ANGREZI? MARO GOLI!

Jug Suraiya never fails to delight me. This is exactly what happened when I was planning an activity for my class today. It was a class of Vocabulary and Reading. I randomly picked up an article from today's Times Of India and man it was mind blowing, not only did i enjoy the article but i am sure my students did too. You guys know by now that I tend to do a little more than just the worksheet, just to break the monotony and to develop an interest in reading. Well the delights of reading are many ,however amusement and learning at the same time...that is guaranteed in Jug Sauraiya's articles. That is just what i've done here. So, guys go ahead give it a read and be armed with newer words,whose meanings I 've shared at the end of this amazing piece of write up...ENJOY...


Angrezi? Maro goli!
20 May 2009, 0000 hrs IST, Jug Suraiya


During China's Cultural Revolution a commissar toured the country to ascertain if peasants had carried out the diktat of reading aloud Mao's thoughts while sowing seeds, so as to ensure a bumper crop. A farmer, who said he'd read out the Chairman's thoughts while planting, was asked by the commissar if he'd had a good harvest. Oh, yes, said the farmer. My radishes reach from here to Heaven. You fool, said the commissar. Don't you know there's no Heaven? I do, replied the farmer. And there are no radishes, either.

The story aptly sums up the current debate about whether English should or shouldn't be scrapped in India. Like Heaven, or the Chinese farmer's radishes, we're talking about a non-existing entity. When Harold Laski visited India he expressed approval that the welcoming speech made by a local trade union leader was in the vernacular. There was an awkward silence. The union leader's speech had, in fact, been made in what all present (except Laski) believed to be chaste English. That's why they say the British finally left India: they couldn't bear it anymore to hear their language being so mangled every day.

It's not just the pronunciations. Forget the Gujarati 'snakes' (snacks) and 'takes' (tax). Or the Bengali 'brij' (breeze) and 'shit of paper' (sheet of paper). Or the south Indian spelling of banana: bee-yay-yen-yay-yen-yay. Or the Punjabi celebration of 'birdays' (birthdays), especially if they fall on 'Sacherdays' (Saturdays) and the person concerned is of good 'krakter' (character). Punjab is also famous for its 'loins' (lions) and its 'laiyers' (lawyers).

Our orthography is even more inventive. 'Child bear, sold hare' (Chilled beer, sold here) might be an exaggeration, just about. But lots of shops sell 'milk and cureds' (curds). And restaurants serve 'Chinees, Muglai and Conti' (continental) food. Many a political speech is made from a 'dias' (dais) which may or may not be 'miniscule' (minuscule).

Advertisements always proclaim 'Offer open till stocks last', never 'while stocks last'. 'Till' denotes termination (We will love each other till we die); 'while' denotes duration (We will love each other while we live). While, till? Termination, duration? KFP. Ki farak pehenda? (What difference does it make?)

It doesn't. Like the use of the apostrophe 's', which indicates a shortened or contracted form: 'it's' for 'it is'. Technically, in the other use of 'its', as a pronoun (Its price makes the Nano a great buy), the 's' shouldn't take an apostrophe. But who cares a flying fig for technicalities. We apostrophise at will. As in our wont. Or should that be 'won't'?

Fewer and fewer of us can tell the difference between 'fewer' and 'lesser'. What's that you say? 'Fewer' should be used when we are talking in numeric, or countable, terms: Fewer people (not 'lesser' people) attended today's rally. 'Lesser' should be used in describing non-numeric quantity or magnitude: children of a lesser god; theft is a lesser crime than murder. But all of us including the TOI swap our lessers and our fewers with abandon.

We like to 'er', and generously add 'er' to words that don't need it as a suffix. So neighbour becomes a 'neighbourer', preferably a 'next-door neighbourer', to distinguish him from the neighbourer living 50 doors down the road. And forger, as in someone who forges currency notes, becomes a 'forgerer'.

We also tend to be nervous 'the'-ists: we are never quite sure when to use 'the' and when not to. For example, all of us tend to talk on phone (not 'the phone'). On the other hand, when we fly, we prefer to travel by 'the plane', rather than 'by plane', which may or may not be made by 'the Boeing'.

In all, Mulayam and the others of the 'Angrezi-hatao' brigade are only asking for the removal of a long-dead corpse, massacred by us in our daily usage. It's high time we gave English a decent cremation. Harry bol, bolo Harry!

Meanings of the highlighted words:

1. commissar- i)the head of any of the major governmental divisions of the U.S.S.R.: called minister since 1946.the head of any of the major governmental divisions of the U.S.S.R.: called minister since 1946.
ii)an official in any communist government whose duties include political indoctrination, detection of political deviation, etc.

2. ascertain:to make certain

3.diktat : any decree or authoritative statement

4.chaste:pure in style

5. mangled:to injure severely, disfigure, or mutilate by cutting, slashing, or crushing

6. orthography:the art of writing words with the proper letters, according to accepted usage; correct spelling.

7.minuscule: very small.

8.magnitude:extent

9. massacred: mass killing.

Suffering from the epidemic of limited vocabulary? Read on!!!

It has been quite long since I have penned down something useful for you guys. Well, honestly there is always a ready excuse, deep with work till neck; trying to stay afloat...blah blah.... but the muse doesn’t take over often here. I was trying to expose myself to a lot of information and assuming some or the other miracle will happen. Anyway people, needless to say, after a long sabbatical, here I come with the gyan :)

The CAT-09 season has already begun and therefore first things first, vocabulary plays a very important role in contributing to good scores, when it comes to Verbal Ability section of CAT. I know not many of you excel in this forte and I also agree to the fact that taming this section could be a daunting task but it’s almost like “now and never” and so on a regular basis I have resolved to expose you to new words in this site. It’s how one says, ‘vitamins, work best when imposed rather than selected.’

For starters let us take a look at a few easy ways, if followed diligently would ensure enhancement of our vocabulary.

(1)Read, read and read: I am aware of the fact that reading is not everyone’s favourite. But with a little motivation and the want to be an eloquent speaker, take reading as little doses of medicine :) To truly begin, you could pick up anything and start reading. Newspapers, magazines even the very favourite ‘Pune Times’ along with its regular masala can teach quite a few new words. Here the occurrence of foreign words is frequent so ‘time to be fancy’:)

(2)Listen to English channels: Time for some entertainment guys! If news channels like BBC, CNN appear like humongous tasks, you have lots to choose from. For example if you are one of the movie buffs you could watch some great ones in HBO, Star movies, Sony Pix , Zee-studio and the list is endless. I particularly could always vouch for this method of picking up new words like ‘weaned, nemesis, sabotage, condescend’ to name a few. You also have some ‘on the edge of the seat entertainment serials. My personal favourites would be ‘prison break, how I met your mother, heroes, friends’ Although 'Friends and How I met your mother' couldn't be included in the 'adventure' genre.

(3) Conversing in English: Try conversing in English with few/ at least one of your friends or colleagues. This helps you to remain in the groove.

(4) Try thinking in English: Although English will always be a second language for most of us, we need to quit the translation which takes place in our little heads. The day we can overcome this impediment we will definitely be fluent.

So you could follow these few easy steps to be the one (read conversant in English) :) All the best. Signing off now and will be back with more.

CONTEXTUAL LEARNING-2

Sunday Times of India is always a reader's delight. At least ,I like to start my Sunday with a large cuppa of chai and the newspaper. What generally makes my day is the editorial page wherein ,one comes across the verbose Bachi karkaria, sarcastic Jug Suraiya and of course politically incorrect Shobha De. Well not to forget Shashi Tharoor and Swaminathan Aiyar.I can survive even if I don't get my regular dose of news every day in a week , but missing the Sunday Times makes me feel very guilty.

I wanted to share this article with you guys. You can call me opinionated ,however somehow, I quite agree with Shobha De here. I don't understand why we(Indians) tend to apotheosise every sports men. I believe that this inherent nature of ours somehow contributes to their under performance in later years. No this post isn't a review!

This article is an interesting read and me being me, I couldn't help highlighting few words and giving out their meanings at the end of the article.It is rather the regular dose of your contextual vocabulary.

HAPPY LEARNING..........

POLITICALLY INCORRECT Mera Bharat Kahan?- Shobha De


Little things make us happy. We are a bit too easy to please! One gold medal at the Olympic Games, and we are over the moon. As India enters the 61st year of its independence, it's important to get a few key perspectives in place. I heard about Abhinav Bindra's thrilling win from a bedraggled little girl selling tabloids at the traffic lights. It was raining rather heavily, and she was dressed in rags. Her tiny body and saucer eyes made her resemble the archetypal, romanticized waif — the poster girl for poverty, like the iconic image of the popular musical, Les Miserables. She tapped on the window of my car and lisped, "Madam, madam.... India ko gold medal mil gaya." She was shivering as she sold the damp paper to motorists, most of whom shooed her away.

The irony of the moment was hard to miss. While nobody can take away from crorepati Abhinav Bindra's individual achievement, the image of this emaciated street kid announcing his victory in distant Beijing, was a study in horrifying contrasts. Just a few metres away, i could see the rest of her family huddled under bright blue plastic sheets. The father was sorting out a heap of pirated books, while her mother was stringing jasmine blossoms into gajras... perhaps to adorn the chignons of our Mumbai memsaabs stepping out later for a night on the town. The kid was dancing with impatience, watchful of the traffic light turning green. Her unshod feet were immersed in puddles of filthy rain water. She could not possibly have known what that medal meant... but she did know it would sell more papers that day. And that made her happy! Amazing, how a complete stranger's win touches lives on different levels.

For the little girl, those few extra rupees may have translated into an extra vada pav at dinner. But for our canny politicians, Bindra's medal was an opportunity worth milking for their own glory. Take Maharashtra's chief minister, who magnanimously offered Rs 10 lakh to the gold medalist. Does this rich boy need it? Where does Maharashtra come into it? If the CM had Rs 10 lakh to spare and wished to acknowledge Bindra's victory, why didn't he put that money into a sports scholarship to benefit promising youngsters? Why offer monetary awards to someone who is a millionaire to begin with? Bindra is a particularly privileged sportsman who was born with a silver rifle... er ... spoon, in his mouth. He got to his present position, thanks to the happy fact that his father had the financial clout to support his son's passion. Lucky Bindra. He had what it takes to create a champion — the grit, determination and dough! India merely happens to be the country of his birth and can claim no credit for his impressive win. Bindra rose above and beyond what his country can provide... not only to him, but millions of others. He won despite being an Indian. Isn't that a really sad acknowledgement of this tattered state of ours?

But the waif at the traffic light proclaiming his victory to motorists does not realise this. She will never get to see the inside of a pucca home. For her, the blue plastic sheets will have to suffice. When she is a little older, her life will change. From selling newspapers, she may end up selling her body. Like so many others who survive on Mumbai's mean streets, turning tricks, hustling, peddling drugs. Her bright eyes and cheerful smile will be replaced by a hard, stony expression, a twisted mouth...but chances are she will still be working the same street, ducking into the back seat of an autorickshaw to satisfy customers looking for a monsoon quickie. If her father and mother haven't succumbed to some disease by then, they, too, will be languishing under the plastic sheets, living off her meager earnings. Her line, "India ko gold mil gaya..." in such a depressing context, makes me ask, "Aur aapko — koila? Ya... woh bhi nahi?" Try telling her our Bharat is mahan. She may just punch you!


Hope this article strikes a chord, it definitely touched me. Well now the MEANINGS OF THE HIGHLIGHTED WORDS.


1.bedraggled:(v) To make wet and limp.

2.archetypal:(n)the original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or on which they are based; a model or first form; prototype.

3.waif:(n)a person, esp. a child, who has no home or friends.

4.emaciated:(v)to make abnormally lean or thin by a gradual wasting away of flesh.

5.huddled:(v)to gather or crowd together in a close mass.

6.chignons:(n)a large, smooth twist, roll, or knot of hair, worn by women at the nape of the neck or the back of the head.

7.unshod:(adj)Not having or wearing shoes or a shoe

8.canny :(adj) shrewd

9.magnanimously:(adv) generously

10.clout:(n)strong influence

11.grit:(n)firmness of character

12.succumbed :(v) to yield,to die

13.languishing :(v) to lose strength or vigour

Fine Nuances Between Words

Vocabulary has always been an integral part of every entrance exam.Given below are sentences with a pair of homonyms in each and you are required to pick the correct option according to the contextual usage.
The Houston United has sued its CEO on account of BREECH(A)/BREACH(B) of contract.
The Government is setting up schools in DISCRETE(A)/DISCREET(B) locations across the rural belt to promote preliminary education for the girl child.
Nikita was easily able to SHEAR(A)/SHEER(B) her mind away from all the unpleasant incidents that happened in her life.
Mrs Sharma made sure that she would MILITATE(A)/MITIGATE(B) against the mass deforestation of the Sukhwan locality.
Despite being TORTUROUS(A)/TORTUOUS(B),the movie was a visual delight.
A) ABBAB B)BABBA C)BABAB D)BBABA E)ABBAB

You are welcome to give the meaning of the words.Go ahead hit the Dictionary!!!!Happy hunting!

CONTEXTUAL LEARNING

Hi guys,it's vocabulary time again. Except this is li'l different from what you have come across in my earlier posts.I 've picked up this interesting article from 'The Hindu' ,so this is like doing two things in one go.Read this article and learn words as well. Encountering words in their natural habitat and becoming aware of the usage of the words is the best way to remember lot many words. The meaning of the words are given at the end of the article. read on and enhance your vocabulary.

Happy contextual learning!!!!!!

Stifling the spirit: my naani and 61 years of anguish

I am a 36-year-old British Mirpuri. Three years and three months ago, I came to Pakistan with the sole intention of taking my naani, my maternal grandmother, across the Line of Control to meet her family on the other side of Kashmir.
She was born into a Hindu-Brahman-Saasan family in the early 1930’s, on the Pakistani-administered side of Kashmir, not far from what is described as the Line of Control (LoC). The communal frenzy and folly that was August 1947 in the Punjab was replicated in Kashmir by October 1947. My naani’s life changed for ever.
Misplaced from her fleeing family, destitution was quickly evident, dishonour imminent and death almost certain. What transpired as a rescue mission by my naana, maternal grandfather, led to her having to convert from the faith of her forefathers, marry a stranger in a strange environment, bear children, rear grand-children, even great-grand-children and engage in almost 61 years of constant extemporisation to combat the persistent estrangement she endured. Her background was literally a closed chapter, sealed and suppressed. Not too unlike the border that has un-naturally divided Kashmir.
My naani had probably accepted her predicament as fate as soon as she had entered my naana’s house, way back in October 1947. I, however, have increasingly felt otherwise. I’ve always considered this to be part of a perverse political drama. Lack of imagination by the rulers accompanied denial of creative expression for the ruled. Improvising a constructive alternative has been my self-imposed mission for the past three years and three months.
I had learnt of her story in 1988, while I was visiting my grandparents in Mirpur. News had filtered through the 70 kilometres or so of mountainous terrain that her mother had passed away. We listened to a cassette recording of her kid brother’s forlorn attempt at getting a Pakistani visa a few years earlier.
A year later, after my GCSEs, I took a year off to explore my “origins.” I visited my naani’s family in Rajouri, in Indian-administered Kashmir in December 1989. Three days was all I got with them — my father had accompanied me to India and being a staunch, orthodox Muslim, couldn’t prolong the prospect of spending too much time with non-Muslims. The emotions of my naani’s siblings and their offspring etched a permanent impression on my impressionable mind. I promised them that I would reunite them with their sister.
Travelling from India to Pakistan and relaying my adventure to all and sundry had a mildly sensational effect on the local population. Forty-two years of jingoism was momentarily set aside and human emotion was purposefully reflected on. This cut little ice with my naana though. He remained rigid and paranoid over the idea of my naani visiting her siblings, fearing she may never return.
The 1990’s raced past, conflict in the region easily overshadowing all else. Nevertheless, I made an attempt in 1993 when I tried to insist on my naani accompanying me to India. Eventually, after a month of unsuccessful insistence, I crossed the Wagah-Attari border by myself. The lonesome figure that I was, instead of venturing north to visit her family, I decided to ride my sorrow and angst by proceeding south to Bombay and Goa. The mere idea of meeting them without naani was unbearable.
Life carried on but the emotional baggage increased. Naani’s kid brother’s death in February 2004 proved to be the final shock that I was willing to passively endure. It wasn’t until March 2005 that we were informed of this tragedy. A subsequent emotional verbal exchange between me and my naana secured his long-sought acquiescence for my naani to visit her family.
18th April 2005: I arrive in Pakistan. The three of us apply together for an Indian visa at Islamabad. That was the advice the Indian visa officer in London gave me after getting over his disbelief that I could be related to both a Muslim and a Hindu family. We waited in vain. The Indian High Commission told us they were waiting for a No Objection Certificate to my visa application from the High Commission in London. The Indian visa delay prompted my naana to revert back to his original stance of not allowing my naani to travel. In effect, the Indian government had inadvertently done him a favour as he wasn’t overly keen in the first place.
October 2005: In the wake of the earthquake, I apply by myself for a cross-LoC permit under the impression that people would be allowed to travel in a matter of weeks if not days.
February 2008: My cross-LoC permit has finally come through! I visit my naani’s family and there is mutual elation. I witness the fourth death anniversary of my naani’s kid brother, Master Sita Ram Sharma. He, along with his parents had lived in constant anxiety over their sister and daughter respectively. They all died in vain. Anyway, meeting my naani’s remaining two siblings after 19 years evoked a sense of mutual revival of hope. I explain my naana’s intransigence and they eventually manage to convince him to apply for a cross-LoC permit so that he and my naani can visit them. My naani’s heart condition has become such that travelling via Wagah-Attari or Lahore-Delhi would be almost impossible.
March 2008: I return to this side of Kashmir and promptly make applications for cross-LoC permits for myself and my naani and naana. Four months later, the applications are still being processed … on this side.
Before 2005, my naana was the main obstacle between my naani and her family. Now it’s the merry relationship between India and Pakistan. My naani is 78 years old. Please help me reunite her with her family, separated for over 60 years by a distance not much more than 60 kilometres.

Meanings of the highlighted words:

1. replication(n)-to repeat, duplicate, or reproduce

2.frenzy(n)-i) extreme mental agitation; wild excitement or derangement.
ii) a fit or spell of violent mental excitement

3. folly(n)-a foolish action, practice, idea, etc

4.transpired(v)-to occur; happen; take place.

5.extemporization(n)-to speak impromptu.

6.estrangement(n)-no longer close/or living together

7.predicament(n)-an unpleasantly difficult, perplexing, or dangerous situation.

8.forlorn(adj)-expressive of hopelessness/despairing

9.impressionable(adj)-easily influenced

10.sundry(adj)-of various kinds.

11.jingoism(n)-excessive support for one's country

12.angst(n)-great anxiety.

13.acquiescence(n)-agreement.

14.stance(n)-standpoint.

15.inadvertently(adv)-unintentionally.

16. Elation(n)-very happy and excited.

17.intransigence(n)-stubbornness.

Source-THE HINDU-FRIDAY-18.07.2008

Tanveer Ahmed is the author of the above article.

Phonetics of "Ch"

English has always borne the brunt of ire of lot many as far as the pronunciation goes.The simplest and most cliched instance is the difference between TO,DO and GO.It's very interesting to find the contrasting phonetics of the alpahabets "C" and "K".For instance "CHARLATAN" is pronounced as "SHAR luh tun" which means a fraud or a conman and "CHAGRIN" which means humiliation or disappointment whereas "CHASM" is pronounced as "KAZ um" which means a large gaping hole or gorge.Another interesting pair is "CHICANERY".......pronounced as "SHI kuh nery" which means trickery and again there is another word starting with "CH" but pronounced differently and that is "CHARISMA"...pronounced as "KUH riz muh" which define
s magical and attracting ability of someone.
So that is the reason English has received the high brow from one and many for not being everyone's ballgame.But if you try to learn words the fun way and find these fine nuances then i am sure English becomes far more interesting.
Will keep you posted on other phonetics as well!