The wheel of change moves on, and those who were down go up and those who were up go down.

Nehru’s image of a “wheel of change” frames history and politics as cyclical rather than fixed: power, fortune, and social position are continually redistributed. The line implies both warning and consolation—warning to those currently “up” that dominance is temporary, and consolation to those “down” that reversals are possible. In a Nehruvian register, the thought aligns with his long view of historical forces (colonialism, nationalism, social reform) and his belief that entrenched hierarchies can be overturned. The aphorism also carries a moral undertone: humility and resilience are rational responses to a world in motion.