This effort is a result of a discussion, my family had on the breakfast
table. My daughter kept swinging her leg, which kept banging into mine
and then I turned around and said .. “Sau sonaar ki, ek lohaar ki.“
This started off a discussion of what it meant and whether there was an
equivalent of this, in English. Which led me into a hunt for more
English equivalents of Hindi Proverbs. I’ve taken the liberty of
spelling out all Hindi words in English. I hope you get it right the
first time .. or at least, the second!
Disclaimer: I’m no expert on either Hindi or English, so if you notice errors, please go right ahead and point them out!
I searched the Internet to find lists of Hindi proverbs and English
proverbs and then sat down and tried to correlate them. The following
list is what I came up with. As I said, I’m no expert - but I’m happy
with the effort. Hope you enjoy reading this.
- Khatte angoor - Sour grapes (also, literally)
- Bandar kya jaane adrak ka swad - Casting pearls before swine
- Dal mein kaala - More to it than meets the eye
- Naach na jaane, aagan tedha – A poor worker blames his tools
- Jale par namak chidakna - Rubbing salt on one’s wound (almost, literal)
- Door ke dhol suhavane lagte hain – The grass seems greener on the other side
- Aage kuan peeche khaee – Between the devil and the deep sea
- Garajne wale badal baraste nahin hain – Barking dogs seldom bite
- Jitnee lambi chadar ho utna hee pair failana chahiye – Cut your dress according to your cloth
- Ab pachatae kya jab chidiya chug gayi khet – No use crying over spilt milk
- Anth bhala to sab bhala – All’s well that ends well (almost, literal)
- Taali ek haath se nahin bajti – It takes two to quarrel
- Jahan chaah wahaan raha – Where there’s a will, there’s a way (almost, literal)
- Doodh ka jala chaas bhi phook-phook kar peeta hai – Once bitten twice shy
- Jaisa desh, vaisa bhes – In Rome do as the Romans do
- Ek myaan mein do talawaren nahi samaati – No man can serve two masters
- Khotta chana baje ghana - Empty vessels make more noise
By the way, I never did find the equivalent of “Sau sonaar ki, ek lohaar ki“!!
Feedback? …Bouquets? Brickbats? Well, bring ‘em on 
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Hi Sandeep. You have translated some of these phrases / idioms accurately. Some of them are almost exact matches because they have been translated when the stories related to them were translated (angoor khatte … ). Here is my version of this interesting exercise you have started:
* Khatte angoor - (Translated with the story)
* Bandar kya jaane adrak ka swad - Casting pearls before swine
This i think, is a close match, but the meaning differs slightly in the sense that ‘don’t cast pearls before swine’ is used as a caution against wasting precious resources where they are not valued. (I think.)
* Dal mein kaala - More to it than meets the eye
I think a more exact match would be ‘There’s something fishy’.
* Anth bhala to sab bhala – All’s well that ends well (almost, literal)
Also translated with the story
* Taali ek haath se nahin bajti – It takes two to quarrel
I think the phrase is ‘it takes two to tango’.
* Jahan chaah wahaan raha – Where there’s a will, there’s a way (almost, literal)
The hindi phrase is translated from English
* Ek myaan mein do talawaren nahi samaati – No man can serve two masters
Also, ‘don’t try to ride two boats at once’
* Khotta chana baje ghana - Empty vessels make more noise
The English phrase is translated from the Hindi one
A SIncere effort. Karat karat abhyas ke jadmati hote sujan….Practice makes a man perfect
Thanks for sharing …….Sou sunaar ki, ek lohar ki can be translated as every dog has its day.
nice work :)….
hmm … this post is quite interesting…..will try to find the same