Haath udhaar, a hand loan. The Rekhta dictionary defines it as a loan that is asked for when it is needed, without anything in writing.
A second definition adds the terms. It is given “without writing,” on the promise that it will be returned soon.
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.”
Fifty-Fifty
After the Maharashtra assembly election of 2019, the Shiv Sena and the BJP disagreed about what had been promised. The Sena said that Amit Shah had assured Uddhav Thackeray, at his home Matoshree in Mumbai, that the two parties would share the chief minister’s post. Sanjay Raut of the Sena said: “our only demand is that things should work according to what has been decided earlier.”
On October 29, 2019, Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP said: “The Shiv Sena was not promised CM’s post for two-and-a-half years when the alliance was formalised before the Lok Sabha polls.” Amit Shah later said: “I don’t make promises in closed rooms.”
Bhishma’s Vow
In the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata, King Shantanu wants to marry Satyavati. Her father has doubts about the rights of her future sons. Shantanu’s son Devavrata answers him in front of the assembled chiefs: “Ye kings, I have already relinquished my right to the throne.”
The father still has doubts about Devavrata’s own children. So Devavrata adds: “O fisherman, from this day I adopt the vow of Brahmacharya,” lifelong celibacy. By this vow he became known as Bhishma.
Three Steps
Every year Kerala celebrates Onam, the festival of King Mahabali’s return. In the story, Vishnu comes to Mahabali as Vamana, a young Brahmin, and asks for as much land as he can cover in three steps. Mahabali’s guru Shukracharya warns him, but “he decided to keep his promise.”
Vamana covers the earth and the heavens in two steps, and Mahabali offers his own head for the third. Vamana grants him a boon: “that he could return to his kingdom during the 10-day festival of Onam.”
Said Once
Naan oru thadava sonna, nooru thadava sonna madhiri. If I say it once, it is as if I had said it a hundred times. Rajinikanth says it in the Tamil film Baasha (1995).
A Word Given
In the Ramcharitmanas, Tulsidas’s retelling of the Ramayana, King Dasharatha has promised Queen Kaikeyi two boons. She asks that her son Bharat be crowned and that Rama be sent into exile for fourteen years. Dasharatha is broken by grief, but he keeps his word.
The poem explains it in one line: Raghukul reet sada chali aayi, pran jaye par bachan na jaai. It has always been the rule in the house of Raghu. Life may go, but a promise may not.
Commitment
“Ek baar jo maine commitment kar di, fir main apne aap ki bhi nahi sunta.” Once I have made a commitment, I do not even listen to myself. Salman Khan says it as Radhe in Wanted (2009).
The film site Filmibeat lists it among the 16 most famous Hindi film dialogues. The wording varies slightly between sources.
An Oral Agreement
Under Section 10 of the Indian Contract Act of 1872, an oral agreement is a valid contract if it meets the usual conditions, such as free consent and a lawful object. “A sale agreement can be oral also and valid,” the Supreme Court held in Alka Bose v. Parmatma Devi, as quoted by the legal site iPleaders. The Delhi High Court has called oral agreements “valid and enforceable.”
The difficulty is proof. An oral agreement is hard to prove if a dispute arises later.
Giving One’s Tongue
Zabaan is the Hindi and Urdu word for tongue. It also means a promise. The Rekhta dictionary gives vachan and vaada, both meaning promise, among its senses. Zabaan dena, to give one’s tongue, means to give one’s word.