The Mind Creative FEB 2014
India is country of countless
traditions. One of the more
intriguing ones is the use of
the suffix “wallah” that is
usually added to the end of a
word to denote the
profession of the person. For
example, if a person runs a
tea stall then one would refer
to call this person as a “Chaiwallah”; chai being the
Indian word for tea. There
are scores of such “wallahs”
like Jhadoo-wallah (the street
sweeper), “Kaam-wallah”
(the servant) and the “Sabjiwallah” (the vegetable
vendor). Interestingly
enough, “wallah” is also used
as part of certain surnames
to either show the profession
of the person (or of the
ancestors) or a person’s
place of origin. This is quite
prevalent within the Parsee
community in India.
Surnames like Batliwala
The ever engaging PAAN-WALLAH
(hardware merchant),
Canteenwalla (owner of a
selling the very popular pan (sweet
canteen) or Daruwalla (wine and bitter condiments wrapped in
merchant) are not
betel leaves) and cigarettes.
uncommon. On the other
hand, a surname like
Suratwala would show the
place of origin to be the city
of Surat.
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