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January 19, 2021
Today’s Hindi idiom (मुहावरा) is:
आँखें बिछाना।
(Transliteration: Aankhen bichana.)
Literal translation: To lay (as in unrolling and laying a carpet for a VIP to walk on) or to spread (as in spreading a mat for someone to sleep) eyes.
Figurative meaning: To receive an arriving person with great affection. To wait longingly for a person you love.
Usage in a sample sentence:
कब से आँखें बिछाये बैठी हूँ, तुम कम से कम एक sms तो भेज सकते थे कि late आओगे।
(Transliteration: Kab se aankhen bichaye baitthi hoon, tum kam se kam ek SMS toh bhej sakte thae ki late aaoge.)
Translation: Since when I am sitting with my eyes spread; you could have at least sent one SMS that you’d be late.
Origins of the idiom: This idiom also uses our eyes to convey the value we attach to the person eagerly awaited or just arrived. When we longingly wait for someone, our eyes naturally are fixed on the road or the path that the person will come by. This ‘fixing’ of our eyes to the road is described in a more poetic manner by saying our eyes are ‘laid’ or ‘spread’ on the pathway. Some people say that this idiom also means “to welcome very affectionately someone who has just arrived.” I think the welcoming part is a natural culmination of the ‘waiting’ that took place before the person actually arrived.
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.
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.
January 16, 2021
Today’s Hindi idiom (मुहावरा) is:
सर आँखों पर रखना।
(Transliteration: Sar aankhon par rakhna.)
Literal translation: To keep head over eyes.
Figurative meaning: To value very highly. To hold dear. To revere.
Usage in a sample sentence:
तुझे जीवन की डोर से बाँध लिया है बाँध लिया है
तेरे ज़ुल्म-ओ-सितम सर आँखों पर
मैंने बदले में प्यार के प्यार दिया है प्यार दिया है
तेरी खुशियाँ और गम सर आँखों पर
(Transliteration:
Tujhe Jeevan ki dor se baandh liya hai, baandh liya hai,
Tere zulm-o-sitam sar aankhon par . . .
Main ne badle mein pyar ke pyar diya hai, pyar diya hai,
Teri khushiyan aur gam sar aankhon par . . .
Translation:
I have tied you to me with the chord of life,
Your cruelty-n-torture, sar aankhon par (I hold dear) . . .
I have given love for love,
Your happiness and sorrow, sar aankhon par (I hold dear) . . .
Origins of the idiom: I have no idea what the origin of this idiom is. Probably the head and the eyes being very highly valued parts of our body, people started using this idiom to indicate that someone or something is being given equal or greater importance than the head and the eyes. The sentences above are taken from a song written by lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri for a 1962 movie ‘Asli Naqli’ with actors Dev Anand and Sadhana. Here is a link to that song: https://bit.ly/35Khucg. I liked Dev Anand’s head-bowing gesture at 0:25s acknowledging and gracefully accepting Sadhana’s words.
Know Yourself - Γνώθι Σεαυτόν 
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