Matra-sparshas tu kaunteya shitoshna-sukha-duhkha-dah, agamapayino ‘nityas tams titikshasva bharata. This is verse 14 of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna tells Arjuna that “the contact between the senses and the sense objects gives rise to fleeting perceptions of happiness and distress.” They come and go, like cold and heat. Titikshasva, Krishna says. Endure them.
The Spirit of Mumbai
On July 11, 2006, bombs on Mumbai’s suburban trains killed 209 people. Western Railway restored services the same night. The next morning, “Mumbai woke up to suburban trains running as usual,” The Free Press Journal later recalled.
After a stampede at Elphinstone Road station in 2017, DNA wrote that the spirit of Mumbai, the city’s famed resilience, “unfortunately has become a cliche to justify official apathy.”
Captain Cool
M.S. Dhoni, the former captain of India’s cricket team, is known as Captain Cool for “his ability to maintain composure in high-pressure situations,” Business Today wrote. In June 2025 his application to register “Captain Cool” as a trademark was accepted and published in the official journal of the Trade Marks Registry.
Large, Not Long
In Anand (1971), directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Rajesh Khanna plays Anand Sehgal, a man with an incurable cancer, lymphosarcoma of the intestine. He lives the time he has left in full. The film is remembered for his line: “Babumoshai, zindagi badi honi chahiye, lambi nahin.” Life should be large, not long.
Keeping Company with Life
“Main Zindagi Ka Saath Nibhata Chala Gaya” is a song from the film Hum Dono (1961). Mohammed Rafi sang it, Sahir Ludhianvi wrote the lyrics and Jaidev composed the music. The title means “I went on keeping company with life.” The Quint wrote that the song gave Dev Anand “a philosophy to face the vicissitudes of life.”
Fruit in Its Season
Dheere dheere re mana, dheere sab kuchh hoye. Maali seenche sau ghada, ritu aaye phal hoye.
Slowly, O mind, everything happens slowly. The gardener may pour a hundred pots of water, but the fruit comes when its season comes. The couplet is by the poet Kabir, who lived in the 15th and early 16th centuries.
Faith and Patience
Sai Baba of Shirdi, who died in 1918, asked his followers to develop “two important features of character: faith (Shraddha) and patience (Saburi).”
Delay, Not Darkness
Allah ke yahan der hai, andher nahin hai. With God there is delay, but no darkness. The Rekhta dictionary explains the saying in Hindi: sooner or later, deeds bear their fruit.
All Is Well
In 3 Idiots (2009), the student Rancho has a simple creed: Aal izz well, all is well. He repeats it whenever his friends grow scared and the stakes rise.