wallah

or wal·la

[ wah-lah, -luh ]

noun

, Indian English.

1. a person in charge of, employed at, or concerned with a particular thing (used in combination):

   a book wallah; a ticket wallah.

wallah

/ ˈwɒlə /

noun

1. informal.
   usually in combination a person involved with or in charge of (a specified thing)

   the book wallah

Word History and Origins

Origin of wallah¹

First recorded in 1770–80; from Hindi -wālā, an adjective suffix meaning “connected with, pertaining to,” also a noun suffix meaning “person in charge” (functionally equivalent to the English agent noun suffix -er ¹( def ) ); from Prakrit, Sanskrit pāla- “protector,” a derivative of the root pā- “to protect”

Word History and Origins

Origin of wallah¹

C18: from Hindi -wālā from Sanskrit pāla protector

Example Sentences

I grew up watching Jaffrey’s films, in awe of her playing the part of a glamorous Bollywood actor in the Merchant Ivory film “Shakespeare Wallah.”

From New York Times

She went out with her father every Wednesday to pick up freshly fried rounds of lentil-based kachori from a street vendor known as a chaat wallah.

From New York Times

“There are places you go in India where there will be a rickshaw wallah next to a Lamborghini, and the people are eating the same food,” Ms. Chauhan said.

From New York Times

In 1965, she won the Berlin film festival’s Silver Bear for best actress for her work in Merchant Ivory’s Shakespeare Wallah.

From The Guardian

Those films would prove to be some of the highlights of Jaffrey’s screen career: although roles on Broadway and Shakespeare Wallah got her off to a promising start, it was the subsequent scarcity of work that made her turn to writing to support her family, which had grown to include three daughters.

From The Guardian