[Assam] A letter to the Editor

[Chan Mahanta]

O' Komol:

Buisa,  bhut laagile mukhot jui nojole'.

You get incurable diseases  that daaktors can't cure or you lose your 
mind that even Tilok daaktor can't retrieve. A Taabij or two from the 
right 'bez' could be  the only answer.

So you are really pushing it on attempting to find some 
rationalization for  'bhut'  in lieu of 'bhwt' for bih or 
kordoi-xiria jolokiya's  nomenclature.


But like you, I too am curious about 'bhwt's' etymology.


Hope we will get some answers that will quench this burning curiosity.

Iti twmar:

so-ko










At 5:50 PM -0500 6/30/07, kamal deka wrote:
>The following letter got published in today's edition of The 
>Sentinel.Any comments?
>KJD
>
>
>
>Of Asomiya Chilli Pepper
>It is said that chilli pepper is not indigenous to India. Although 
>domesticated in Mexico in 7000 BC and introduced to India by the 
>Portuguese only about 400 years ago, an Asomiya chilli pepper is the 
>new champion in the world of heat. The ultra-hot bih jolokia or bhut 
>jolokia of Asom has recently made headlines for its deadliest punch, 
>and the Guinness World Records Ltd has certified them as the hottest 
>of all species, displacing Red Savina of California. The bhut 
>jolokia is now officially the world's hottest pepper, rated at an 
>inferno of 1,001,304 Scioville heat units, which are used to rate 
>the pungency level of pepper. In fact, these blistering hot Asomiya 
>chillies have recently figured in the prestigious Time magazine for 
>being the world's hottest chillies.
>I am nonplussed by the multitude of names of this pepper, used by 
>the local people differently at different places. They bear monikers 
>such as bhut jolokia, bih jolokia, borbih jolokia, Naga jolokia and 
>kordoi-siria jolokia. Moreover, bhut jolokia is also spelt as bhwt 
>or bhot jolokia. What is the deal with these different names that 
>one can read in print and on the Internet these days for supposedly 
>the very same chilli variety? Are these chillies the same but named 
>differently at different places? Are the names bhut jolokia and bhot 
>jolokia interchangeable?
>It is possible that bhut jolokia is so named owing to its ghostly 
>bite or introduction by the Bhutias from Bhutan. Can any reader of 
>your esteemed daily enlighten us as to why bhut jolokia is also 
>known as bhwt or bhot jolokia? A few members of the Asomiya diaspora 
>here in the US are of the opinion that the moniker ''bhot'' stemmed 
>from an Asomiya tribe and find the name bhut jolokia very derogatory.
>It will not be out of order to mention here that if one happens to 
>bite into a particular hot specimen, he or she should not gulp a 
>glass of water to douse the fire - it will make matters worse as the 
>capsaicin oil in the chillies and water do not mix. Yogurt or milk 
>will give one the needed relief.
>Kamaljit Deka,
>Sugarland, Texas.
>
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