Cryptic and obscure

The politicians of all hues are apt at it. Most anchors of news channels go hoarse while trying to extract something of merit from these spokespersons of political parties but rarely do they succeed. The politicians simply equivocate. And they do it looking sombre and deadpan serious. 
Equivocate - that's our word of this week. It is an expression for the act of avoiding to commit oneself or to deliberately being cryptic or obscure. 

The edifice of Nehruvian-thought

Nehru's 125th birthday has been marred with controversies. Typical of modern-day politics - they argued on the ownership of Nehru as an icon while Nehruism and its contribution to the growth of India through its nascent years and beyond gathered dust in the long-forgotten annals of history. The edifice of Nehruvian-thought has been long demolished though. It seems as if only symbolism and tokenism is all that matters to the political class. 
Edifice is our word of the week. It is used here as a metaphor. Edifice is a large, imposing structure or a huge, complex organisation or system.

It's a nadir...they screamed!

Morality in the political sphere hits a new nadir screamed the headlines. They caught a political bigwig along with another prominent citizen cleaning up a patch on the sidewalk in New Delhi  that was littered purposefully just before the event to stage-manage the coverage for TV crews and shutterbugs. While the step was in any case meant to be symbolic and was apparently to popularize the Clean-India campaign - some news channels and newspapers would have none of it. They called it a new low - a new nadir. 
That's our word of the week - nadir. It means the lowest point or opposite of zenith. It is a term borrowed from astronomy where it symbolizes a position that's beneath the observer or a marked position.

The Fiat is out!

Last fortnight saw the Government of India entangled in legal procedures and debates with the judiciary. Some of the ruling party's spokespersons tried putting up a brave front on TV debates and even whispered about the judicial out-reach to create a public opinion. They pleaded that the Government is bound by international treaties and protocols. The bench, however, would have none of it and issued a fiat for submission of names of people with foreign accounts enlisted for scrutiny. 
Fiat - that's our word of the week. Fiat is an authoritative decree or order that's binding. It is a command or a pronouncement that has official sanction or authorization.  

Ambivalent towards the party president!

Should science and scientists interfere with religion? That's something that the world seems to be ambivalent about. That's our word of the week - ambivalent. 
It refers to having mixed feelings towards an object or an issue or a living being. This word was used repeatedly in the India media to describe the feelings of Indian scribes towards the head of a ruling party (they are unable to choose between two opposite feelings, that of being in awe and or to detest).

Ambivalent is borrowed from psychology where it is a term used to express the coexistence of both - positive as well as negative feelings toward the same action or person. 

Its not an hyperbole...after all!

The claims that's it is indeed a wave by the followers of the current disposition at the helm of Indian polity has often been dismissed by the other parties as an exaggeration. The spokespersons of these parties who oppose the recent victors at the hustings have been classifying this claimed wave as 'hyperbole'. 
That's our word of this week - hyperbole. Hyperbole has roots in Greek and means extravagant exaggeration. It is often used as a rhetorical expression for something that's meant or being currently used to create a strong impression, generally in politically charged environments, though it need not be a fact. 

Sipping coffee with bete noire

It was interesting to see three young politicians, all of different hues, come together at a Restaurant in Mumbai and discuss the state's agenda for a popular TV programme. Two of these young leaders belonged to parties that have rarely been seen sharing a platform in the past. Traditional bete noire and with political agendas having nothing in common - it marks a turning of a new leaf in Indian political landscape. 
Bete noire is our expression of the week - it means something or someone who is avoided or even detested, disliked or dreaded. The expression has origins in French as an expression for insufferable person.