back home we have something called hujra/betak, it’s basically a place, where men chill, drink tea, smoke pipes, talk, have meetings, guesthouse for male guests and playing cricket etc.
i was wondering if they have them in other parts of pakistan as well?
“hujra” is an arabic word meaning “room”…
i think in our area, back in pakistan, hujra is more often used to refer to the room of a “bazurg”…
but i have seen it in literature meaning simple and plain “room”…
“baithak” is a place which means “draawing room” or a “sitting area” usually…
what u r talking of seems like an open area…
i cant think of playing cricket indoors… 
Its not part of the house, its usually a room or two with a 'bathroom' and a big courtyard. Each tribe/clan usually has their own.
In our city houses the men’s area is just a ‘sitting area’ with a separate entrance/exit.
Hujras are usually found in villages around NWFP. It is adjacent to the main house. It can have a veranda and a small toilet. Women are strictly prohibited in the area. Usually a male servant carries tea or food from the main house to this area where guests would spend all day talking crap.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by funguy: *
Hujras are usually found in villages around NWFP. It is adjacent to the main house. It can have a veranda and a small toilet. Women are strictly prohibited in the area. Usually a male servant carries tea or food from the main house to this area where guests would spend all day talking crap.
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lol, yep :)
now i get it....
its same as the arabic "majlis"....
men sitting, talking, watching TV, drinking "gahwa" (arabic coffee), women not allowed, gaao takya etc etc...
Well we have one such place in our village in southern Pakistan, we didn't call it hujra though. I think it was called "Autaaq", I'm not too sure if thats a correct urdu word. It was not attached to the rest of the residential houses, rather it was across the street, near the masjid.
Anyway, yes it was a men's place. Musaafir log, as well as formal guests that were visiting used to stay there. I remember we (girls) weren't allowed to go there on our own, but were taken when we nagged mamooNs, bhais, and other male relatives. It was really nice from inside with a very well groomed lawn and a garden with phool wagaira. There were 3/4 bedrooms if my memory serves me right, and obviously bathroom wagaira. At that time (about 10 years ago), khana wagaira was made at home and taken to autaaq. By now, they've probably made a kitchen there too.
Is it like the "dera" in villages in the Punjab?
In our village the hujra was called the betak, it was a spacious, airy room at the far end of our house, off to the side the room it had a door facing the street, a bathroom on the left and a courtyard before it. We weren't forbidden from going there in fact if I remember properly I think I went in there once when it was packed with male guests actually my grandma forced me to go, she wanted to talk to my grandpa, I was young (only thirteen)I guess it was ok. My grandpa never tired of the betak.
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*Originally posted by pk taz: *
Its not part of the house, its usually a room or two with a 'bathroom' and a big courtyard. Each tribe/clan usually has their own.
In our city houses the men’s area is just a ‘sitting area’ with a separate entrance/exit.
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yeah right. we've had one too in our village. every tribal village has one or more, it's also for strange people who come for some days.
and in my Kalay we used both words, but BETAK was like a guestroom in our house and HUJRA is a kind of guestroom but not at anyones home, its usually in the centre of the village.
Same here I have been in the betaks many times. 
Is it something to be proud of?
Or maybe betak is different from Hujra?
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*Originally posted by ~Sehar~: *
I think it was called "Autaaq"
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Autaaq is a sindhi word for "Chopal (hindi,urdu)/BaiThak(urdu)"
Hujra refers to a small room within a house normally having it's own toilet and bathroom.
Thanks jhappi...It makes sense now.
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*Originally posted by Aryan_Shponkai: *
yeah right. we've had one too in our village. every tribal village has one or more, it's also for strange people who come for some days.
and in my Kalay we used both words, but BETAK was like a guestroom in our house and HUJRA is a kind of guestroom but not at anyones home, its usually in the centre of the village.
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yeah that's it, betak is the one part of the house and hujra is the village one.
this thread was suppose to be about hujra but i mistakenly used the two terms interchangibly.
the word "Hujra" is often used out of respect for a religous persons room etc too.
I thought Hujra was a room next to mosque where the Imam or Moulvi lives.
I think in some places both 'hujra' and 'baiThak' is interchangeable. We have baiThak's within the home and also communal baiThaks for the village in the village centre or high street where the men gather to smoke huqqa, gossip and accurately recognise and name the women going past in their head-to-toe burqahs.
Actually this post reminds me of the village 'aJhaang'. From what I have been told this sounds like it was the pre-tv era entertainment. A sort of gathering of village people where they told stories and poetry and all-round singing of folk songs, sometimes with theatrical performances which went on well into the night. Does anybody know what I am talking about?