"Looking up the etymology of a word is enriching!"

Today on The Newspaper Club | A Report

Today’s activities on The Newspaper Club started off sharp at six am, [when radio silence is turned off], with a share on Delisha Davis, driver of a tanker truck, [from today’s Times of India], probably the only woman in Kerala who has a licence to carry hazardous goods!

The idiomatic expression we learnt from the news article was, ‘had no qualms!’

Members also shared yet another article from Today’s Times of India, titled, ‘Young Indian Digital Artists see a new future in NFTs’

We learnt a few lovely words – Crypto art, Block chain and NFT.

Crypto art is digital art that is treated like physical art due to the ability to have verified ownership of the piece. 

Just like an original painting signed by Picasso can have its authenticity and ownership authenticated, crypto art can be verified in the same way using an NFT or a non-fungible token. 

An NFT is a special token that represents a unique ID that is linked to a piece of crypto art that cannot be replicated and is used to verify ownership of a piece.

You can attach it to anything -

a JPEG, GIF, MP4, even music.

This token that proves ownership of the ‘original’ file is stored on the Blockchain which is a permanent ledger that can be accessed from any computer over the world.

To put it simply, you can think of blockchain as a massive master copy of a spreadsheet to which anyone can add a row of information, such as the unique ID of an NFT that is attached to a piece of crypto art.

The blockchain can verify proof of ownership of a digital asset by checking it against this spreadsheet.

This spreadsheet is the thing that makes it nearly impossible to falsify the information, because all computers check this spreadsheet against each other to verify what is original or a fake.

Think of this another way -

In order to verify the authenticity of a Picasso, you need a fine art expert that understands the history of the piece from collector to collector.

In the crypto world, the blockchain is kind of like the fine art expert.

Crypto art lives on its own blockchain called the Ethereum blockchain.

Source: schoolofmotiondotcom

Members also spotted a few typos, errors and spelling mistakes that they found in today’s English newspapers.

A member shared from an intriguing article in today’s ToI through which we learnt two more beautiful words today-

(From Today's ToI) 📰

Block teaching & Immersive option

Block teaching could be an alternative to the semester system, where courses are taken sequentially, with learners devoting themselves to one module for a short period before completing the assessment and moving on to the next block, or course.

At a time, the entire focus of a student would be on the subject being taught in the block!

A member shared a lovely expression (that we are quite familiar with) ‘Don’t Drop Your Guard’ in today’s ToI!

Drop your guard could mean, ‘to stop being careful’!

We also learnt the origin of the word, ‘bandobust’.

A member shared an article from today’s ToI, Editorial page, titled, ‘Reading isn’t a team sport, it’s a personal rescue art’ where the writer talks about how ‘the COVID pandemic has helped us recognize as a group, the significance of reading and how it so often manages to liberate us from everyday slumber’.

Another member highlighted a beautiful sentence that she loved from this article –

“What scares her most is a world without fiction”.

Robert Collier’s quote was shared from today’s Malayala Manorama –

All of us have bad luck and good luck. The man who persists through the bad luck - who keeps right on going - is the man who is there when the good luck comes - and is ready to receive it.

An article from today’s NIE on how pronunciation and reading skills have taken a beating, for the past 15 months, especially for children!

The writer Binita Jaiswal quoting the State Convenor of TN Child Rights Watch, says,

‘The virtual mode of learning, though it is helpful for students in these trying times, has taken a a toll on the reading skills of many, especially primary school children… A student hardly gets an opportunity to read their lessons during online classes. After classes, they do not practise reading and, as a result, their phonetics and pronunciation have been hit’.

“The problem will be worse for students in government schools, especially those in rural areas”, he says!

“We are not able to conduct group-reading lessons and teach students how letters sound. It’s a challenge for students to concentrate and to watch how their teachers mouth moves while pronouncing letters and words during online classes”, says Sujaya Dasgupta, a private school teacher.

Yet another dynamic member, shared a news article, titled,

“Fight against authoritarianism, extremism, says PM at G7 Meet”

And from this news article, she focused on the topic of ‘Vocabulary Enrichment’ and asked the junior members of our Club (College students) to try doing the following exercise!

Based on your reading of the above article, make sentences with –

1. Natural ally

2. Inclusive

3. Endorse

4. A departure from

5. Communique

6. Aggression

7. Made a strong call for

8. Shared values

(These words / phrases are in the order in which they appear in the text), she said. 

One member shared from a tribute for Mythili Sivaraman.

She also exhorted the members to give write-ups like the one we were having as part of the #writersseries on our Club, she said!

The member also gave a few words to look up the etymology of the word.

Giving valuable inputs on the importance of looking up the etymology behind a word she said,

Looking up the etymology of a word is enriching because you get to the root/source of the word (Its historical context) and knowing it makes your use of the word more compelling/effective.

For example, spellbound is usually explained as "shocked/surprised". But if you know that "spell" has to do with magic, you will interweave weave that into your writing.

For example: They were spellbound. She charmed the audience with her ethereal voice. It was like a voice which came from another world and she literally transported all those who listened to her songs to different orbit.

Observe how "spell" and "charm" are knit/interwoven. Observe how "another world" is linked to "orbit"....

These are small tips to make you good writers, she observed.

A member also shared a news article on Ellis from today’s The Hindu, titled, "British civil servant and scholar" –

This expression triggered the realization that administrators need to be scholars as well. 🤔 Only then there is a lasting impact of their initiatives and policies. 🤔.... she averred, and hoped for some from among the Club members to become IAS officers.

On a heart-warming note, her own beloved sister is in the Administrative Services.

She also emphasized on the importance of ‘thinking’ what we ‘read’!

‘I always feel that thinking and reading are like the two paddles of a paddle boat. We need both to go forward and they function in sync’, she observed.

There was an Editorial feature in today’s The Hindu, titled, ‘Higher Education in Kerala needs a new chapter’.

A member gave a valuable comment on the article. She said,

“What a sensible proposal. I like the idea - Expansion in number of Higher Education institutions irrespective of the needs of the economy".

“It was the "needs" approach that sidelined arts and science colleges and accounted for the boom and eventually the glut (in admission) in engineering colleges. I also appreciate his use of the word "lifeskills". Our HE system went gung ho on Soft Skills with teachers and learners taking it as "a paper" and missing out on its "life" orientation. Life Skills are and should be learnt all the time in the curriculum...”

Incisive insights they are!

Responding vibrantly to a news article on Ellis, a member gave added, connected inputs -

Ellis was a member of the Madras Literary Society and founder of the College of Fort St. George. He also helped to set up the College Press, which published Veeramamunivar's ‘Kodum Tamizh' in 1813; a Tamil grammar primer, ‘Ilakkana Surukkam,' and Ellis' own translation and commentary of ‘Tirukkural.'

According to available literature, Ellis had a good relationship with Indians and even adopted their customs and way of dressing.

His grave in Dindigul bears inscriptions in English and Tamil. The English inscription reads:

“Uniting activity of mind with versatility of genius, he displayed the same ardour and happy sufficiency on whatever his varied talents were employed…”

Members also shared news from NIE on a poetry collective by budding poets, and ‘Project Joy’, a heartwarming initiative by school students, who send handmade gratitude cards to doctors, and frontline workers.

The latest sensational reads on Kindle were also shared from today’s TNIE, by a member.

An insightful article, as part of the #writersseries, lauded and prided Indian women making their mark on the global stage, was shared by another passionate member of the Club.

Here goes -

It is always a matter of pride to listen to women, especially Indian women, making their mark on the global stage. Meera Dasgupta, Gitanjali Rao, Kamala Harris, the list gets lengthier as we move forward in time.

Before I talk more about the current entrant on the international stage, let me share my disappointment with the last name in the list. Kamala Harris, in her recent press meet after visiting Mexico and Guatemala issued a kind of warning to all the migrants from across the border. 'Do not come' (to America).

The U.S representative from New York Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was quick to point out the political incorrectness in the statement.

She said it is the right of every migrant to seek asylum in the US also the US had meddled or played dirty games in countries like Guatemala and Mexico, which has led to the present crowding at the border.

She said, "We can’t help set someone's house on fire and then blame them for fleeing." There is a widespread protest against the statement made by Kamala Harris (I didn't read or hear much about this in the Indian media) who herself is a daughter of a migrant father and mother.

As mentioned above, the latest name who has brought 'laurels' to India is Megha Rajagopalan (MR). She along with her teammates, Alison Killing, and Christo Buschek has won the Pulitzer Prize for their news company BuzzFeed.

The article exposed the mass detention of Muslims by China. The team received the award in the International Reporting category. Pulitzer Prize is the highest honour in journalism.

MR and her team used 3D satellite images and architectural knowledge to create a series of articles which is now known as the Xinjiang series.

MR was in China and she was one of the reporters to tell the world about these mass detention camps. Her visa was revoked by the Chinese and she was ejected from the country.

MR continued her pursuit of truth from London with her colleagues. This is the first time that ‘shoe leather journalism’ combined hands with technology-based journalism,

signs off the member on this lovely post.

When a member pointed out that the Madras Literary Society is on College Road, Nungambakkam, we resolved to pay a visit to the MLS following it up with a rendezvous at the nearby Handloom Café!

Then we had a discussion on the Handloom Café. 

Lovely snaps from the Handloom Café were shared for the benefit of all of us, and then the member said,

‘These motifs are the designs for the silk Sarees. If you zoom you can see the name of each design’, she observed.

Another student member shared from a new word on the block – Covalgia, from the New Yorker.

‘Covalgia means, Nostalgia for certain aspects of the pandemic – eg. Reduced traffic, more birds, fewer mass shootings, no office birthday parties, etc’.

The next word that she shared was, orca face!

‘Orca face is the effect of a year of outdoor mask-wearing on face pigmentation’, she quoted.

She also gave the link to a list of Lexicon for the late Pandemic from the New Yorker’s web page.

Another member responded to the word Covalgia, saying, that she experienced “a degree of Covalgia the other day, when I found myself squinting at the sunlight (normal brightness at 11 am), when I drove out to the shop, because I have been inside the house for long”.

To which the contributor replied, ‘Phantom mask syndrome is the one which I experience when every time I take off my mask. I’m still not comfortable with masks’, she confessed.

Yet another rewarding day on The Newspaper Club today.

image(s) courtesy: Club members