Meanings of the words in the word puzzle

On page 219 in Bollywood Dreams is a word puzzle. Find the indian words in the word puzzle and circle them.

You can check the meanings of the words below.

AISHWARYA – Aishwarya Rai is a beautiful famous indian actress. You can find out more about her at www.aishwaryarai.com

BAGDODRA-  At Bagdogra is a military airport open to civilial flights in NW Bengal India. The airport is a major stop with flights connecting Kolkata, New Delhi, Dhannai and Guwahati.

BHAJIA  – An indian savoury made from chopped vegetables mixed in spiced batter and deep fried.

BIN – A traditional indian musical instrument made from a large hollow tube to which 2 large gourds are attached. Both ends are capped with brass tubing. THe instrument is played while either sitting or kneeling with the bin held across the body. The strings are played with downward strokes.

BINDI – Forehead decoration worn by women

BOLLYWOOD – Bollywood is a term used to describe the Mumbai-based Hindi language film industry in India. Bollywood is a mixture of Bombay (former name for Mumbai) and Hollywood.

BUA – Word meaning ‘father’s sister’ in bengali and ‘aunt’ in hindi.

CALCUTTA – English name for Kolkata. In 2001 indian authorities changed some of the names to indian names.

CHAI – Special spiced tea. It’s a sweet milky tea spiced with cardamon, cinamon, ginger and cloves.

CHOLI – Short cropped top worn by indian women. It has short sleeves, a low neckline and shows a bare midriff.

CHOWRASTA – In Darjeeling this is like the town meeting place. It is a large open asphelted area near the top of Darjeeling. It is surrounded by shops, restaurants and horse stables.

DAHL – A spicy stew made from split pulses or lentils that’s eaten with rice and vegetables.

DAMARU – A small hour-glass shaped drum, often seen being played by Shiva. This has a wooden body, with a skin stretched over the top and tied with a rope. Squeezing the rope changes the tension, making the sounds change either higher or lower.

DARJEELING – A small hilltown in the north of India in the indian state of Bengal. It looks over the border with Nepal and the Himalayan Ranges. It has several tea plantations and some british-style private schools.

GURDWARA – A sikh place of worship or temple.

HARMONIUM – An indian musical instrument. It’s like a small pump organ used to accompany a vocalist.

KAMEEZ- ‘Salwar kameez’ is traditional indian dress. The ‘kameez’ is the long shirt or tunic, while the ‘salwar’ refers to the long trousers.

KOLKATA- The indian name for Calcutta.

NAMASTE – (sanskrit) Indian greeting. Literal meaning – ‘I bow to you’

PAKHAVAJ – A drum which produces a deep sound. Small wooden spools (which look like cotton reels) are held inside the thong to control the pitch or sound. It is played with the fingers and palms of both hands.

SARASWATI – Saraswati is a Hindu goddess. She is known as the goddess of learning, wisdom, eloquence, music and the arts. She often carries a VIna which is a stringed instrument like a lute or she can be represented holding a book (learning) a lotus bud (purity) a rosary (spiritual life, meditation) a drum or a stick of sugar cane.

SARI – A strip of unstitched cloth ranging from 4 to 9 metres in length. It is draped around the woman’s body in various traditional styles.

SARINGHI – The saringhi is known to make sounds of  ‘a hundred colours’. It has three main strings but up to another 40 strings to compliment the sound. It is played with a bow like a small cello.

SHAH RUKH KHAN – A famous handsome indian actor. You can find out more about him at www.shahrukhkhan.com

SIKH – Very important indian religion.

SITAR – The sitar is one of the most popular instruments in North India. It has a long body made of wood with a hollow gourd at the base. The metal frets on this instrument can be moved. Like a guitar, the strings are plucked to make sound. It has four playing strings and three additional strings to create a particularly indian pitch or tone.

STITCH – The embroidery stitch mentioned in Bollywood Dreams is the fine running embroidery stitich known as the kantha stitich.

TURBAN – A head dress consisting of a long scarf-like single piece of cloth wound around either the head itself or an inner hat.