Topic of the day:-“Dents in the image”
It is true, however, that this change would not have created the buzz it has, had it not coincided with the people’s own willingness to look away from Mr. Modi, if ever so slightly, to a possible, tentative alternative. Up until now, Mr. Modi was god in Gujarat. When he became Prime Minister, the rest of India was awestruck by the power and authority he exuded, magnified by his victory with an absolute majority and the decimation of the Opposition. Today, while the fascination with Mr. Modi undeniably remains, the first murmurs can be heard, among traders, among the unemployed and in middle class households. The constant adjustments to the demands of demonetisation, and now GST and Aadhaar, have devastated small businesses, the poor and the old, many of them living in a blighted world beyond the dips and spikes in the national GDP. But as everyone agrees, pitted against the combination of Mr. Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party national president Amit Shah, and the humongous election cum public relations machinery they have created, Mr. Gandhi could be a toddler taking his first steps to indulgent applause. Though his elevation to Congress President is imminent, the challenges before him are immense. The Congress organisation is in tatters, its votes are shrinking, and the haze around the party’s vision often makes it indistinguishable from the BJP. It is true that the Congress has always held a range of ideas within it. But the party as a whole was conceived as centrist with a strong liberal core. The Left and the right co-existed in Jawaharlal Nehru’s Congress but his absolute commitment to the idea of a progressive, enlightened nation ensured that the centre prevailed. The innumerable unethical compromises the Congress made thereafter are not Rahul Gandhi’s doing. But having inherited them, he has to find a way to reassert the party’s founding philosophy and, more difficult still, make it saleable to voters swayed by the BJP’s enormously attractive Hindutva appeal. Recently, the student-wing of the Congress, the National Students Union of India (NSUI), fought and won the students’ union election in Delhi University (DU) on the slogan, “Take back DU.” The NSUI promised a progressive vision based on gender equality and the freedoms to eat, wear and go out as the students pleased, without being shamed as immoral.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1) Defunct
Meaning: No longer existing or functioning.
Example: The now defunct Somerset & Dorset railway line.
Synonyms: Disused, Unused
Antonyms: Working, Extant
2) Indiscreet
Meaning: Having, showing, or proceeding from too great a readiness to reveal things that should remain private or secret.
Example: They have been embarrassed by indiscreet friends.
Synonyms: Imprudent, Impolitic
Antonyms: Discreet, Decorous
3) Mellowed
Meaning: Make or become mellow.
Example: Even a warm sun could not mellow the North Sea breeze.
Synonyms: Relax, Calm
4) Prone
Meaning: Likely or liable to suffer from, do, or experience something unpleasant or regrettable.
Example: Farmed fish are prone to disease.
Synonyms: Susceptible, Liable
Antonyms: Resistant, Immune
5) Gaffes
Meaning: An unintentional act or remark causing embarrassment to its originator; a blunder.
Example: In my first few months at work I made some real gaffes.
Synonyms: Blunder, Mistake
6) Bragged
Meaning: Say something in a boastful manner.
Example: He bragged that he was sure of victory.
Synonyms: Boast, Swagger
7) Bewilderment
Meaning: A feeling of being perplexed and confused.
Example: There was bewilderment at the shift of government policy.
8) Sued
Meaning: Appeal formally to a person for something.
Example: The rebels were forced to sue for peace.
Synonyms: Appeal, petition
9) Sober
Meaning: Serious, sensible, and solemn.
Example: A sober view of life.
Synonyms: Serious, Sensible
Antonyms: Sensational, Emotional
10) Scintillating
Meaning: Brilliantly and excitingly clever or skilful.
Example: The audience loved his scintillating wit.
Synonyms: Brilliant, Dazzling
Antonyms: Boring, Dull
11) Splash
Meaning: A prominent or sensational news feature or story.
Example: A front-page splash.
Synonyms: Feature, Story
12) Shored up
Meaning: To support or improve an organization, agreement, or system that is not working effectively or that is likely to fail.
Example: The new public relations manager has the difficult task of shoring up the company’s troubled image.
13) Giggling
Meaning: Laugh lightly and repeatedly in a silly way, from amusement, nervousness, or embarrassment.
Example: They giggled at some private joke.
Synonyms: Titter, Snigger
14) Surrogate
Meaning: A substitute, especially a person deputizing for another in a specific role or office.
Example: Wives of MPs are looked on as surrogates for their husbands while the latter are at Westminster.
Synonyms: Substitute, Proxy
15) Insists
Meaning: State positively and assertively.
Example: The chairman insisted that all was not doom and gloom.
Synonyms: Maintain, Assert
