Kitty Party, Committee, Bhishi, Adda: What Do You Call It in Your State?
If you've ever tried explaining a kitty party to a friend from a different part of India, you've probably had this exact moment: you describe the monthly get-together, the rotating host, the little pool of money everyone chips in — and they say, "oh, you mean a committee?" or "we call that a bhishi." Same tradition, completely different word, and neither of you is wrong.
It's One of India's Oldest Social Inventions — and Nobody Agreed on a Name
The concept is simple and genuinely old: a group of people — usually women, usually neighbours or close friends — agree to contribute a fixed amount every month into a shared pool. Each cycle, one member takes the whole pool home. Everyone hosts once, everyone receives once, and along the way there's food, games, and a lot of catching up. It's part savings club, part social lifeline, and it's been running quietly in Indian homes for generations — long before anyone thought to give it a single official name.
Because it grew up locally, city by city and state by state, it picked up a different name almost everywhere it took root.
The Regional Map
In North India — Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh — it's most often simply called a Committee. Plain, practical, and instantly understood by almost anyone in the region. Punjabi communities also use Sangat, meaning "company" or "gathering," and Baithak or Gol Baithak — literally, "a sitting together," sometimes "a circular sitting."
Head west to Maharashtra and you'll hear Bhishi far more often than "kitty party." It's such an established word that entire local apps and services are built specifically around the term. Marathi speakers also use Mandali — "a circle of people" — and Goshti, a warmer word for a gathering or discussion circle.
In Gujarati households, the financial side of the tradition often goes by Visi, while in Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat you'll hear Beesi used the same way.
Kerala's version traces back to an even older root: the Chitty or Kuri system, one of the indigenous rotating-savings structures that predates the modern "kitty party" entirely — which is also where the more formal, pan-India term Chit Fund ultimately comes from.
In West Bengal, the word is Adda — though Adda casts a slightly wider net than the others, describing any regular, comfortable hangout, not only the money-pooling kind. Context usually makes it clear which Adda someone means.
And in Urdu-speaking and Muslim communities across North India, you'll often hear Mehfil — a beautifully warm word for a social gathering, with a slightly more poetic feel than "committee" ever manages.
It's Not Just an Indian Thing, Either
Zoom out further and the same basic idea shows up almost everywhere in the world, under its own local name. Economists have a dry academic term for the whole category — Rotating Savings and Credit Association, or ROSCA — but nobody outside a textbook actually calls it that.
In Pakistan, it's a Kameti — practically a cousin of "committee." Mexico calls it a Tanda. In Swahili-speaking East Africa, it's a Chama. Ethiopia has the Equb. Jamaica and the wider West Indies know it as a Pardna. West Africa and the Caribbean call it Susu. Chinese communities across East and Southeast Asia call it a Hui, Vietnam calls the same thing Hụi, the Philippines calls it Paluwagan, Egypt calls it Gam'eya, Indonesia calls it Arisan, and South Korea calls it Gye.
Different continents, different centuries even, but the same underlying instinct: pool a little money together regularly, take turns benefiting from it, and let trust do what a bank contract usually does.
One Tradition, Every Name, One App
Whatever your family calls it — kitty, committee, bhishi, or something else entirely — the actual experience of running one hasn't changed much in decades: someone's tracking who's hosted, someone's chasing a payment on WhatsApp, and someone's trying to remember whose turn is next.
That's exactly the gap The Kitty Klub is built to close — host rotation, payments, Tambola, and events, all in one easy space, whatever you call your group. Start yours free and see for yourself.