# Hindi/Urdu: kitty/kitty party (for saving money)



## lcfatima

There is this method for saving money without using a bank or taking loans that I have seen mainly housewives and also poorer working people use in both the Arabian Gulf and in S. Asia. I Arabic I heard it called 'jama3eeyah' or "collective." I heard Indian women (mainly Hindi speakers) call it a kitty. It works like this: Each month each member of a group puts in a set amount of money, and each month one member gets to keep and spend the entire amount in the collective. The Indian ladies I knew who did this held a "kitty party" to socialize and exchange the money and the gathering was also a potluck/one-dish party. I was wondering if there is a way to say "kitty party" in Urdu or Hindi, perhaps a common word for this concept besides the English term I am familiar with. Kitty and kitty party for me are S. Asian variety English register and I am not sure if there is a US English word for this because I haven't come across this practice in the US.


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## marrish

lcfatima said:


> There is this method for saving money without using a bank or taking loans that I have seen mainly housewives and also poorer working people use in both the Arabian Gulf and in S. Asia. I Arabic I heard it called 'jama3eeyah' or "collective." I heard Indian women (mainly Hindi speakers) call it a kitty. It works like this: Each month each member of a group puts in a set amount of money, and each month one member gets to keep and spend the entire amount in the collective. The Indian ladies I knew who did this held a "kitty party" to socialize and exchange the money and the gathering was also a potluck/one-dish party. I was wondering if there is a way to say "kitty party" in Urdu or Hindi, perhaps a common word for this concept besides the English term I am familiar with. Kitty and kitty party for me are S. Asian variety English register and I am not sure if there is a US English word for this because I haven't come across this practice in the US.



I believe you are referring to _kameTii_.
Also indebted for the context!


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## lcfatima

Fast answer. Thanks. Is this from English committee?


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## Alfaaz

kametti; mein ne 500 rupayoN ki kametti dali hai, haaN! 
There is a formal Urdu word that was being used in an Islamic program on TV; cannot remember it right now, but the guest/person invited in the show started out with a couple hundred, but now is loaning hundreds and thousands of dollars in a similar system (in accordance to Sharia, without charging any interest)...


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## marrish

lcfatima said:


> Fast answer. Thanks. Is this from English committee?


Fast and short, indeed. Sorry for no elucidation. It is from English committee I believe, but I might be wrong!

Alfaaz, I'd be grateful if you can trace the word you mentioned.


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## Alfaaz

> Alfaaz, I'd be grateful if you can trace the word you mentioned.


I'll try to find the program (Deen-o-Danish) on YT (which will be difficult as I don't remember the date ) and reply.


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## greatbear

"Kitty party" in India, regardless of the language being used. It's a highly pejorative term as well!


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## panjabigator

How is it pejorative? I've lived with host families where the aunties would schedule monthly kitty parties.


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## greatbear

panjabigator said:


> How is it pejorative? I've lived with host families where the aunties would schedule monthly kitty parties.



Of course, kitty parties were a rage once and I guess maybe exist even now. The term is pejorative as most women who participated in it were regarded to be such who have no better intellectual pursuits than gossiping.


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## marrish

Can you tell more about it? Is it really called kitty party? How would you explain the word kitty?
Is the main concept of this party a money operation as lcfatima SaaHibah has described?


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## greatbear

Yes, lcfatima has described it correctly; the main purpose was often socializing, and in many kitty parties games like "housie" (bingo) were often played as well. The word "kitty" is the usual English word for such things: refer http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kitty?show=1&t=1336934479


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## greatbear

lcfatima said:


> Kitty and kitty party for me are S. Asian variety English register and I am not sure if there is a US English word for this because I haven't come across this practice in the US.



"kitty" is an old English word for "pool of money" and not S. Asian variety English:
From etymonline.com - "pool of money in a card game," 1887, probably from kit, in a sense of "collection of necessary supplies" (1833); but perhaps rather from northern England slang kitty "prison, jail, lock-up" (1825), of uncertain origin.

"kitty party" is certainly though very S. Asian.


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## Qureshpor

lcfatima said:


> Fast answer. Thanks. Is this from English committee?



I would say, yes "kameTii" is from "committee". My knowledge of this is that it is a "women only" affair. A group (a committee) of them get together and arrange for a monthly contribution. Amina, Balwant, Catherine, Durga, Ekantika, Fahmida, Gurmeet, Hemlata, Ismat, Julie, Karanjit and Lakshmi get together and decide to contribute (say) £200 every month begining on 13/05/12. The amount collected would be (baaraaN duuNRe chavvii) £2400. Everyone's name is put in a hat ..no in a palluu of an aaNchal and the organiser of the kameTii puts her hand in and picks one name. Lo and behold it is "Lakshami" who is the first winner! jaise lohaa lohe ko kaaTtaa hai usii tarH Lakshmii lakshmii ko kheNchtii hai!! This process is repeated every month until everyone has got the lump sum of £2400. Of course each month the last winner's name is taken out of the palluu.

Sometimes, by mutual agreement, a person who is in desperate need of a nice lump sum is given this money without involving any "chance". If all these ladies are still on talking terms, they may go on and start another kameTii!


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## tonyspeed

QURESHPOR said:


> I would say, yes "kameTii" is from "committee". My knowledge of this is that it is a "women only" affair. A group (a committee) of them get together and arrange for a monthly contribution. Amina, Balwant, Catherine, Durga, Ekantika, Fahmida, Gurmeet, Hemlata, Ismat, Julie, Karanjit and Lakshmi get together and decide to contribute (say) £200 every month begining on 13/05/12. The amount collected would be (baaraaN duuNRe chavvii) £2400. Everyone's name is put in a hat ..no in a palluu of an aaNchal and the organiser of the kameTii puts her hand in and picks one name. Lo and behold it is "Lakshami" who is the first winner! jaise lohaa lohe ko kaaTtaa hai usii tarH Lakshmii lakshmii ko kheNchtii hai!! This process is repeated every month until everyone has got the lump sum of £2400. Of course each month the last winner's name is taken out of the palluu.
> 
> Sometimes, by mutual agreement, a person who is in desperate need of a nice lump sum is given this money without involving any "chance". If all these ladies are still on talking terms, they may go on and start another kameTii!



I think quite a number of countries do this. I've heard Chinese do this as well. Jamaicans do this as well.

But it seems that in modern parlance a "kitty party" no longer has the connotation of having anything to do with money or savings. I've seen two news articles that treat it just as a social party.
Maybe we are mixing up kammeti and kitty?


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## greatbear

Well, there's always a kitty (pool of money) involved: it is not just a social party. Of course, it is much more than just disposing of a wad of money - it is always socializing foremost. The money is used in several ways: games like bingo, food, someone in need of money, etc.


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## Alfaaz

> I'll try to find the program (Deen-o-Danish) on YT (which will be difficult as I don't remember the date ) and reply.


I found the program and the following words/expressions were used: مواخاتِ مدینہ، امدادِ باہمی، کرزِ حسنہ ; I guess these wouldn't be exactly equivalent to kameTi...

YT Title (for anyone interested): Dunya TV-DEEN-O-DANISH-16-07-2011


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## Qureshpor

^ mu'aaxaat = brotherhood, qarz-i-Hasanah = loan without interest, imdaad-i-baahamii = mutual aid


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## Alfaaz

> ^ mu'aaxaat = brotherhood, qarz-i-Hasanah = loan without interest, imdaad-i-baahamii = mutual aid


So do you think any of the above could be used for kameTii?


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## JaiHind

lcfatima said:


> I was wondering if there is a way to say "kitty party" in Urdu or Hindi



हिंदी भाषी ऐसे शब्दों को शब्दशः प्रयोग कर लेते हैं. हिंदी में भी हम इसे  "किट्टी पार्टी" कह सकते हैं और ये सुन कर किसी को आश्चर्य नहीं होगा.


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## lcfatima

Good point, JaiHind. I was just checking to see if there was a more formal or shuddh term for this. Thanks for your response.


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