- English translation
Like Nishwa's punctured drum, made to play two weddings back to back.
- Literal wording
Like the drum of Nishwa: punctured, and made to keep up with two wedding processions.
- Meaning and lesson
The picture is a drum identified with Nishwa, a village, with a hole in it, already damaged, yet still carted from one wedding procession straight on to the next. Asking a defective instrument to serve two celebrations in a row turns the scene into a joke about overloading something that is already unfit.
Said of a person, it mocks someone who is not up to handling even one job yet tries to manage two together. The jab is that doubling the load does not hide the shortcoming; it simply puts that shortcoming on display twice over.
- When it is used
Apply it to someone who is struggling with one responsibility and nevertheless adds a second, for instance a person attempting two roles while managing neither properly. The tone is mocking, so it suits teasing or pointed criticism rather than polite or formal remarks.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: Like Nishwa's punctured drum, made to play two weddings back to back.