Interesting Indian Idioms
On Eating.
Says an Indian proverb or aphorism ‘eat to live, not live to
eat.(Jeene ke liye khao, khane ke liye mat jio.) Proverbs are the facts
that reveal the truth we can realize what is going on. We see everywhere
everyone is living to eat. It is amusing that they are not eating only eatable,
but eating ‘not eatable’ things too. Usually some government, central or
provincial, officers and employees are being known as ‘excess eating person’
The people usually say ‘Bahut khat hai yar.’
Here khata is not not meant ‘eats’ eatable. Eats denotes that
eats ‘money,’ without ‘extra money’ he dose not perform his duties for which he
is being taken salary accordingly.
Who is eating their food, their eatables? Who knows?
As we have discussed above that un-eatable is being eaten by
government employees and ministry-men. News nowadays coming that there are
several ministers pushed into jail for
unjustified eating. They ate chara
or ghas (grass), ate coal, lands, machines etc. Think, they have eaten
un-eatables. So India
should not only known as an agricultural country, it must be known as ‘an
eating country, which can eat every thing eatable or uneatable.
Thus we see, India
is most sensitive about eating as it is a country of agriculture. What
agriculture land is producing for man is also being eaten by pets and unwanted animals,
insects, birds etc.. The grains are abstracted and the rest part of a crop is
left to be fed to pet animals like cows, bulls and buffaloes.
Many parts of land is also left to grow grass for
animals. India shown that it does not has
any difference between man and animal. As animal can eat the eatables meant for
men, the men can also eat the grass or the chara. They use to say about an idiot person that
his or her wisdom is gone to eat grass.( Aql chara charne gayi.)
Many and many proverbs and idioms are there about eating or
on eating. Some of the idioms can make you refreshed as you ‘ate’ some rich
refreshment.
Let’s take some uneatable things those have been used in
Indian idioms. An Indian can eat oath(qasam khana) as well as a person.(aadmi
or khasam khana). In punjabi they
use an abuse khasman nu khani. An Indian can eat sandles or shoes. In an
Indian film millennium star Amitabh Bachchan is asked by his co-actress Farida
Jalal whether to eat shoes. (Jute khaiyega kya?) As murgh musallam (spicy-cock) is eaten
by rich non-vegetarians, poor persons are use to eat sorrows.(gham khana).
An Indian government is also blamed by opposition along-with the people of India
that the government has sold the nation and ate it.( sarkar desh bechkar kha
gai.) Anything in India
can be eaten. The eat gaali (abuses) as they eat goli (bullets in
battles and tablets in illness.)
If they are fond of eating
tambakoo (tobacco), they are also devoted eater of chugli
(backbiting). They culturally eat paan
or tambul (beetles). Their folk song is ‘paan khaye saiyan hamaro’ (
my husband eat beetles.) The most powerful function is Rishvat khana ( eating
means taking bribes.)
Taao khana (being irritated) is their another
favourite attitude. Similarly bhao khana (showing attitude) is their
most natural behaviour. In this way they enhance their prices, value, cost etc.
Bhao is being used as the price of any marketable thing or place. Allo kya
bhao diye? (what is the price of potato per kg.) That is also concerned with
the price of person also. Uske to bade bhao hain yaar.(he is very prominent or popular.) woh to bade bhao khata hai or uske to aajkal
bhao badh gaye hain.( he shows attitudes or he is nowadays became arrogant)
Idioms on eating have a wide spectrum. Let’s conclude
with a ‘classified study’ of the different types of idioms based on khana
that is eating.
We can classify the idioms in three sectors. Veg, Nonveg and
Mixed veg-nonveg.
Veg idioms are - paapad belna, chatni peesana,
aaloo chheelna, khichdi pakaana, daal galna, daal galaana, daal na galna, namak
mirch lagaana, achaar daalna, roti senkna, bhurta banana, daana dalna, chaara
daalna, etc.
Non veg idioms : murgha banana, bakra halal
karna, gala / gardan katna, machhli marna, machhali phansna, kaleja / dil
nikaalna, boti boti karna, bheja / dimag / jaan khana etc.
Mixed – Veg-Non veg idioms : ghar ki murgi
daal baraabar, roti beti / boti ka rishtaa hona, etc.
Thinking this may make you a little refreshed. If digested
please have some more afterward.
Dated : 5,6,7,8,9.10.13
Dr. R.Ramkumar,
Associate Professor,
Govt. PG College,
Balaghat. MP.
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