दाल में कुछ काला है । | دال میں کچھ کالا ہے۔ |
dāl mēṅ kuch kālā hai | There is something black in the lentils. |
This proverb is used in a situation where the speaker feels there is something amiss and suspects something is wrong, unusual, or out of the ordinary.
If you've ever made
dāl before, you know that before cooking the lentils have to be sifted through in order to remove the black (spoiled?) pieces.
It's comparable to "Something smells fishy" as used in English.
Example) Anjali's husband seems distracted from their marriage these days and has been coming home late from work; she suspects he's having an affair.
जिसकी लाठी उसकी भैंस। | جسکی لاٹھی اسکی بھینس۔ |
jiskī lāṭhī uskī bhains | Whoever has the stick, his is the buffalo. |
This proverb is used in a situation when there is a competition between two or more individuals, and the individual who is strongest comes out on top. The strength can be something like political power, wealth, or social influence, for example.
This one can be compared to the English proverb, "Might makes right."
Example) Fed up with local corruption, Sameer ran for city council as an independent candidate; unfortunately he was not to able to defeat the incumbent candidate who had the support of his political party and various businesses.
घर की मुर्गी दाल बराबर | | گھر کی مرغی دال برابر۔ |
ghara kī murgī dāl barābar | Chicken made at home is equal to lentils made elsewhere. |
Barring vegetarians, most people of the Indian subcontinent place greater value on meat dishes than they do on vegetarian dishes because meat is almost always more expensive and difficult to obtain than vegetables.
This proverb is used in a situation when an individual values something that is not in his possession more than something that is already available to him; though not always the case, what said individual wishes to have is usually of lower quality than what he already has.
This one can be compared to the English proverb, "The grass is always greener on the other side."
Example) Raj's mother works all day to prepare a traditional home-cooked Indian feast for his family, but Raj is more interested in having something from the local pizza place.
I should add that this proverb can be used even with Hindi-Urdu speakers who are vegetarian; they will understand you perfectly and not mind its use
कान पक जाना | کان پک جانا |
kān pak jānā | ears ripening |
This idiom is used when an individual has heard too much of a certain topic or too much of a certain individual speak. He likens his frustration to his ears ripening the way a piece of fruit does.
Example) Aisha is sick of her classmates going on and on about their plans for the upcoming school dance. She thinks to herself,
सारा दिन इनकी बकवास सुन कर, मेरे तो कान पक गए |
سارا دن انکی بکواس سن کر، میرے تو کان پک گئے۔
You can here this idiom being used in
this audio clip from the film
Pakeezah at roughly 0:25.
That's all for now. I'll add more soon!