THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- January 2, 2018 - Topic 1
Star turn
On actor Rajinikanth's foray into politics
With Jayalalithaa’s death,
however, his political ambition found a new life; he held a series of meetings
with his fans as if to test his support base. On New Year’s Eve, when he
announced his decision to enter politics, he took care to appear as if he were
stepping in to fill a political vacuum in the interest of the people of Tamil
Nadu, and not to further his own ambition. With the AIADMK in disarray and DMK
patriarch M. Karunanidhi politically inactive on account of age-related
ill-health, the political scene in the State seems set for a churn. Actor Kamal
Haasan too had spoken of his intention to start a party. With neither the BJP
nor the Congress being in a position to challenge the two Dravidian parties,
Mr. Rajinikanth could have seen this as an opportune moment to cash in on his
fan base after his failure to take advantage of the public sentiment in 1996.
There is no denying Mr.
Rajinikanth’s mass appeal, but as in the case of AIADMK founder M.G.
Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa, he doesn’t seem to have a clearly defined
ideological position or political programme. Other than saying that his
politics will be “spiritual” and neither religious nor casteist, he has not yet
articulated a comprehensive political vision. But in a State in which political
corruption has been a major issue, resulting in strong electoral verdicts against
both major Dravidian parties, his success in politics is likely to be
determined by whether he can project himself as a person people can trust and
as an agent of the kind of political change that Tamil Nadu really desires. This ties in with his attempt to project himself as all
things to all people, a messiah of sorts. Thus, his assurance that he will
resign three years after he is voted to power if he is unable to fulfil his
yet-to-be-made promises. Mr. Rajinikanth would like to rule as a repository of
people’s trust rather than as their direct representative. Even when he created
a platform to interact with his fans and supporters, he did not solicit their
views or attempt to come to grips with their grievances. By all accounts, Mr.
Rajinikanth is preparing to be guided by his own sense of destiny. Other than
his movies, and a few stray political comments, people have little to go by.
But Mr. Rajinikanth must be aware that charisma is a powerful force in Tamil
Nadu politics, enough to catapult others before him to power. With his eye
seemingly fixed on the next State Assembly election, policies and programmes
can wait.
Vocabulary
Expectation: a strong belief that something will happen or be
the case in the future.
Example: Reality had not lived up to expectations
Synonyms: supposition, assumption, presumption, conjecture, surmise
Antonyms: astonishment, consummation, despair, doubt, doubt
Resonance: the quality in a sound of being deep, full, and
reverberating.
Example: The resonance of his voice
Synonyms: vibrancy, plangency, sonorousness, rapport, reverberance
Ambition: a strong desire to do or to achieve something,
typically requiring determination and hard work.
Example: Her ambition was to become a model
Synonyms: aspiration, intention, goal, aim, objective, object, purpose
Antonyms: carelessness, contentment, humility, indifference, satisfaction
Vacuum: a space entirely devoid of matter.
Example: Since by definition it contains no matter, the vacuum of
space itself has NO temperature.
Synonyms: emptiness, void, nothingness, vacancy, absence
Antonyms: plenum
Intention: a thing intended; an aim or plan.
Example: She was full of good intentions
Synonyms: purpose, design, aim, intent
Antonyms: aimlessness, avoidance, carelessness, heedlessness, neglect
Appeal: make a serious or urgent request, typically to the
public.
Example: Police are appealing for information about the incident
Synonyms: ask urgently/earnestly, make an urgent/earnest
request, call, make a plea
Antonyms: avoid, cut, elude, ignore, overlook, pass, pass
by, shun
Articulate: express an idea or feeling fluently and coherently.
Example: They were unable to articulate their emotions
Synonyms: express, voice, vocalize, communicate, state, air, ventilate
Antonyms: inarticulate, speechless, unarticulate, unarticulated, silent, aphasic
Comprehensive: complete; including all or nearly all elements or
aspects of something.
Example: A comprehensive list of sources
Synonyms: comprehensive
examination, comprehensive, comp
Antonyms: incomprehensive, noncomprehensive, limited, exclusive
Repository: a place, building, or receptacle where things are
or may be stored.
Example: A deep repository for nuclear waste
Synonyms: repository, monument, depositary, deposit, secretary, memorial
Grievance: a real or imagined wrong or other cause for
complaint or protest, especially unfair treatment.
Example: Failure to redress genuine grievances
Synonyms: injustice, wrong, injury, ill, unfairness, affront, insult, indignity
Antonyms: equity, fair
play, fairness, faithfulness, honesty, honor, impartiality
Catapult: hurl or launch something in a specified direction
with or as if with a catapult.
Example: The plane was refueled and catapulted back into the air
again
Synonyms: propel, launch, hurl, fling, send
flying, fire, blast, shoot
Charisma: compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire
devotion in others.
Example: She enchanted guests with her charisma
Synonyms: charm, presence, personality, force
of personality, strength of character
