Aaram haram hai. Rest is forbidden. The slogan is associated with Jawaharlal Nehru. A column in Navbharat Live writes that Nehru gave it to the public with nation-building in mind. It inspired a song in the 1960 film Apna Ghar.
The attribution rests on later accounts. The sources give no speech and no date for it.
Lahron se darkar nauka paar nahin hoti, koshish karne walon ki kabhi haar nahin hoti. The boat that fears the waves does not cross. Those who try are never defeated.
The lines are widely quoted as the work of Harivansh Rai Bachchan. They were written by Sohanlal Dwivedi. Amitabh Bachchan, Harivansh Rai’s son, had to correct the attribution on his Facebook page, YourStory reported.
In 2023 the Prime Minister’s Office answered a request under the Right to Information Act about Narendra Modi’s leave. “The Prime Minister is on duty all the time,” the reply said. “No leave has been availed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since taking office.”
The request came from Prafful P. Sarda of Pune. Business Today reported the reply on September 4, 2023.
On July 20, 2024, Anna Sebastian Perayil died. She was 26. She had joined EY in Pune as an executive in March of that year.
Her mother, Anita Augustine, wrote to the chairman of EY India. “Anna’s experience sheds light on a work culture that seems to glorify overwork,” she wrote.
Mehnati. Hardworking. The Rekhta dictionary defines it in Hindi as adhik ya poori mehnat karne wala, one who works hard or fully, and parishrami, industrious. Its English glosses include “hard-working,” “industrious” and “diligent.”
The same entry also gives mazdoor, a laborer.
On September 7, 2019, ISRO lost contact with Vikram, the lander of Chandrayaan-2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the scientists. “You are among those who live and work hard to take India to new heights,” he said. “There is no need to get disappointed because it is not a small achievement. The country is proud of you.”
He then embraced the ISRO chairman, K. Sivan, who was in tears. “I am with you. Be courageous,” he told him.
While Rama’s army built the bridge to Lanka, “a humble squirrel carried tiny pebbles, contributing in its own way.” Rama stroked its back, and three lines appeared on it. Amar Chitra Katha notes that the story of the lines “originated in the Ranganatha Ramayana,” a Telugu retelling of the epic.
In 2025 a statue of a squirrel was installed at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
In October 2023 the Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy said on a podcast: “My request is that our youngsters must say, ‘this is my country, I want to work 70 hours a week.'”
In January 2025 a video of S.N. Subrahmanyan, chairman of Larsen & Toubro, reached the public. He told employees he was sorry he could not make them work on Sundays. “How long can you stare at your wife?” he asked, Moneylife reported.
Business leaders, among them Harsh Goenka and Harsh Mariwala, criticized the remarks. L&T replied that “extraordinary outcomes require extraordinary effort.”
In March 2017 the CBSE told schools how to grade discipline in classes 6 to 8. The grade “will be based on the factors like attendance, sincerity, behaviour, values, tidiness, respectfulness for rules and regulations.” It has three levels: A for Outstanding, B for Very Good and C for Fair.
Theivaththaan aagaa theninum muyarchidhan meyvaruththak kooli tharum. Even when fate does not allow success, effort pays the wages of the body’s labor. This is couplet 619 of the Thirukkural, in its chapter on perseverance.