The Hindi word bhaiya translates into “big brother”. It’s used mostly to politely hail a male stranger—the Hindi equivalent of “Excuse me, sir”—or to address him in mid-conversation. An innocuous piece of vocabulary, in other words—until it’s wielded by an Indian woman.
In their hands, bhaiya is a weapon of coercion unparalleled in Western linguistics.
Jenny tasted the power of bhaiya while watching friends negotiate with autos, seeing housewives beat down stubborn vegetable wallas, observing clever coworkers convincing recalcitrant art directors to meet impossible deadlines. A woman takes a simple bhaiya—”buy-yaa”, to transliterate—and bends the word around the fulcrum of the “y”, modulating the final syllable to do her dastardly bidding.
Making that final syllable short and sharp expresses contempt (“Who do you think I am to quote me such a price?”).
Adding a long, upward-fluctuating suffix feigns shock (“You would take such advantage of the sweet, innocent girl standing so humbly before you?”).
And turning that final syllable into an angry cadenza up and down three different octaves—think John Coltrane at the end of Giant Steps, an animal howl, the fire in her belly that would have singed the quivering beedi right out of the hapless auto driver’s mouth if she hadn’t stuck a bhaiya in front of it—chastens even the most determined male foe, filling him with dreadful certainty that her outrage has reached his mother’s shamed ears back in his village, where ancestors long passed are preparing all the lightning in hell to descend upon his head should he not drop ten rupees off his price.
Gentlemen: there’s nothing you can do to protect yourself.
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This is an excerpt from our in-progress book about expat life in Delhi, to be published next summer by HarperCollins India. If you like it, get on our mailing list!
22 responses so far ↓
zenrainman // November 18, 2009 at 4:00 am |
Nice find, absolutely agree
behan
katre // November 18, 2009 at 2:59 pm |
It works just like that in Bengali, too.
Ramit // November 18, 2009 at 3:18 pm |
Hehe that’s true. That one word can melt Mt. Everest!
(I’ve been on your mailing list for ages. Hurry up already)
God luck!
CJDT // November 18, 2009 at 3:45 pm |
Wouldn’t work in N.A. – guys would just ignore her!
Jaswinder Singh // November 18, 2009 at 3:53 pm |
I guess I’m already on the mailing list for the book and I’m just waiting for it to release. As for this post, it was awesome.
Samit C. // November 18, 2009 at 5:45 pm |
Very funny. And dead on.
eyebleaf // November 18, 2009 at 5:55 pm |
So bloody true.
injunplanna // November 18, 2009 at 6:18 pm |
It is the most dreadful word coming out of a woman’s mouth if she isn’t actually your sister. on many an occasion I have clamped my ears and sang loudly ….mostly a sleazy Bhapi Lehri song
links for 2009-11-18 « AB’s reflections // November 18, 2009 at 8:06 pm |
[...] on Hindi: the power of “bhaiya” « Our Delhi Struggle Interesting perspective on the language & culture from a couple of foreigners. (tags: language india hindi) Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)links for 2007-10-31links for 2008-01-22links for 2009-11-10X-Flex Blast Protection System [...]
Rahul Jadhav // November 19, 2009 at 3:41 pm |
hey that was good…loved it
Kunal // November 20, 2009 at 2:19 am |
Thanks to new-fascists in Mumbai, bhaiya is now met with vehement displeasure. Sad, ‘coz I always liked the word.
Kunal // November 20, 2009 at 2:20 am |
err… *neo
Dips // November 20, 2009 at 12:01 pm |
ROFL!!
I call the waiters at small (or big) restaurants Bhaiya if they dont come to me for orders for some time.
Service has been perfect on every occasion post bhaiya-fying them. They definitely dont want to be called bhaiya in a full restaurant by a girl again!
gabo arora // November 20, 2009 at 7:27 pm |
don’t forget bhaiya is also a perjorative term used by us delhi belly punjabis in a racist sense against the UP and biharis. We call them bhaiyas too in a ironic sense though I do not understand the geneology of it, but look into it!
manav42224 // November 22, 2009 at 3:35 am |
You have exposed the most secret weapon of an Indian female.
This weapon is seamlessly transferred from mother to daughter only. Sons are never part of this leathal weapon training
AVX // November 22, 2009 at 10:58 pm |
As someone already mentioned, Bombayites refer to North Indians as Bhaiyyas … and not as a compliment.
Nice post!
Sharmishtha // November 26, 2009 at 1:09 am |
Not related to this post, but don’t know where else to post it. Anyway, I know this is a pet project of Jenny’s, so she might find this news interesting and relevant. Maybe she could forward this info to her NGO friends in this line of work.
http://telegraphindia.com/1091125/jsp/nation/story_11783178.jsp
Harish - blogged :)) // December 8, 2009 at 2:43 am |
LOLs and ROTFLs…You should visit chennai too.To hear those Anna and akka (brother and sister)
Happy blogging …
Archana // December 28, 2009 at 11:29 am |
Yes
that works most of the time…
5 jokes about Delhi I don’t understand « Our Delhi Struggle // January 13, 2010 at 7:10 am |
[...] jugaad, late night Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, gol gappas, driving on the wrong side of the road, and bhaiya. Heck, we never made it to the Lotus Temple, either.And more than a few times our auto drivers [...]
five jokes about Delhi we don’t understand « Our Delhi Struggle // January 13, 2010 at 7:11 am |
[...] jugaad, late night Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, gol gappas, driving on the wrong side of the road, and bhaiya. Heck, we never made it to the Lotus Temple, either.And more than a few times our auto drivers [...]
Doli // February 1, 2010 at 8:17 pm |