In the Lanka Kand of Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas, the monkey army builds a bridge of stones across the sea. Shri Raghubir pratap te sindhu tare pashan. By the glory of Rama, the stones crossed the sea.
The next line denies the credit to everyone else: Mahima yah na jaladhi kai barni, pahan gun na kapinh kai karni. This glory is not the ocean’s, nor a quality of the stones, nor the work of the monkeys.
Nimitta-matram bhava savya-sachin. In chapter 11 of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna speaks to Arjuna before the battle. In the translation by Swami Mukundananda: “These warriors stand already slain by Me, and you will only be an instrument of My work, O expert archer.” The verse is 11.33.
On September 7, 2019, ISRO lost contact with the Vikram lander of Chandrayaan-2 during its descent to the Moon. A Failure Analysis Committee examined the loss. “Unlike ISRO’s previous record, the report of the Failure Analysis Committee has not been made public,” Wikipedia notes.
A request for the report under the Right to Information Act was refused: “this information cannot be divulged under Section 8(1) of the RTI Act.”
Saathi haath badhana. Friend, lend a hand. The song comes from the film Naya Daur (1957). Sahir Ludhianvi wrote it, O.P. Nayyar composed it, and Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhosle sang it.
In the Hitopadesha, a flock of pigeons is caught in a hunter’s net. The flock first abuses the pigeon whose advice led them into it. Then their king, Speckle-neck, tells them to act “at one moment and with one will, rising under the net, let us fly off with it.”
“Having pondered this advice, the Pigeons adopted it; and flew away with the net.” This is Edwin Arnold’s translation.
In July 2009 a section of a Delhi Metro bridge under construction collapsed, killing five workers and an engineer. E. Sreedharan, the managing director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, offered to resign. He said he had “to take full moral responsibility.” The Delhi government rejected his resignation, because it needed him to finish the Metro projects on time, Business Standard reported.
Jii huzuur. Yes, sir. The Rekhta dictionary describes it as a reply of agreement, said out of respect or as flattery.
Hukm aankhon par. The order is on my eyes. In Rekhta’s Hindi gloss, the order is accepted from the heart, with great pleasure.
Hukm-bardaar. One who carries out orders. Rekhta translates it as obedient.
In the Udyoga Parva of the Mahabharata, before the war, Krishna offers Karna a place on the side of the Pandavas. Karna refuses. “I cannot venture, O Janardana, to behave falsely towards the intelligent son of Dhritarashtra,” he says in the Ganguli translation. “I have, O Krishna, enjoyed sovereignty for thirteen years, without a thorn on my side.”
Later his mother, Kunti, makes the same request. Karna answers her: “How can I render that friendship of Dhritarashtra’s sons utterly futile?”
Namak halaal, true to the salt. Namak haraam, false to the salt. The Rekhta dictionary defines namak haraam hona as to be treacherous, a traitor, one who harms his benefactor, disloyal. Namak halaal hona means to be loyal, grateful and indebted.
Two Hindi films carry the words as their titles. Namak Haraam (1973), directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, starred Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan. Namak Halaal (1982), directed by Prakash Mehra, starred Amitabh Bachchan.
In 1980 the Indian psychologist Jai B.P. Sinha described the nurturant task leader. In Sinha’s words, such a leader “cares for his subordinates, shows affection, takes personal interest in their well-being.” A 1990 summary of the model by the researcher Ansari adds that the leader makes this care “contingent on the subordinate’s task accomplishment.”
The model describes subordinates who “depend excessively on their superiors for directions, guidance, and support,” and who prefer a personal relationship with the leader to a contractual one.