Posts

(21) Baronial Class

After receiving your missive, I found myself plunged into a state of profound introspection. Here I stand: a former street urchin of decidedly plebeian provenance, catapulted by the whimsical caprices of fate into the ostensibly civilised world, yet forever carrying the indelible passport of the so-called C attle Class .  And still, in moments of audacious reverie, I dare to fantasise about composing prose in impeccable Tharoorian English. What an exquisitely improbable Oxymoron! It is rather like expecting a bullock cart to compete in a Formula One Grand Prix, or inviting a village scarecrow to deliver the keynote address at a symposium on haute couture.  Yet hope, being gloriously impervious to ridicule, continues to whisper that one day even a rustic soul might coax a sesquipedalian sonnet from the depths of an overworked dictionary. Behold the most preposterous metamorphosis of our times: a humble denizen of the so-called Cattle Class audaciously attempting to compose in...

(20) Cattle Class

Dear Mr. Pankaj Khanna, As you are no doubt cognisant, the venerable Saar has, for many years, maintained an unwavering philosophical reservation about conversing with or, indeed, travelling alongside the so-called "Cattle Class."  That memorable doctrinal proclamation in 2009 has long since entered the annals of public discourse. We humble interns, therefore, have been entrusted with the solemn responsibility of engaging with the hoi polloi, thereby insulating Saar from the logistical and conversational exigencies of terrestrial democracy. Should any lingering uncertainty afflict you regarding your own taxonomical placement within this grand social menagerie, may I respectfully recommend a leisurely perusal of your own blogs?  Their bucolic ambience, redolent with the unmistakable perfume of freshly consecrated cow dung and pastoral nostalgia, ought to furnish all the classificatory evidence one could reasonably require. I also had the opportunity to peruse your blog, Epeol...

(19) Katsaridaphobia

Dear Ms. Fussy Zaroor , I am positively exhilarated to have received your epistolary rejoinder to my humble observations on the labyrinthine subject of the US–Iran accord .  Equally enchanting were the bouquets and brickbats you hurled at me with such sesquipedalian panache that even the insults arrived perfumed with intellectual sophistication. I am further tickled by the revelation that you not only wield your pen in faithful emulation of your revered Saar but have also contrived to replicate his physiognomy with almost unnerving fidelity.  I harbour little doubt that your vocal cadences, too, resonate with the same mellifluous gravitas. Your sartorial predilections, coupled with your carefully choreographed poses before imposing Bookshop surprisingly named Epeolatry , bespeak an almost liturgical devotion to bibliophilic elegance.  One is left wondering whether this is mere admiration or a full-fledged case of delightful Tharoorosis ; a condition in which dictionaries...

(18) Reply from Ms. Fussy Zaroor. ( Today's Word: recherché)

Image
(Reply  received from Ms. Fussy Zaroor , a Gen Z  Intern at Mr. Shashi Tharoor's Office, in response to the note written yesterday  in Tharoorian English on the subject of US-Iran Agreement. Is she appreciating me or ridiculing!? Should I escalate it up in his Office? No point, I will get more confused!) Dear Mr. Pankaj Khanna , I must confess to a certain amused admiration for your exuberant deplolyment of sesquipedalian artillery. To marshal expressions such as “diplomatic metaphysics,” “kakistocracy,” and “parturient” into a single paragraph requires either remarkable lexical confidence or a touching disregard for the welfare of unsuspecting dictionaries and the readers. Vaocabulary, however recherché, is but the embroidery upon the fabric of prose; the true elegance of expression resides in precision of thought, felicity of construction, and the quiet confidence that words need not perpetually announce their own sophistication. One sprinkles seasoning upon a meal; i...

(17) US Iran Deal ( Today's word: Parturient)

I have tried to copy  Shashi Tharoor's style using his favourite words. I think this is how he will write  about Iran-Us Agreement: At an undisclosed longitude of diplomatic metaphysics, two venerable custodians of strategic bewilderment, one believer of Kakistocracy and another parturient to deliver, reportedly initialled a parchment whose principal achievement was lexical acrobatics. Each returned home garlanded in self-congratulation, having simultaneously conceded nothing, secured everything, and left posterity to arbitrate whether the commas or the silences proved more consequential. Hopefully Shashi Tharoor will read it, correct my mistakes and reply to me. His reply, if any, will be posted in the next Blog Post! List of  previous Articles of ' Epeolatry':  1      Epeolatry by a Philomath.    2      Amicable Numbers 3      Retrouvaille 4      Aeipathy 5      Ambigram 6   ...

(16) Tharoorian Vocabulary 6: Use it sparingly!

Pankaj Khanna Visiting Faculty Maths/DI-LR IMS Indore.( 9424810575) (For the previous/next blog-posts click on the blog post numbers given below: 1    2    3    4     5   6    7     8     9    10    11    12   13    14   15   16 (This article is Posted on 3/6/2023.) Breviloquance! An advice to students! Please do improve vocabulary as it will not only help you in CAT and other Management Entrance Tests but will also be useful in your career. Besides, it is also a great fun to make friends with new words regularly. However a word of caution! Please use complicated, newly learnt powerful words sparingly in speaking and writing. Instead use simple words or idioms in an interesting and creative way. There is no point in using three long, uncommon adjectives and/or adverbs in a sentence of five words.  Initially don't try any linguistic stunt like '...

(15) Tharoorian Vocabulary -5 Kakistocracy

Pankaj Khanna Visiting Faculty Maths/DI-LR IMS Indore.( 9424810575) (For the previous/next blog-posts click on the blog post numbers given below: 1    2    3    4     5    6    7     8     9    10    11    12   13    14   15   16 (This article is Posted on 25/4/2023.) Kakistocracy! KAKISTOCRACY: A form of government in which the least qualified or most unprincipled individuals are in power. This is how Shashi Tharoor used the word: "Sometimes, in recent years, it has seemed that the world’s largest democracy has in many ways degenerated into a kakistocracy". While I like the word but do not like his usage which to me is far-flung. In fact Kakistocracy and Political Corruption  have been prevailing in all Indian States intermittently since 1947. Kakistocracy is a government by the worst elements in society. The word comes from the Greek ‘ka...