Welcome to Khaufpur

The very clever website of the city of Khaufpur -- a city which does not exist.

Khaufpur is the setting for a novel which was reviewed in the NYT today: Animal's People, by Indra Sinha. The book was a finalist for the 2007 Man Booker Prize. Khaufpur represents Bhopal, the site of the disastrous 1984 gas leak from the Union Carbide chemical plant (Khauf = fear).

I checked out my horoscope in Khaufpur's Astrology section, maintained by Shri Shri Shadangi Maharaj:
Capricorn: Your sense of humour is needed right now but remember that all things are sent to try us and that the universe is a joke of the Upstairs One so don't life too seriously. Err on the bright side and remember chicken pox only last three weeks.

I was also intrigued by Khaufpur's heritage liqueur, Kesar Kasturi, "a liqueur imbued with saffron and musk". That could inspire some khauf all by itself.

5 comments:

Lucy said...

Not entirely convinced by the picture of the sheep on the bottle...

Ramesh Gandhi said...

It's not a musk deer?

Indra said...

It is a musk deer, as featured in the famous couplet by the poet Kabir:

teri saain tujh mein tyo puhupan mein baas, kasturi ka mrig jyo phiri phiri dhunde ghaas.

Your Lord is within you like the scent within a flower, yet like the musk deer you wander, seeking the fragrance that comes from within.

Sri Sri Shadangi Maharaj sends his regards. He is currently walking to Delhi. See www.bhopal.net.

Lucy said...

I was going to say I wasn't sure a musk deer was any more appetising than a sheep, but having read that couplet I'm inclined to take that back!

Anonymous said...

I love fictional cities. There, every space can serve as a metaphor, without mucking up traffic.