Seyyaamal seydha udhavikku vaiyagamum vaanagamum aatral aridhu. This is couplet 101 of the Tirukkural. In one English verse translation: “Assistance given by those who ne’er received our aid, Is debt by gift of heaven and earth but poorly paid.”
All I Can Give
In the Yuddha Kanda of the Valmiki Ramayana, Hanuman returns from Lanka with news of Sita. Rama praises him. Then he says: “Let me at least embrace this magnanimous Hanuman.” The embrace, he adds, “is all that is easily obtained from me.”
Moi
In Tamil Nadu, guests at a moi virundhu, a moi feast, give the host money. Those who give “will get back the money through ‘moi’ in return,” DT Next explained in 2019, when they hold a feast of their own.
Before the Law Required It
Tata Steel introduced “the 8-hour work day at the Jamshedpur plant in 1912.” Free medical aid dates from 1915, according to Avenue Mail. The company established “the Workers’ Provident Fund Scheme in 1920.”
The company’s annual report for 2008-09 says such measures were “introduced by Tata Steel long before they were enforced by law.”
The Teacher’s Son
Gurudakshina is the gift a student owes the teacher at the end of study. In the Bhagavata Purana, Krishna and his brother Balarama study with the sage Sandipani. When they finish, Sandipani “asked for the restoration of his child, who had disappeared in the ocean at Prabhasa,” as Wikipedia summarizes. “He chose the return of his son who died at place called Prabhasa as the Gurudakshina,” another retelling of the Bhagavata says.
Festival Advance
On October 12, 2020, the government of India “announced a one-time Rs 10,000 interest-free festival advance to all its officers and employees,” Business Standard reported. The order of the Finance Ministry allowed repayment in “not more than ten (10) instalments.”
The Vocabulary of Favors
Ehsaan. A favor, a kindness, the conferring of an obligation, in the Rekhta dictionary.
Ehsaan maanna. To acknowledge a favor, to feel obliged.
Ehsaan utaarna. To return a favor.
Ehsaan-faramosh. Forgetful of favors received, ungrateful.
True to the Salt
Namak halaal, true to the salt. Namak haraam, false to the salt. The Rekhta dictionary defines namak haraam hona as to be treacherous, a traitor, one who harms his benefactor, disloyal. Namak halaal hona means to be loyal, grateful and indebted.
Two Hindi films carry the words as their titles. Namak Haraam (1973), directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, starred Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan. Namak Halaal (1982), directed by Prakash Mehra, starred Amitabh Bachchan.
The Nurturant Task Leader
In 1980 the Indian psychologist Jai B.P. Sinha described the nurturant task leader. In Sinha’s words, such a leader “cares for his subordinates, shows affection, takes personal interest in their well-being.” A 1990 summary of the model by the researcher Ansari adds that the leader makes this care “contingent on the subordinate’s task accomplishment.”
The model describes subordinates who “depend excessively on their superiors for directions, guidance, and support,” and who prefer a personal relationship with the leader to a contractual one.
Salaries After 26/11
In November 2008 terrorists attacked the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai. Employees of the hotel were among those killed. Their families “were entitled to receive full salary” until the date of the employee’s retirement, The Week reported.
Ratan Tata, then chairman of the Tata group, “visited his injured employees at hospitals and wholeheartedly embraced those who lost kith and kin to the violence.” He also “ensured the children of his late employees received a good education.”