Word Meaning
हवाई
hawāī
Meaning
Aerial, driven by wind, airborne, light, or flying erratically.
Detailed Meaning
Pertaining to air or the atmosphere; something light, fleeting, or carried away by the wind. In the couplet, it combines with 'kāġaz' (paper) as 'kāġaz-e-hawāī' to describe a thin paper scrap, kite, or aerial firework flying helter-skelter. It evokes the helpless, restless drifting of the lover's letter once it arrives at the beloved's quarters.
Etymology
Arabic 'hawā' (air, sky, desire) + Persian relative suffix '-ī'.
Usage
In ghazal poetry, 'hawāī' frequently appears in compounds denoting unsubstantiality, erratic restlessness, or baseless rumors and whimsical notions.
Examples
kāġaz-e-hawāī kī tarah bhaṭaknā (to wander restlessly like a windborne scrap of paper)
tir-e-hawāī (an arrow shot aimlessly into the air)