PARAGRAPH, WORDS AND MEANING
PARAGRAPH OF THE DAY –
A limiting framework –
One thing is clear. Not much can be expected within the current framework of policy, where categories like security operate in a Pavlovian style and India acts only when it sees a Pakistani or Chinese move. The current frameworks and mentalities add little to policy. India needs to see South Asia as a new imaginary if the idea of India and Indian foreign policy is to succeed. South Asia is a tapestry of myriad ecologies from islands to mountains, a confluenceof civilisations, religions and regions. India is today the dominant power, but beyond a sense of hegemony, it plays bully and Mr. Simplicissimus. One needs to add the power of these diverse imaginations to an emerging hybridity called India. Consider a few examples. During the recent Cyclone Ockhi, a priest told me, we are fisherman, we think from sea to land but we are run by a land-locked regime. An understanding of island geographies could broaden into ecological imagination, create new imaginaries to unlock India’s land-locked mindset. An island imaginary adds as much to our imagination and alters our attitude to marginal people on our coastlines. Watching South Asia, one senses India lacks of a sense of neighbourhood and region as a component of our imagination. Take Kathmandu. The similarities between India and Nepal are immense, and yet India lacks any comprehension of Nepal’s fierce sense of itself. By playing big brother, India repeatedly displays a lack of sense of the diversities around which need a new sense of unity. By acting as a bully or an un-empathetic headmaster wielding the stick, India reveals an absence of its South Asian self. It issues warnings to the Maldives or Nepal, threatening them not to be seduced by the Chinese imperative, but it does little to sustain the reciprocity and autonomy of the relationship. A change in tactics is not enough; one needs a sense of strategy, a paradigmatic argument for a new South Asia which adds to the creativity of Indian democracy.
WORDS AND MEANING –
Pedantry
Meaning: Excessive concern with minor details and rules.
Example: “to object to this is not mere pedantry”
Synonyms: Dogmatism, Formalism
Bubbling
Meaning: Be filled with an irrepressible positive feeling.
Example: “Ellen was bubbling with enthusiasm”
Synonyms: Overflow, Gush
Turf
Meaning: Grass and the surface layer of earth held together by its roots.
Example: “they walked across the springy turf”
Synonyms: Lawn, Sod
Vassals
Meaning: A holder of land by feudal tenure on conditions of homage and allegiance.
Synonyms: Liege, Serf
Antonyms: Freeman, Lord
Orientalist
Meaning: A person who studies the languages and cultures of East and Southeast Asia; relating to orientalism.
Example: The orientalist fantasies of Western colonialists.
14) Annexation
Meaning: The action of annexing something, especially territory.
Example: “the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938”
Synonyms: Seizure, Occupation
Tapestry
Meaning: Used in reference to an intricate or complex sequence of events.
Example: “the loopiness of the Commons adds to life’s rich tapestry”
16) Confluence
Meaning: An act or process of merging.
Example: “a major confluence of the world’s financial markets”
Synonyms: Merging
Hegemony
Meaning: Leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others.
Example: “Germany was united under Prussian hegemony after 1871”
Synonyms: Leadership, Dominance
Antonyms: Self-government
Bully
Meaning: A person who uses strength or influence to harm or intimidate those who are weaker.
Example: “he is a ranting, domineering bully”
Synonyms: Tyrant, Tormentor
Fierce
Meaning: Having or displaying a violent or ferocious aggressiveness.
Example: “fierce fighting continued throughout the day”
Synonyms: Ferocious, Savage
Antonyms: Gentle, Tame
Empathetic
Meaning: Showing an ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
Example: “she’s compassionate and empathetic towards her daughter”
Wielding
Meaning: Have and be able to use (power or influence).
Example: “faction leaders wielded enormous influence within the party”
Synonyms: Exercise, Exert
Seduced
Meaning: To persuade or cause someone to do something that they would not usually consider doing by being very attractive and difficult to refuse.
Example: I wouldn’t normally stay in a hotel like this, but I was seduced by the fabulous location.
Reciprocity
Meaning: The practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit, especially privileges granted by one country or organization to another.
Example: “the Community intends to start discussions on reciprocity with third countries”
Paradigmatic
Meaning: Relating to the way different words or language items can be chosen to play a particular part in a language structure.
Example: Paradigmatic analysis.
