వట్టింటికి పోచిళ్ళు చల్లినట్లు.

vattintiki pochillu challinatlu.

Translation

Like scattering parched grains in an empty house.

Meaning

This proverb is used to describe an action that is completely useless or produces no result. Parched grains (pochillu) are meant to be eaten; scattering them in an empty, uninhabited house is a waste of resources and effort, as there is no one there to benefit from it.

Related Phrases

Like pouring hot water on a raw, peeled wound.

This expression is used to describe a situation where someone's suffering is aggravated by further misfortune or harsh words. It is similar to the English idiom 'to rub salt in the wound.' It refers to making a painful situation even more unbearable through insensitive actions or additional problems.

Every house has an earthen fire-place.

This proverb means that certain problems, weaknesses, or secrets are universal and exist in every household or for every person, regardless of how they appear on the outside. It is used to convey that one is not alone in their struggles and that human nature or domestic issues are the same everywhere.

Every man has his faults.

Like sprinkling grains of rice over an empty house. Pôchillu is a superstitious rite in which a man having thrown grains of rice on a neighbour's house, listens for any words he can overhear, and elicits a meaning from them. A profitless proceeding.

This expression refers to a futile or waste of effort where the outcome is negligible or disappears immediately. Just as sprinkling a little water on a bone-dry, parched floor is absorbed instantly without making a lasting difference, it is used when someone's help or investment is too small to solve a massive problem.

Like rubbing salt on a wound

This expression is used to describe a situation where someone's existing pain, misfortune, or sorrow is aggravated by further unkindness or additional problems. It is used when a bad situation is made even worse by someone's comments or actions.

Like wealth fallen in the middle of a river returning to the center of the house.

This expression is used to describe a situation where something valuable that was thought to be lost forever or irrecoverable is unexpectedly and miraculously recovered. It signifies an unlikely but welcome stroke of luck or the return of lost assets.

Like pouring hot water on a burning fire.

This expression is used to describe an action that makes a bad situation even worse or intensifies an already heated conflict. It is similar to the English idiom 'adding fuel to the fire,' though it specifically uses the imagery of hot water being ineffective or aggravating to a flame.

Like stopping the water-lift after seeing the clouds

This proverb describes a situation where someone prematurely abandons their hard work or current resources in anticipation of a future benefit that hasn't arrived yet. It warns against being over-optimistic or lazy based on mere signs, like a farmer who stops manually watering his crops just because he sees clouds, even though it hasn't rained yet.

No man is useless.

This expression is used to emphasize the dignity, value, and resilience of a human being. It suggests that a person should not be treated as something trivial, disposable, or easily crushed like a blade of grass. It is often used to assert one's self-respect or when reminding others to treat someone with the importance they deserve.

Like sprinkling chili powder on a wound.

This expression is used to describe a situation where someone adds insult to injury or makes a painful situation even worse with their actions or words. It is the Telugu equivalent of 'rubbing salt in the wound'.

Like trying to tie water in a bundle

This expression describes an impossible task or an exercise in futility. It is used to refer to situations where someone tries to control or manage something that is inherently uncontainable, fleeting, or impossible to hold onto, much like the physical impossibility of bundling water in a cloth.