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.
The performance appraisal form for officers of the Indian Police Service has a part titled “Assessment of Attributes.” Its first entry is “Attitude to work.” The appraisal form of the Indian Statistical Service lists the same attribute.
Karat karat abhyas ke, jadmati hot sujan. Rasari aavat jaat te, sil par parat nisan. By practicing again and again, even a dull mind becomes wise. A rope going back and forth leaves a mark on the stone.
The couplet is attributed to the poet Vrind. Some school study guides list it under Kabir.
In a popular telling of the Ramayana, the old devotee Shabari waits for Rama and gathers berries for him. “She would pluck one, taste it and, if it was sweet, she would put it in her basket, discarding the bitter ones.” Rama accepts the berries she has tasted.
The writer Devdutt Pattanaik notes that there is “no reference to this either in the 2,000-year-old Sanskrit Valmiki Ramayana.”
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.
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.