Don’t Stand in Front of a Palace or Behind a Horse: An Illustrated Book of South Indian Proverbs

A proverb in your speech is like chutney with your rice, goes an Indian saying. In this book, read 251 proverbs (91 illustrated) from Kannada, a Dravidian Indian language with 2000 years of literary history. 

Indians mix proverbs in their conversation. While telling a story or narrating an episode, my grandfather would mix proverbs and similes to perfection with an unforgettable fervor.  

Proverbs need to be committed to pen and paper; otherwise, they fade away. A Chinese proverb goes: The palest ink is better than the best memory.

Some gems in this book include:

Adolescence

• Even a pig appears pretty in adolescence

• A youth’s sprouting mustache blinds him to the world.

Alliances (shifting)

• For three pancakes, I side with the mother-in-law; for six I side with daughter-in-law.

Anger

• A poor man’s anger leads to a broken jaw.

• A nose cut off in anger will not grow back upon becoming calm.

Common Sense

• A crow is a crow—not a nightingale

Critic

• Salute the critic

Doctors and Patients

• An old patient is better than a new doctor.

Effort-Laziness

• Idle in the stable, even a royal horse becomes a mule.

While these proverbs emanate the odor of the Indian soil, they also reflect universal themes. I have described the context for some of the proverbs in the Appendix.