# 98

March 30, 2021

Today’s Hindi proverb (कहावत) is:

धोबी का कुत्ता घर का न घाट का

(Transliteration: Dhobi ka kutta ghar ka na ghat ka.)

Literal translation: The washerman’s dog belongs neither to (the washerman’s) home nor to the riverside.

Figurative meaning: A person who keeps moving from place to place and ends up establishing himself nowhere.

Usage in a sample sentence:
जब जॉन ने अपने माता-पिता के ओर्थडोक्स चर्च को छोड़ दिया और कैथोलिक चर्च में शामिल हुआ, उन्हें वहां बहुत कम स्वीकृति मिली; तब उसे धोबी के कुत्ते की तरह महसूस हुआ, जो न घर का न घाट का रहा।

Workers beat laundry against stones at a Dhobi Ghat along the Ganges River on a foggy winter morning, Varanasi, India. (Image credit: Brett Cole.)

(Transliteration: Jab John ne apne matha-pitha ke orthodox church ko chod diya aur catholic church mein shamil hua, unhe wahan bahut kam swikriti mili; tab usse dhobi ke kutte ki tarah mehsus hua, jo na ghar ka na ghat ka raha.)

Translation: When John left his parents’ Orthodox Church and joined the Catholic Church, he received very little acceptance there; he then felt like the dog of a washerman, who belongs neither to home nor to the riverside.

Origins of the proverb: In India, one of the meanings of the word “ghat” is a ‘set of steps or a slope leading to a riverside.’ The washerman goes to the ghat daily to wash the clothes in the river water. His dog goes with him in the morning and comes back home with him in the evening. The dog, therefore, ends up not making friends with other dogs near home nor at the ghat, because he is a temporary “visitor” at both places. People in ancient India coined this proverb to allude to any person who is unable to stay loyal to one organization. For example, a politician who keeps shifting his party allegiance: that politician then gets treated like the washerman’s dog — not considered belonging to any party.