Ghar ka bhedi Lanka dhaye. The one who knows the secrets of the house brings down Lanka. Lanka is the kingdom of Ravana in the Ramayana. A folklore archive at the University of Southern California records the proverb as meaning that “the person who is a traitor to his/her own home can bring the entire house down.”
Ownership Realignment
On April 30, 2024, the Godrej family announced that it would split its 127-year-old group. Adi and Nadir Godrej took Godrej Industries and its listed companies. Their cousins Jamshyd Godrej and Smita Godrej Crishna took Godrej & Boyce and a land bank in Mumbai.
The family statement called the agreement “an ownership realignment,” reached “in a respectful and mindful way to maintain harmony and to better align ownership.”
Monkeygate
At the Sydney Test of January 2008, the match referee charged Harbhajan Singh over language alleged to be racially abusive toward the Australian Andrew Symonds and banned him for three Tests. India said it would “discontinue the tour pending the outcome of the appeal against the ban.”
On appeal, Judge John Hansen found “insufficient evidence for the racism charge.” Harbhajan was fined half his match fee. “Evidence given by Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar was crucial to the success of spinner Harbhajan Singh’s appeal,” the New Zealand Herald reported.
Padwa in Baramati
In July 2023 Ajit Pawar split the Nationalist Congress Party and broke with his uncle, Sharad Pawar. On November 14, 2023, Diwali Padwa, the Pawar family gathered at Govindbaug in Baramati. Sharad Pawar, his daughter Supriya Sule and Ajit Pawar all attended. It was the family’s first gathering since the split.
The next day Supriya Sule celebrated Bhau Beej, the festival of brothers and sisters, with her cousin Ajit.
Kith and Kin
In the Vana Parva of the Mahabharata, the Pandavas live in exile in the forest because of their cousin Duryodhana. Duryodhana comes near their camp, and the Gandharvas, celestial beings, take him prisoner.
In C. Rajagopalachari’s retelling, Yudhishthira speaks to Bhima. “Dear brother, this is not the time for you to rejoice. The Kauravas are our kith and kin and their humiliation, at the hands of strangers, is ours.” “We must rescue them,” he says.
Family Arrangement
On January 21, 1976, the Supreme Court decided Kale and Others v. Deputy Director of Consolidation. The judgment set out rules for family arrangements, the settlements that relatives make among themselves. One of them reads: “The family arrangement may be even oral in which case no registration is necessary.”
The Court also described its general approach. “The Courts have, therefore, leaned in favour of upholding a family arrangement instead of disturbing the same on technical or trivial grounds.”
The Vocabulary of Insiders
Ghar ka aadmi. A man of the house. The Rekhta dictionary gives “member of one’s family, family friend.” Its Hindi entry extends the meaning to relatives, a personal servant and an acquaintance.
Ghar ki baat. A matter of the house. Rekhta gives in Hindi a secret of the house, a matter between ourselves, a private matter.
Langotiya yaar. A loincloth friend. Rekhta gives “an old friend (from childhood), a very intimate friend, a playmate, a crony, bosom buddies.”
Bengal Wants Its Own Daughter
In the 2021 West Bengal assembly election, the Trinamool Congress launched the slogan Bangla nijer meyekei chai, Bengal wants its own daughter.
The party presented the leaders of the opposition party as “outsiders who are on ‘election tourism’ to the state,” the Deccan Herald reported. “They don’t want some outsiders to take over the reins of Bengal,” a party leader said.