Apna samajhna, to count someone as one’s own. The Rekhta dictionary defines it in Hindi as behaving without hesitation in a close or friendly relationship, and counting someone as dear, close, a companion or a confidant, vishvaspatra. Its second meaning is to regard something as one’s own property.
The Men You Command
Field Marshal Philip Chetwode spoke at the inauguration of the Indian Military Academy in December 1932. His words are known at the academy as the Chetwode Motto. Two of its lines read: “The honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next. Your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and every time.”
The Phone
During the Rio Olympics in August 2016, the badminton coach Pullela Gopichand spoke about his player P.V. Sindhu: “Sindhu did not have her phone during the last three months. The first thing is I would return her phone.” He added: “I also stopped her from eating ice-cream. Now she can eat whatever she wants.”
Like a Father
In February 2020 Ratan Tata spoke about J.R.D. Tata, who led the Tata group before him. He called JRD his greatest mentor. “He was like a father and a brother to me,” he said.
Mother and Father
Mai-baap: mother and father. The Rekhta dictionary gives its meanings: parents, master, lord, the one who brings someone up, ruler, guardian. The same word names the parent and the person in charge.
Others Will Clap
Sachin Tendulkar has told how, as a boy, he skipped his own match to watch and cheer the senior team. His coach was Ramakant Achrekar. “I got a tight slap on my face. The tiffin box in my hand flew and all its contents spread across,” Tendulkar said in 2018.
Achrekar’s words are reported in two versions. One is “You don’t need to clap for others. You focus on your cricket and do something so that others clap for you.” The other is “Play in such a way that others cheer you.” Tendulkar said: “That was the biggest lesson of my life. After that I never missed a match.”
Not the Fruits
Karmany evadhikaras te ma phaleshu kadachana. In a standard translation: “You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action.”
The line is verse 47 of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna speaks it to Arjuna on the battlefield.
What Will People Say
Log kya kahenge? What will people say? A WION editor wrote in 2025 that this one line “is enough to make people do things they don’t want to do.”
Naak kat gayi. The nose was cut off. Disgrace.
Saat pusht ki naak katna. The nose of seven generations is cut off. In the Rekhta dictionary: the honor of the whole family is lost.
Sharma Ji’s Son
Sharma ji ka beta, Sharma ji’s son, is the neighbor’s model child. Indian parents hold him up to their own children. As Scroll put it, they “go on and on” about him.
The phrase has become an internet joke. A writer in Tweak India notes that it “has long symbolised middle-class respectability.”