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Prabha Prasad's avatar

Yes Prasanna. I know a lot of people who do much ado about nothing. They get excited & also worried about achieving little things. Exactly answering to the description of the title of your article. But I have also seen a lot of people who go about patiently & calmly achieving Herculean tasks. Blessed are the latter. . They certainly do not need a blood pressure monitor.😂

It is all in the mind sent my little brother.which category do you belong to ?

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M R Prasanna's avatar

I think I'm somewhere in between like trishanku:)

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Shankar's avatar

Am a deewana of Filter Coffee...Keep pouring...

Riding an elephant to catch a grasshopper.. Is it the same as "Khoda pahaad, aur nikla chuha"? ..Does it also mean that the effort that one puts in should be commensurate with the expected reward or output?

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M R Prasanna's avatar

Thank you Shankar. Your inference is correct.

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Shahji Jacob's avatar

I have not heard of the idiom “Riding an elephant to catch a grasshopper”. However, I have heard the idiom of trying to kill a fly with a howitzer, (or bazooka, or sledgehammer etc), which perhaps conveys the same thing. My new learning for this week therefore comes again from you. Thanks Pras.

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M R Prasanna's avatar

Dear Shahji, the two idioms are not exactly synonymous in their import. The former means getting very little from too much effort and the latter means using disproportionate effort to overcome a minor problem.

Greatly appreciate your compliments.

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Shahji Jacob's avatar

Yes. I agree that it is not exactly the same. In Malayalam, there is a saying which goes sone thing like this " You don't burn down the house to kill a mouse residing there which perhaps is more suited to my example,

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M R Prasanna's avatar

Very apt! Thank you!!

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M A Ganesh's avatar

Thanks Prasanna, great to read and the reviews too. Gratitude, to appreciate, to say thank you etc, should be taught from a very young age at school and home. But push, shove, grab is the norm and unfortunately taught by parents, who don't realize they will be the victims in old age.

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M R Prasanna's avatar

Well said!

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Commander V K Santhanam (Retd)'s avatar

Very good Idiom chosen today at the right time & needs to be preserved. An example which comes to my mind immeditely - the tragic accident in Odisha. The people from railways who are working tirelessly ( ofcourse others as well ) at the end of the Day do not get any respect or a word of Thank You , rather the Politicians will start the game - Resign, rlwys safety is zero, corrupt , etc. These Railway men needs great Appreciation from Citizens of India. Theya are fighting, a War at Home. Regards

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S N Viswanathan's avatar

When I read you post today, I am remembered of two batsmen of old. One was Anshuman Gaikwad and other was Gundappa Vishwanath. While Anshuman used to take so much efforts to hit the ball and the ball would travel only 30 yards, Vishwanath used to just slice the ball and it would reach the boundary. Recently, an Officer used all his efforts and drained out so much water to retrieve his mobile phone!!!

While I am very regular reader, in fact I try to read in the few minutes of your post landing in the mailbox, I don't comment as it takes "too much effort to write and post" !! )-:

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M R Prasanna's avatar

Thank you for taking time out to comment. Much appreciated.

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Tarun Kunzru's avatar

An over kill is when you use a Bazooka to kill a fly! But a complete killer is when you exploit the poor and vulnerable. As rightly pointed out Pras, taking for granted the unrecognized effort/ dedication of a housewife. It's a tough job day in and day out with no promotions and no vacations.

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M R Prasanna's avatar

As always succinctly put.

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