India regained its sovereignty - this day, another time!

We could not have let this occasion slip and not put up a word. Today is India's Independence Day. 
Well, the appropriate word is 'sovereign'. So when one says that on this day in 1947 - India regained its sovereignty - it means that India became an entity (a nation) that had supreme power. A nation that's supreme, preeminent, and indisputably independent of any other authority or monarchy. 
That's sovereign for you - supreme, preeminent, having supreme authority. 

Denunciation of Dhoni and his boys!

For all those who felt that the shorter versions of the game will take the gloss away from real Cricket, the excitement the current Test Series in England has aroused - this is a moment of truth. It is another matter that the Indian team's fortunes are headed south and that despite being one up in the Series - Indians have completely lost the plot in the last couple of games. If only the passion and intensity with which the denunciation of the Indian team is taking place over cups of coffee and large Patiala-pegs is something to go by - one would wonder what led to this premature burial of the gentleman's game. Test Cricket is alive and kicking.

And our word for this week is 'denunciation'. It means public condemnation or censure. 

Is your mojo working for you?

For long people have either got attracted by someone's mojo or have got disenchanted by the lack of it. That's our word of this week - mojo. It means personal magnetism or charm and the word owes its origin to witchcraft. It also is used for the art or practice of casting magic spells or voodoo.

Flummoxed! Are you?

There was time when it was not just Cricket during the English summer - but even the cricket-writing that people would look forward to. It is sad that cricket-writing has lost its sheen in the bang-wham world of Twenty-20. Followers of the game would be reminded of the 1971 tour of England by India. B S Chandrashekar's magical bowling got India it's first series win in England. A term used by the cricket writers then to describe what Chandrashekhar's spin-bowling did to the English batsmen was 'flummoxed'! 
That's our word of the week - flummox. It means to bewilder or to confuse.

Melange

There are a number of words in English with French roots and our word of this week melange is just one of so many. It means an assortment or a mixture of things of different shapes, origins, forms or sizes. 
Delhi, with all its monuments of the mughal period, of Delhi sultanant,  together with Luytens' structures and other buildings of the time of the Empire to the modern glass-steel structures, presents a melange of architectural styles. 

Tristful Argentina!

The finals of the FIFA World Cup saw Germany compete against Argentina. The Argentinians played football in their typical Latin American style and created a couple of chances too only to give it all away in that one moment in extra time. For all the entertainment, thrill, excitement and hope...in the end it was a tristful finish for Messi's boys. That's our word of the week - Tristful. It means 'full of sadness; sorrowful'. 

Malady of Selfie-age: Bovarism

Its so commonplace these days. We normally confuse it to be a person's ego but it actually is bovarism. Bovarism is an expression used to describe a state of mind where a person carries an exaggerated estimate of oneself - often a glamorized impression of self. 
You can blame it on the beauty products, the gyms round the corner or the fake compliments passed on as pleasantries - bovarism is what most suffer from.  Selfies are just an indication. No?