Ulta Chor Kotwal Ko Dante

January 22, 2021

Today’s Hindi proverb (कहावत) is:

उल्टा चोर कोतवाल को डांटे।

(Transliteration: Ulta chor kotwal ko dante.)

If guards like you were not sleeping on duty, thieves like me would not be stealing!

Literal translation: Contrarily, the thief scolds the watchman.

Figurative meaning: To not acknowledge your own bad deeds (or shortcomings) but instead to find fault with the person trying to curb or to check you.

Usage in a sample sentence:

मुख्य न्यायाधीश ने राष्ट्रपति को कुछ असंवैधानिक करने से रोकने की कोशिश की, लेकिन उल्टा राष्ट्रपति ने मुख्य न्यायाधीश को ही नौकरी से निकाल दिया। एक पुराना हिन्दि कहावत याद आया: “उल्टा चोर कोतवाल को डांटे।”

(Transliteration: Mukhya nyayadeesh ne rashtrapati ko kuch asanvaidhanik karne se rokne ki koshish ki, lekin ulta rashtrapati ne mukhya nyayadeesh ko hi naukri se nikaal diya. Ek purana Hindi kahavat yaad aaya: “Ulta chor kotwal ko dante.”)

Translation: The Chief Justice tried to stop the President from doing something unconstitutional, but on the contrary, the President fired the Chief Justice. This reminded me of an old Hindi saying “Ulta chor kotwal ko dante.”

Origins of the proverb: We come across many such ironic situations in our lives. A thief goes to steal, and after he has done his stealing, when he finds the watchman sleeping on duty, the thief scolds the watchman for not doing his job well. Or, the same thief comes back later to accuse the watchman of stealing. This proverb is closely related to one of the previous proverbs: “Chori aur seena jori.”