Kabootarbaazi, Laundebaazi, Baazigar: The Many Meanings of Baazi

Did you know the interesting history, origins and usages of these baazi words?

From Baazigar’s famous “Haar kar jeetney wale ko baazigar kehte hain” to Rustom’s “Matlab baazi jeetne se hai... phir chahe pyada qurbaan ho ya phir rani”, baazi is a word that extensively features in Bollywood dialogues and everyday speech.

Baazi, an Urdu word that literally means a game or a bet, has been appropriated to mean many things. It is especially used in conjunction with other words, adding an extra layer of meaning.

What’s more, these baazi words have some really interesting origins, histories, and usages. Let’s have a look!

‘Kabootarbaazi’: A Dying Practice

Mughalon ke zamaane ki baat hai (It’s a tale from the time of the Mughals), when kabootarbaazi or the practice/sport (baazi) of pigeon-flying, also referred to as pigeon-fancying, was popular.

Kabootarbaazi finds its first mention in history around 3000 BC in the fifth Aegyptian Dynasty.

In The Lost Generation: Chronicling India’s Dying Professions, Nidhi Dugar Kundalia records that Emperor Akbar referred to kabootarbaazi as ishqbaazi and his favourite pigeon was called Mohanah, the chief of imperial pigeons.

The pigeons, in the Mughal era, were trained to perform charkhas (circular movements) and baazis (somersaults).

In the present day, few of the kabootarbaaz from Old Delhi continue to pursue this ancient sport. The practice is – no doubt – a dying one with modern-day hobbies replacing pigeon-fancying and e-mails replacing both letter-writing and messenger pigeons.

In the melancholic words of Arundhati Roy, “Where do old birds go to die?”

Also Read: My Old Delhi of Utmost Happiness: Rediscovering with Arundhati Roy

‘Patangbaazi’: Of Kite-Flying and Kite-Making

While we look for the disappearing messenger pigeons, let’s talk about another aerial baazi word: Patangbaazi or the game (baazi) of flying kites (patang).

Patangbaazi may also be regarded as an art since it involves the intricate practice of threading of the kite (called kanni) and the delicate and controlled handling of the manjha (the string).

Living in Delhi, one of the oldest childhood memories that I have is of the sky dotted with kites around Independence day. Coupled with this is the memory of watching the kite-flying scene in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) where young Salman Khan dances to the song ‘Kaipoche’.

Unlike the art of letter-writing, patangbaazi has managed to survive. Not only kite-flying but kite-making in itself is an art, one that sustains in the narrow streets of Lal Kuan, Old Delhi, where kite-makers work for more than 12 hours day during kite-flying season.

Also Read: In Photos: The Spirit of Independence in Old Delhi’s Kite Market

‘Laundebaazi’: Of Habits and Excesses

Moving from the city’s open skies to its by-lanes, where alternative sexualities are battling the law, we encounter the word laundebaazi. The word dates back to the medieval era in India when Nawabs and aristocrats kept harems of young boys. Literally, laundebaazi may mean the games (or the shenanigans) of the youth.

In his book The Doubleness of Sexuality, Akhil Katyal chronicles some common usages of the word baazi and how it gives meaning to laundebaazi.

Katyal writes that baazi is used for regular habits such as that of exercise (kasratbaazi) or mugging before exams (rattabaazi). At the same time, it is used in the sense of ‘bad habits’ or excesses such as in relation to alcohol (darubaazi) or devious politicking (naarebaazi). Laundebaazi charts the messy terrain between habits and excesses.

In Pandey Bechan Sharma ‘Ugra’’s short-story collection Chaklet (1927), laundebaazi appears as a form of indulgence comparable to alcoholism or gambling.

The portrayal of laundebaazi as an indulgence is particularly telling as it pinpoints how homosexuality has been and is still understood as necessarily excessive.

Also Read: Shelf Life: ‘The Doubleness of Sexuality’ Redefines Queerness

‘Bahasbaazi’: The Argumentative Indian

A certain TV anchor on a popular TV channel may be considered the living, breathing example of bahasbaazi or the fervent habit (baazi) of debating (bahas).

In olden days, however, bahasbaazi simply meant the habit of conversing. For example, in her memoirs, Ismat Chughtai describes scenes from her family life wherein each family member is deeply invested in long and delightful bahasbaazi.

My family is extremely talkative... We talk as we walk, eat or drink... [W]e continue taking part in the discussion even as we bathe.

Ismat Chughtai, A Life in Words: Memoirs (Trans. M Asaduddin)

Also Read: Ismat Chughtai, ‘Lihaaf’ and Lifting the Veil Off Same-Sex Desire

While Chughtai sees bahasbaazi as characteristic of her family and friends, Amartya Sen discusses it as an Indian trait in his book The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture and Identity. “Prolixity is not alien to us in India,” writes Sen, citing the ancient Sanskrit epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

[W]e encounter masses of arguments and counterarguments spread over incessant debates and disputations (in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata).

Amartya Sen, The Argumentative Indian

Baaz, Baazi, and Baazigar

What about the baaz—the game-player, the one with the hobby or the habit or the potential for self-indulgence—you ask? Is the baaz secondary to baazi?

Our Bollywood baazigar would disagree. In the movie Baazigar (1993), Ajay Sharma alias Vicky Malhotra (Shahrukh Khan) is the revenge-taker and the game-player. As a famous dialogue from the movie proclaims, “Kabhi kabhi jeetney ke liye kuchh haarna bhi padhta hai, aur haar kar jeetney wale ko baazigar kehte hain (sometimes, in order to win one has to lose as well, and the one who wins by losing is called a baazigar).”

The dialogue, delivered charmingly by Shahrukh Khan in the movie, adds an interesting meaning to baazigar: he is someone who loses, yet he wins because he manages to achieves his aim. Ajay not only plays the revenge-game but also plays with identities; he loses, yet he wins.

In the song ‘Baazigar O Baazigar’, he makes a “sauda pyar ka” (a deal of love) and wins “dil ki baazi” (the game of hearts), “dil haar kar” (by losing his own heart).

The baaz or the baazigar is, therefore, indispensable to baazi, the act cannot take place without the agent.

Also Read: Crime and Punishment of Our Very Own Bollywood Bad Boys

Know of baazi words that we’ve missed out on? Tell us in the comments!

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