṇ/kīrtan/bhajan) by Jaskiran K. Mathur
Jharoo/Teel Jharoo/Eerkali Chool (jhāḍū/teel jhāḍū/eerkali chool) by Susan Visvanathan
Jootha (jūṭhā) by Rama Kant Agnihotri
Kabbadi, Gili Danda, Jallikatta (kabaḍḍī, gillī ḍaṇḍā, jallīkaṭṭū) by Souvik Naha
Kai (kāī) by Vanamala Viswanatha
Kayaka (kayaka) by N. Manu Chakravarthy
Khadi (khādī) by Tridip Suhrud
Lakshman Rekha (lakṣmaṇ rēkhā) by Rukmini Bhaya Nair
Mada, Nall (mād, nāl) by Alito Siqueira and Asawari Nayak
Missed call by Satish Padmanabhan
Prakriti/Sanskriti (prakr̥ti/sanskr̥ti) by Ranjeeta Dutta
Ramzan (ramzān) by Hilal Ahmed
Shamshan (śamśāna) by Ipshita Chanda
Sogadu (sogāṛū) by N. Manu Chakravarthy
Susegad (sussegād) by Alito Siqueira and Asawari Nayak
Stamp paper by Ramanjit Kaur Johal
Street children by Harsh Mander
Street vendors by Ritajyoti Bandyopadhyay
Temple entry by Dipti Kulkarni
Tribal customary law by Melvil Pereira
Zanana (zanānā) by Nazima Parveen
Adivasi (ādivāsī) by Virginius Xaxa
Amir Gharib (amīr/gharīb) by S. Imtiaz Hasnain and Masood Ali Beg
Anganwadi (āṅganavāḍī) by Sarojini Ganju Thakur
AYUSH (āyūṣ) by Madhulika Banerjee
Bhaichara (bhā’īcārā) by Satish Aikant
Chandrayaan (candrayāṇ) by Gopal N. Raj
Democracy by Peter Ronald deSouza
Gandhian by Sudarsan Padmanabhan
Gaon (gānv) by Jitender Parsad
Hijra (hijḍā)/LGBT by Ashley Tellis
Janta (jantā)/public by Rama Kant Agnihotri
Love marriage by Rajni Palriwala
Madrasa (madrasā) by Mohd. Sanjeer Alam
Mohalla (mōhallā) by Nazima Parveen
Parivar/Samaj/Biradri (parivār/samāj/birādarī) by Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay
Police reforms by Prakash Singh
Shakti (śakti) by Vrinda Dalmiya
Scientific temper by Ranjit Nair
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (sarva śikṣā abhiyān) by Vimala Ramachandran
Sudhar (sudhār) by Tridip Suhrud
Sukh-dukh (sukh-dukh) by Aditi Mukherjee
Virangana (vīrāṅgaṇā) by Usha Mudiganti
Visva-Bharati (viśva-bhāratī) by Partha Ghose
Yojana (yōjanā)/Planning by Nalini Nayak and Pulin B. Nayak
6 Language and self-reflection
Akshara (akṣara) by Aditi Mukherjee
Baat-cheet (bātcīt) by Rama Kant Agnihotri
Bhasha (bhāṣā) by Karthika Sathyanathan and Rajesh Kumar
Endangered languages by Jatindra Kumar Nayak
English by K. Narayana Chandran
Firangi/Angrez (phiraṅgī/aṅgrēz) by Gilian Wright
Hello-ji (hēlō jī) by Maidul Islam
Indian writing in English (IWE) by G. J. V. Prasad
Jugaad (jugāḍ) by Lallan Baghel
Katha, Kahani, Qissa, Dastaan (kathā, kahānī, kis’sā, dāstān) by Mahmood Farooqui
Khari Boli (khaḍī bōlī) by Abhay Kumar Dubey
Kolaveri (kōlāverī) by Fahima Ayub Khan
Languages and linguistic states by Rama Kant Agnihotri
Matlabi (matlabī) by Shiv Visvanathan
Pravachan (pravacan) by Rama Kant Agnihotri
Shruti and Smriti (śruti and smr̥ti) by Praveen Singh
Thalaivar (talaivar) by Sudarsan Padmanabhan
Tension by Anushka Rajesh Patel and Merdijana Kovacevic
Three language formula by Jatindra Kumar Nayak
Time-pass by Vanamala Viswanatha
AFSPA and other draconian laws by Ujjwal Kumar Singh
Ayodhya (ayōdhyā) by A. K. Verma
Babu/Sarkar/Revenue Officer (bābū/sarkār/revenue officer) by Tabish Khair
Chunav (cunāv)/election by Mona Mehta
Coalition dharma by E. Sridharan
Communal violence by Harsh Mander
Corruption by C. Rammanohar Reddy
Desivad (dēsīvād) by Bhalchandra Nemade
Dharna/Rail Roko/Bandh/Hartal/Gherao (dharnā/rēl rōkō/bandh/ haṛtāl/ghērāv) by Samir Kumar Das
Dominant caste by Ghanshyam Shah
Fatwa (fatvā) by Irfanullah Farooqi
Ghar Wapsi (ghar vāpsī) by Rudolf C. Heredia
Hindu Rashtra (hindū rāṣṭra) by Pralay Kanungo
Human rights by Savita Bhakhry
Insurgency/terrorist/jihādī/militant by Sanjoy Hazarika
Lal Batti (lāl battī) by Manish Thakur
Lok Adalat (lōk adālat) by Siddharth Peter De Souza
Minorities by Peter Ronald deSouza
Nagar Palika (nagar pālikā) by George Mathew
National, anti-national by Kaisser Rana
Naxalite (nakslā’iṭ) by Bela Bhatia
Northeast India by Pradip Phanjoubam
Panchayati Raj (pan̄cāyatī rāj) by George Mathew
Patwari (paṭvārī) by Ramana Murthy V. Rupakula
Peasant movements by Muzaffar Assadi
Political parties by Ashutosh Kumar
Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha (rājya sabhā, lōk sabhā) by Valerian Rodrigues
Sarkar (sarkār) by Chandan Sinha and Neilabh Sinha
Schedule by Justice Suhrud Dave
Thana (thānā) by Santana Khanikar
UPSC by Maruthi Prasad Tangirala