Aankhon Mein Basana

January 18, 2021

Today’s Hindi idiom (मुहावरा) is:

आँखों में बसाना।

(Transliteration: Aankhon mein basana.)

Literal translation: To harbor, lodge, accommodate someone in the eyes.

Let me into your eyes . . .

Figurative meaning: To hold dear (someone). To value someone very highly. To love someone dearly.  

Usage in a sample sentence:

अपनी आँखों में बसाकर, कोई इकरार करूँ
जी में आता है की जी भर के तुझे प्यार करूँ . . .

(Transliteration:

Apni aankhon mein basakar, koi ikrar karoon
Ji mein ataa hai ki ji bhar ke tujhe pyaar karoon . . .

Translation:

I wish to house you in my eyes and promise something,
I feel like loving you to my heart’s content . . .

Origins of the idiom: This idiom might have come about because we have considered our eyes as one of our most delicate and precious organs. We take care to protect our eyes. We use our eyes to look at people we like. Sometimes, we close our eyes and imagine we are seeing our loved ones. At such times we feel as if that person is living in our eyes. So to let someone live in our eyes might have come to mean ‘to love someone dearly.’ The sample sentence I have chosen is from a lovely song sung by Mohammed Rafi for a 1974 movie called ‘Thokar.’ The song was written by a little-known lyricist called Sajan Dehlvi.