Kati Patang Hona

January 26, 2021

Today’s Hindi idiom (मुहावरा) is:

कटी पतंग होना।

(Transliteration: Kati patang hona.)

Literal translation: To be a cut kite.

Kati Patang

Figurative meaning: To float from one place to another aimlessly.

Usage in a sample sentence:

न कोई उमंग है
न कोई तरंग है
मेरी ज़िंदगी है क्या
इक कटी पतंग है

Transliteration:  
Na koi umang hai
Na koi tarang hai
Meri zindagi hai kya
Ek kati patang hai

Translation:  
I have no ambition
I have no desire
What is my life
But a cut kite

Origins of the idiom: It is not the kite that is cut, but the string to which the kite is tied. When the string is cut, the kite begins to float randomly in the air and gets tossed around in the wind while being pulled down by gravity. The idiom uses this metaphor to describe the situation in some people’s lives, when they find themselves aimlessly going from one place to another or from one meaningless job to another or from one relationship to another. They are like a kite with its string cut. The sentence today is from a song written by lyricist Anand Bakshi for a 1970 Hindi movie ‘Kati Patang.’