Nuggets of Sholay: Four - Joon Nahin Rengti Kaan Par

This is the fourth of the series, and this time I've picked a muhavra very few people know exists in the movie. 

Muhavra: Kaan Par Joon Na Rengna (कान पर जूँ न रेंगना)

Occuring at the end of the 54th minute, the scene is where Basanti is feeding Dhanno and Mausi calls out to Basanti and says, "Ari O chhokariya, din bhar hawa-hawai ghoomti ho. Magar main koi kaam boloon, to joon nahin rengti kaan par." 

Mausi telling Basanti 'Joon nahin rengti kaan par'

I have spent a lot of time trying to research the origin of this proverb, especially since it's a bit odd, but haven't come up with anything. So let me come up with my own theory!

What the proverb is trying to say is that there's no point telling someone something, with the English equivalent being 'Falling on deaf ears'. Literally, it means 'Lice don't crawl near the ears'. Hain?! Odd, isn't it? But it so happens that lice need human blood to live. Head lice usually stay close to the scalp and especially behind the ears. See pic below. FYI, Louse is the singular form of lice.

Lice behind the ears

So therefore, let me now try to make sense of the proverb. Imagine if (god forbid) lice are happily ensconced behind your ears, and let's say, your wife and/or mom are telling you something repeatedly in a loud voice, it just doesn't disturb the lice, as in they don't start crawling around because of the repeated cacophony.  

Therefore, mere lakh chillaane ke baad bhi tere kaanon mein joon tak nahin rengti. 

That was the nugget. Samjhe ke nahin? Agar achha laga to comment kijiye. Agar achha nahin laga to lament kijiye.

Goodbye, aadab and namaste.