# 78

March 9, 2021

Today’s Hindi idiom (मुहावरा) is:

मन हल्का करना।


(Transliteration: Mann halka karna.)

Literal translation: To make (one’s) mind lighter.

Lighthearted Floating Mind

Figurative meaning: To feel happy. To be cheerful. To be relaxed.

Usage in a sample sentence:
कल के अन्धेरे बादलों को चीरकर सूरज आज सुबह चमक बिखेरा, लेकिन वो भी मेरा मन हल्का करने में कामयाब नही हुआ।

(Transliteration:  Kal ke andhere badalon ko cheerkar suraj aaj subah chamak bikhera, lekin woh bhi mera mann halka karne mein kaamyab nahi hua.)

Translation:  Ripping apart yesterday’s dark clouds, the Sun shone brightly this morning, but even that failed to lighten my mood.

Origins of the idiom: When a person is feeling happier, relaxed or cheerful, we imagine his mind or mood as being lighter.  This idiom refers to this imaginary lightness of one’s mood to convey the meaning that when the mood or mind is lighter, he or she is in a happy or cheerful mood. Compare this idiom with yesterday’s one that alluded to making one’s mind “smaller,” giving it a totally different meaning.