GLOSSARY

Katkati (Hindi): used in jest for one who chatters/a chatterbox

Kat-kat (Hindi): to chatter

Jehannum (Urdu): Hell

Amma (Hindi/ Urdu): address for mother

Abba (Urdu): address for father

Saab or sahib (Hindi/ Urdu): salutation for a rich and/or educated person

Dada (Hindi): salutation for an elder brother

Aunty: any older, respected woman

Eid: an important festival of the Muslim community

*Pictures are for representational purposes only.*

"I will be a big girl, one day. Big and strong, Abba.”

"Hmm, we will see.”

"Who are you answering to? She’s talking in her sleep,” laughed Amma.

Abba chuckled, too, and said, "Our Katkati’s kat-kat doesn’t stop, huh?”

My good name is Zeenat; my home name is Katkati.

I am the daughter of Rehmat and Bano. We all work in a brick kiln, a big oven that bakes bricks, like all the others from our village. 

I call it my village. Abba calls it a settlement, and Amma calls it Jehannum, whatever that is. 

Amma calls me Katkati, with love. You know, why? Because I chatter through the day!

Our village is poor. It has many shanties made of, what else, bricks. Our shanties are small and aren’t built very well. They have tin roofs. Still, it’s where we live.

If an adult enters a shanty, he can’t stand straight. His head will hit the tin above. So, they have to bend their heads. For the children, there is no problem. 

We live, eat, play, fall sick, and sleep here. There’s no well in the village, so Amma has to go far to fetch water. She carries two big pitchers on her head. 

There is a small pond nearby; only, its water is smelly and green. You can’t drink it. Even the cattle and dogs don’t go there.

No plants, flowers, or trees grow in our village. You see only red bricks everywhere and lots of coal dust. It covers shanties, lanes, the pond, and even our faces and hair. 

We play with brick pieces. Many of my village auntys work in kilns or at construction sites. Very old people and those who are sick stay at home. Even the grandparents of our village work. If they don’t, they will have nothing to eat. 

The shanties are empty the whole day, so Amma takes me to the kiln.

Amma balances many, many bricks atop her head, just like the pitchers of water. The bricks don’t fall, and the water doesn’t spill over. Not a drop. Amma knows magic!