DECEMBER 2025: The World Through Words – MASTERPIECE.

Words have traditionally been the backbone of intelligent communications. Some researchers suggest that humans began using spoken words, anywhere between 50000 and 70000 years ago. Words then were often just a collation of sounds, but they seemed to have served their purpose. How they managed their communications in their worlds so long ago can only be imagined!

Today, in the second millennium of the common era, as per Ethnologue, which is a language catalogue and resource site, there are around 7111 languages in the world (not including dialects, sign languages) with an estimated 840 million words.

And with such a surfeit of languages and words, our world should naturally (if not certainly!) be a very interesting one for those of us who will only take some time from our busy routines, to peek into the world of words.

This time, the random word that has surfaced is MASTERPIECE.

One may wonder if a word that can universally evoke a sense of awe and admiration must necessarily be a piece of a masterly work only in literature and the fine arts.

‘Not necessarily!’, would be the response of hundreds of connoisseurs of extraordinary works of art such as paintings, sculptures, music, dance and other endeavors of human passion. They would happily engage in endless debates as to what they would consider as a masterpiece.

But what or who exactly defines a masterpiece? Will the international space station that has been orbiting this planet for over 25 years be considered as one, now that it is getting outdates and will be decommissioned in 2030!

A thing of beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, they say.

It is my considered view that a masterpiece can be found in the most unusual places, if only one makes an open-minded effort to look for it.

A masterpiece can also be something that has to do with just an idea that has been creatively expressed across many mediums and over a lengthy period. Take for example the following sequence of words:

Moustache; Argument; Simple; Taste; Exact; Rest; Part; Interest; Excess; Cheese; Elementary

Yes, evidently there is a masterpiece in them. But why do these words really matter when we are discussing a masterpiece?

Let me help by drawing your attention to the fact that these are the random monthly words that featured in ‘The World Through Words’!

Call it a clever coincidence. Accuse me of cheating about the randomness bit. But the words were indeed random, even if their first letters were not, I confess! Even if you end up considering my defense as weak, wouldn’t you still agree with me that it is certainly a masterpiece of planning a blog post.

Wishing you all a great last month in 2025. You have been very encouraging, and I promise to come up with a new series of posts for 2026. 

NOVEMBER 2025: The World Through Words – ELEMENTARY.

Words have traditionally been the backbone of intelligent communications. Some researchers suggest that humans began using spoken words, anywhere between 50000 and 70000 years ago. Words then were often just a collation of sounds, but they seemed to have served their purpose. How they managed their communications in their worlds so long ago can only be imagined!

Today, in the second millennium of the common era, as per Ethnologue, which is a language catalogue and resource site, there are around 7111 languages in the world (not including dialects, sign languages) with an estimated 840 million words.

And with such a surfeit of languages and words, our world should naturally (if not certainly!) be a very interesting one for those of us who will only take some time from our busy routines, to peek into the world of words.

This time, the random word that has surfaced is ELEMENTARY.

If there is any doubt that a phrase has been popularized in English fiction, one needs to look no further than to recall “Elementary, my dear Watson” that Sherlock Holmes often said to his biographer and dear friend.

That phrase, so humorously used, and indeed the word elementary itself, have been a cause of inferiority complex in many.

Innocuous as it may sound, something elementary is scathingly indicative that it is essentially simple and fundamental to be reasoned out, and the absence of understanding what is being referred to, suggests a lacuna in intelligence!

Culturally, most human societies, and especially those of the East have strongly believed in the five natural substances - earth, water, fire, air, and ether - as elementary or foundational substances of human existence.

Interestingly, right through the spectrum of human societies, five other elementary aspects – values/beliefs, languages, symbols, norms and rituals - have defined the structure of their cultures and have glued their civilizational bonds.

With this word having so much to brag about, one may be excused for not further expounding on such aspects, but to bask in the most elemental quality of having a good laugh at it – the smile made all the more warm when one considers the precious elements.

Gold and Silver haven't seen each other since elementary school. They decided to meet up at a bar. Silver walks in and sees his old friend and calls out to him.

"Aey, you?"

Gold gets excited and shouts back, "Aey, ji!"

OCTOBER 2025: The World Through Words – CHEESE.

Words have traditionally been the backbone of intelligent communications. Some researchers suggest that humans began using spoken words, anywhere between 50000 and 70000 years ago. Words then were often just a collation of sounds, but they seemed to have served their purpose. How they managed their communications in their worlds so long ago can only be imagined!

Today, in the second millennium of the common era, as per Ethnologue, which is a language catalogue and resource site, there are around 7111 languages in the world (not including dialects, sign languages) with an estimated 840 million words.

And with such a surfeit of languages and words, our world should naturally (if not certainly!) be a very interesting one for those of us who will only take some time from our busy routines, to peek into the world of words.

This time, the random word that has surfaced is CHEESE.

Charles de Gaulle, the nationalist French President is known to have wondered “How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?”

Well, even as turophiles (tur-uh-file – cheese lover) disagree with that French statesman, many may still find it interesting to know that cheese is much more than a popular food!

Historically, cheese (especially the parmesan variety) has had a financial use dating back to at least 1200 CE, serving as a form of wealth and a medium of exchange in some contexts. The value of the compact, aged cheese and the lengthy maturation process (up to two years or more) made it a suitable form of collateral for financial institutions.

In modern times too, cheese as currency is a practice that some regional banks in Italy still accept, based on a long-standing system where farmers can receive cash loans against deposits of their cheese with the bank, which then stores and ages them in their warehouses, while retaining them as collateral. This innovative system provides crucial liquidity to dairy farmers, bridging the financial gap between the production of cheese and its eventual sale to consumers.

Cheese has played an unintentional but effective role (the Swiss Cheese bidding process) in the public procurement processes of governments and corporations that are keen to showcase their perceived neutrality in ensuring a fair competition for public infrastructure and large service projects.  

And one may wonder how all children have to be cajoled to eat cheese, but who would have thought that The Tiger Who Ate Too Much Cheese is a children's story about a tiger's unusual dietary indulgence!

Cheese, it must be admitted, continues to exert so much influence in our daily lives. How else can we explain the following phrases!

She is a Big Cheese – an important or powerful person.

Say Cheese – phrase used to make people smile for a photograph.

The Cheese stands alone – someone isolated or left alone.

He always sports a Cheesy grin – exaggerated or insincere smile.

Now that’s a Cheesy joke – a silly, corny or overly sentimental joke.

Smile like a Cheshire Cat – to smile broadly or smugly.

That’s the way the cheese crumbles – things don’t always go as planned.

All said and done, is there any better excuse for all our unexplained idiosyncrasies than to just say that between us, we are like cheese and chalk!

SEPTEMBER 2025: The World Through Words – EXCESS.

Words have traditionally been the backbone of intelligent communications. Some researchers suggest that humans began using spoken words, anywhere between 50000 and 70000 years ago. Words then were often just a collation of sounds, but they seemed to have served their purpose. How they managed their communications in their worlds so long ago can only be imagined!

Today, in the second millennium of the common era, as per Ethnologue, which is a language catalogue and resource site, there are around 7111 languages in the world (not including dialects, sign languages) with an estimated 840 million words.

And with such a surfeit of languages and words, our world should naturally (if not certainly!) be a very interesting one for those of us who will only take some time from our busy routines, to peek into the world of words.

This time, the random word that has surfaced is EXCESS.

It is often said that if there is one thing that can commonly describe civilizations across millennia, it is the widespread excess of all kinds that were celebrated when these societies were at their zenith.

Think of the excesses in the Roman Empire. The glorification of widespread political corruption, the extravagant displays of wealth by its elites, military overspending as a strategy for geographical expansion, violent public spectacles such as the gladiatorial conquests and the practices of gluttony and decadent lifestyles were plainly normative.

Middle Eastern history seemed to have its own versions. The rise and fall of the Akkadians, Assyrians and Babylonians often involved brutal conquests and subjugation excesses.

Excesses in South Asian civilizations often involved extreme social stratification and the application of mindless cultural interventions by the invaders.

Western civilizations across both sides of the Atlantic have also been no strangers to excesses. Even as recently as in the nineteenth and twentieth century America, material extravagance of the Gilded Age, the unchecked consumerist society and the unilateral gains of the capitalist model of economic growth ensured the exponential rise of profligacy from an equally fast shifting of the moral compass.

With such a background across the ages and the continents, it should not come as a surprise that excessive consideration is being attributed here to this word!

Excess is too much of something, like big-time overindulgence.

Philosophers, literary giants and political commentators, all seem to have had excessive concerns about the excesses of human beings.

Plato suggested that excess of liberty, whether it lies in the state or in individuals, seems only to pass into excess of slavery. 

Nietzsche cautioned that the mother of excess is not joy but joylessness.

Dickens concluded that vices are sometimes only virtues carried to excess!

Oscar Wilde though had a different point of view. To him, moderation is a fatal thing and that nothing succeeds like excess.

Will Durant believed that every form of government tends to perish by an excess of its own principle.

The Tamil saint poet Tiruvalluvar has advised both rulers and the common man to conquer with forbearance all the excesses of insolence. Other verses in the Tirukural suggest moderation in food and financial habits, warns rulers on the ills of excessive taxation and links excessive love for dishonest gains to everlasting pain.

But I am sure that unlike such excessive caution that these people have expressed, an excess of humor should always be welcomed.

Back in the day, excessive use of commas was considered a very serious crime. That view usually resulted in a long sentence.

A friend of mine got jailed for excessive hay production. I had to bale the farmer out.

Eggs have recently been added to the endangered species list. Due to excessive poaching.

AUGUST 2025: The World Through Words – INTEREST.

Words have traditionally been the backbone of intelligent communications. Some researchers suggest that humans began using spoken words, anywhere between 50000 and 70000 years ago. Words then were often just a collation of sounds, but they seemed to have served their purpose. How they managed their communications in their worlds so long ago can only be imagined!

Today, in the second millennium of the common era, as per Ethnologue, which is a language catalogue and resource site, there are around 7111 languages in the world (not including dialects, sign languages) with an estimated 840 million words.

And with such a surfeit of languages and words, our world should naturally (if not certainly!) be a very interesting one for those of us who will only take some time from our busy routines, to peek into the world of words.

This time, the random word that has surfaced is INTEREST.

What could possibly be so interesting about a word that buries (inter) in itself, the remaining portion (rest)?

Well, the answers are many.

Think of family interests, nation-first interests, business sectoral interests, religious interests – Groups of individuals have been united because of their common concerns. In contrast, a false promise or a wrong interpretation of these common interests ended up as inter-generational disputes or ideological chasms, and have led to acrimonious wars.

A liking, or a propensity for a contrarian understanding of nature and human psychology – religious institutions have taken some extreme steps when dealing with such novel interests. Often, they have used proscription, bans, falsehoods and more to retaliate!

Most of us find it difficult to acknowledge when we act selfishly, but when one pursues self-interest, without regard for others, then the world can be a very miserable place for those of us who are not smart.

Interestingly, individuals like you and me are not just excited but have also been obsessed on many matters of curiosity (pursuit of interest).

Interest payments for moneys lent, the interest of investors for handsome returns – the world of finance has always oiled the progress of trade and commerce between communities and nation-states. Understanding and mastering the complex logic and mathematics behind some of the modern banking and insurance products may not be as simple as Shylock’s (a pound of flesh for a pound), but they could turn out to be as deadly! In some instances, individual families and entire communities have been wiped out for not being able to repay usurious terms of interest. 

JULY 2025: The World Through Words – PART.

Words have traditionally been the backbone of intelligent communications. Some researchers suggest that humans began using spoken words, anywhere between 50000 and 70000 years ago. Words then were often just a collation of sounds, but they seemed to have served their purpose. How they managed their communications in their worlds so long ago can only be imagined!

Today, in the second millennium of the common era, as per Ethnologue, which is a language catalogue and resource site, there are around 7111 languages in the world (not including dialects, sign languages) with an estimated 840 million words.

And with such a surfeit of languages and words, our world should naturally (if not certainly!) be a very interesting one for those of us who will only take some time from our busy routines, to peek into the world of words.

This time, the random word that has surfaced is PART.

Under its seemingly innocuous surface, this simple word is a powerful reminder of how human beings bonded or fought with each other over the millennia. It is perhaps the primary reason for the rise of the movement to mainstream DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) in all human endeavors.

Just look at the following examples for the word’s usage and it becomes evident as to why the whole is never a sum of the parts, but much more!

Piston rings are part of the engine system; for every part of pesticide, use ten parts of water – here the inference is that a part is one of the pieces, areas, periods, things, that together with others forms the whole of something; some, but not all of something.

She played the part of Marie in the film. - a role or character in a play or a film.

Are you from the coastal parts? – here the reference is to a region or area.

She hates being parted from her child while at work. – the suggestion here is to leave or go away from somebody; to separate people or things.

His lips were slightly parted; She parts her hair in the middle -  to indicate a separation of closely-aligned parts.

He is part German part Swede - not completely one thing and not completely another.

And then there are these other words that not only draw their roots from the word part, but give it a strength of additional character.

Partial – not complete; portion of something; somewhat fond of;

Partisan – strong supporter; prejudiced in favor of a particular cause;

Particular – singled out member or class in a larger group; in contrast to a universal quality.

All put together, humans have a mostly mixed emotion when it comes to the part about parting ways. To many it may evoke a sense of melancholy, but to others it is a matter of joy, finally!

Why did the numbers zero and two, part ways? Because someone came between them. (0-1-2)!

To those with a philosophical bent of mind, though:

Nothing is part of everything and everything is part of something.

And to those amongst us who are itching to set the world on its correct path:

The trouble with problem-solving is that we seldom make the shift from being part of the problem to being part of the solution.

JUNE 2025: The World Through Words – REST.

Words have traditionally been the backbone of intelligent communications. Some researchers suggest that humans began using spoken words, anywhere between 50000 and 70000 years ago. Words then were often just a collation of sounds, but they seemed to have served their purpose. How they managed their communications in their worlds so long ago can only be imagined!

Today, in the second millennium of the common era, as per Ethnologue, which is a language catalogue and resource site, there are around 7111 languages in the world (not including dialects, sign languages) with an estimated 840 million words.

And with such a surfeit of languages and words, our world should naturally (if not certainly!) be a very interesting one for those of us who will only take some time from our busy routines, to peek into the world of words.

This time, the random word that has surfaced is REST.

Let us start with Rest as with reference to periods when we Relax and Refresh.

The cultural context of rest varies significantly across different societies and time periods.

Rest can be viewed as a necessity for well-being or as a sign of laziness or self-indulgence, depending on the cultural values.

In some cultures (broadly identified as collectivist cultures), where group harmony and achievement are highly valued, and emphasis is placed on work and productivity, rest might be seen as selfish or unproductive, potentially leading to social disapproval or feelings of shame.  

In others (broadly identified as individualistic cultures), where personal autonomy and self-expression are emphasized, rest may be more readily accepted for recharging and to maintain well-being.

In traditional societies, Rest is often viewed as a natural and necessary part of life, allowing individuals to recover from physical labor and from social activities. It is integral to mental health too!

Across most of the world, Rest is often integrated into cultural rituals, celebrations, and holidays, providing a period of respite and reflection.

The "right to rest" is a recognized human right, adequately defined in international declarations like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and various regional texts. In India, the right to rest is understood within the context of the fundamental right to life and personal liberty, encompassing the right to peaceful living, decent environment, sleep, and leisure.

Let us now look at Rest as with reference to ‘Remaining or Balance’ part of a wider domain.

Here too, the socio-cultural context plays a significant role in the way, the word is interpreted. Often this may lead to funny situations or plain confusion. Sample a few:

The Communist party leader has boasted that Russia is planning to build a base on the moon. The idea is that astronauts will live there permanently. When they were asked if they really wanted to spend the rest of their lives in a barren, lifeless, empty landscape, the Russians said..."No. That's why we want to go to the moon."

After release from solitary confinement, the prisoner spent the rest of his jail time planning for his next jailbreak!

The teacher spent the rest of her rest-time in grading the students on their test.

How can the dead politician rest in peace, if his tombstone continues to be vandalized by the rest of his detractors?

Google’s recent announcement that the Gulf of Mexico becomes the Gulf of America for the US, but will remain unaltered for the ‘rest of the world.’

Or when the BBC news reader announces ‘For viewers around the world and those across the UK, this is the BBC.’ So, is the viewer from the rest of the world a different species from those in the UK?

Rest assured that this word will find place in the lexicon, as one of the many that makes the English language an interesting one.

MAY 2025: The World Through Words – EXACT.

Words have traditionally been the backbone of intelligent communications. Some researchers suggest that humans began using spoken words, anywhere between 50000 and 70000 years ago. Words then were often just a collation of sounds, but they seemed to have served their purpose. How they managed their communications in their worlds so long ago can only be imagined!

Today, in the second millennium of the common era, as per Ethnologue, which is a language catalogue and resource site, there are around 7111 languages in the world (not including dialects, sign languages) with an estimated 840 million words.

And with such a surfeit of languages and words, our world should naturally (if not certainly!) be a very interesting one for those of us who will only take some time from our busy routines, to peek into the world of words.

This time, the random word that has surfaced is EXACT.

The word has many interesting twists to its use which may astound most simple folks. Consider the following:

There is no exact estimate of the number of people who were impacted due to that earthquake!

The family astrologer had given very exact predictions on the political ascendancy of the businessman’s only daughter!

The insurance investigator insisted that an absolutely exact copy of the original drawing was needed.

Often, as many of us have encountered, there is also a twist of a different kind!

This happens when somebody attempts to exact a price from us by demanding something that we possess. How much we succumb to such extortions will exactly depend on our negotiation skills!

Occasionally, relationships break because one party is fastidious about being exact in transactions and in communications, much to the irritation of the other party. In such cases, there is exactly no way to prove who is responsible!

My friend’s girlfriend borrowed Rs.100 from him when they had started dating. After three years, when they separated, she returned exactly Rs.100. My friend lost all interest in that relationship!

APRIL 2025: The World Through Words – TASTE.

Words have traditionally been the backbone of intelligent communications. Some researchers suggest that humans began using spoken words, anywhere between 50000 and 70000 years ago. Words then were often just a collation of sounds, but they seemed to have served their purpose. How they managed their communications in their worlds so long ago can only be imagined!

Today, in the second millennium of the common era, as per Ethnologue, which is a language catalogue and resource site, there are around 7111 languages in the world (not including dialects, sign languages) with an estimated 840 million words.

And with such a surfeit of languages and words, our world should naturally (if not certainly!) be a very interesting one for those of us who will only take some time from our busy routines, to peek into the world of words.

The word that has randomly popped up this time is TASTE.

‘Taste the thunder’- a TV commercial for an Indian cola brand that resonated strongly with the masses, had some purists wondering if there could be any better example of linguistic nonsense. The popularity of the advertisement bore testimony otherwise - a feeling of machoism, energy and adventurousness was cleverly evoked by blending it into an invitation to experience the taste of a no-holds barred fizzy drink!

That the word ‘taste’ is so intrinsically woven into the cultural fabric of most communities, is often take for granted. Consequently, its power to alter the destinies of civilizations - emperors and individuals alike – remains forgotten or at best under-appreciated!

Be cautioned, this is not just about the sensory glands on our tongues, soft palate, pharynx, and upper esophagus. There is more to taste, than what these receptors do! Consider just a few contexts, to get a taste of what is involved.

An early taste of success has always been a powerful motivator for all – be they sportspersons, creative artists, stock-market traders, pickpockets, startup entrepreneurs or infatuated adolescents! Of course, there have been exceptions, such as the Scottish king Bruce, who despite tasting many failures, learnt perseverance from a spider for his eventual success.

Then there are the Hollywood stars, Bollywood divas and women from royal families, who have been known for their fine sense of jewelry and attire. These remarkable women – like Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, Vidya Balan, Gayathri Devi – with an exquisite taste for elegance - punctuated their persona with finely-crafted gemstones, superbly woven sarees, stylish coiffure and cemented their status as cultural influencers!

Quite often, though, the phrase “it’s an acquired taste’ accompanies an encouragement to experiment and relish the wonders of some epicurean delights. What is not so often mentioned in such a cautionary phrase is the risk of getting habituated to such experiments! How else can we explain the regrets that many alcoholics and chain-smokers have?

For most of us, though, tasting the bitter pill or tasting the unknown brings a dread that is almost equated with the end of the world!

Did you know that in Shakespearespeak (www.shakespearewords.com) there are more than a dozen words that are identified as being associated with taste – wormwood (bitter), gust (seek), relish, smack (savour), tooth (for pleasure), dainty (relish choice), distaste(offensive), tasteless (absurd), gaudy (offensive) and more!

As normal as it may seem for many of us to comprehend and appreciate the sense of taste, there are some who have a total inability to taste anything, while others have a reduced ability for some flavors, and a few more suffer from a distorted sense bordering on foul or metallic tastes. The terms that describe these conditions are ageusia, hypogeusia and dysgeusia.

Tasting the thunder as the cola commercial exhorted, may not really have excited these three categories of people, I guess! But then who knows?

MARCH 2025: The World Through Words – SIMPLE.

Words have traditionally been the backbone of intelligent communications. Some researchers suggest that humans began using spoken words, anywhere between 50000 and 70000 years ago. Words then were often just a collation of sounds, but they seemed to have served their purpose. How they managed their communications in their worlds so long ago can only be imagined!

Today, in the second millennium of the common era, as per Ethnologue, which is a language catalogue and resource site, there are around 7111 languages in the world (not including dialects, sign languages) with an estimated 840 million words.

And with such a surfeit of languages and words, our world should naturally (if not certainly!) be a very interesting one for those of us who will only take some time from our busy routines, to peek into the world of words.

The word that has randomly popped up this time is SIMPLE.

This seemingly simple word, you would be surprised to know, has kept kings, philosophers, scientists, poets, military strategists, and product designers anxious and busy over the centuries!

Young school children learning grammar and getting vexed with moving over from a simple sentence that has a subject and a verb, to complex sentences having dependent and independent clauses and subordinating conjunctions, are no better off than budding accountants who need to cautiously navigate simple interest and its compounding version, so that both the lender and the taxman are happy!

Civilizations, it is said, have risen and fallen, because of the complex power structures that were developed to maintain them. That - simplicity - could have sustained them is best articulated by E. F Schumacher when he says “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It often takes a touch of genius and lots of courage to move the needle in the opposite direction and simplify things.”

The art of simplicity is always a puzzle of complexity.

Keeping it simple requires hard work, though! Mark Twain famously and wittingly wrote - “I don’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead!”

Long before sustainable development became a global buzzword, Mahatma Gandhi’s word play remains inspirational – “Live simply so that others may simply live!”

Obviously, the anthropogenic world is confused and believes that order is simplicity and goes to great lengths to build one based on the most elaborate and complex of socio-economic and cultural rules. If only they understood the concept of entropy, or at the very least listen to Khalil Gibran when he says - “The obvious is that which is never seen until someone expresses it simply!”

FEBRURAY 2025: The World Through Words – ARGUMENT.

Words have traditionally been the backbone of intelligent communications. Some researchers suggest that humans began using spoken words, anywhere between 50000 and 70000 years ago. Words then were often just a collation of sounds, but they seemed to have served their purpose. How they managed their communications in their worlds so long ago can only be imagined!

Today, in the second millennium of the common era, as per Ethnologue, which is a language catalogue and resource site, there are around 7111 languages in the world (not including dialects, sign languages) with an estimated 840 million words.

And with such a surfeit of languages and words, our world should naturally (if not certainly!) be a very interesting one for those of us who will only take some time from our busy routines, to peek into the world of words.

The word that has randomly popped up for this month is ARGUMENT.

Notwithstanding the fact that its choice as a qualifier, by renowned economist and philosopher Amartya Sen’s for his book’s title (The Argumentative Indian) brought a sense of notoriety and fame to my countrymen, this word also happens to be a potent descriptor of how communities have progressed - in making progress from simple individual beliefs to colossal institutional power-centers.

And in facilitating such a progress, an argument exposes the deepest frustrations; only that they are often well-hidden in the phrases used. One can literally feel the heat of an argument rising, as the French do when they say la moutarde me monte au nez (mustard is climbing up my nose)!

Yet, in some cultures, people do their very best to be tactful and discreet, if only to keep themselves out of trouble from pursuing their line of argument. In many other cultures, there is also the tendency, while arguing, to describe unpleasant things in foreign terms, as though that will take away the sting of what is being said. In many parts of the world (including several parts of my own motherland, India), there is no shortage of colorful verbal insults to embellish an argument. May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits is a wonderful Arabic way to retreat from a losing argument!

And god-forbid if the argument turns physical!

As when things get too hot for the Tamil film hero whose fans will look out for him to do the parandhu parandhu adikkarathu routine (fight by jumping and flying in the air)!

There is plenty of wisdom that helps those that want to circumvent an argument. Sample a few - The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it (Dale Carnegie) - Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute (Anon) – Argument is meant to reveal the truth, not create it (Edward de Bono).

And then there are many witty ones to make light of the gravity of the situation! As when you hear these in the course of an argument - I’d agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong! Let’s not argue about who’s right; let’s just agree that I am!

I am willing to pledge my last Rupee and state that none can ever deny the fact that arguments are an indispensable and rich tradition of debate and reasoning in a culture and society; and that the intellectual discourse from arguments play a vital role in shaping democratic values and facilitating social progress.

Did I hear someone argue that I am wrong?

JANUARY 2025: The World Through Words – MOUSTACHE.

Words have traditionally been the backbone of intelligent communications. Some researchers suggest that humans began using spoken words, anywhere between 50000 and 70000 years ago. Words then were often just a collation of sounds, but they seemed to have served their purpose. How they managed their communications in their worlds so long ago can only be imagined!

Today, in the second millennium of the common era, as per Ethnologue, which is a language catalogue and resource site, there are around 7111 languages in the world (not including dialects, sign languages) with an estimated 840 million words.

And with such a surfeit of languages and words, ours should naturally (if not certainly!) be a very interesting world for those of us who will only take some time from our busy routines, to peek into the world of words.

Which is what I intend to do here. Randomly picking one word at a time, over the coming months, I plan to have a quick peek at the diverse and idiosyncratic socio-cultural worlds of human beings, through the selected word, and hope that my ‘peek-report’ brings some smile on the readers’ face.

The first word on my random list is MOUSTACHE.

Facial hair may have been an evolutionary response in human beings, but the words that are used to name them in various languages reveal an interesting world.

The moustache - that feature of human anatomy which is commonly seen below the nose and above the lips - is often a matter of an obsession of proud display amongst males in many cultures, and is considered a matter of shame for most females.

Think of Charlie Chaplin and you cannot ignore the image of the “toothbrush moustache, which was popular for several decades in the early twentieth century.

And who else, but Salvador Dali , can be as well-known for his work as for his waxed moustache. Of course, one would not be wise to ignore or belittle the fictitious character of Hercule Poirot, for his fussiness in grooming a perfectly waxed one!

Can anyone, in their right senses, blame Albert Einstein for sporting an unkempt mane and a wild moustache, what with his preoccupation for conceptualizing the special and general theories of relativity?

Not to be ignored is Ram Singh Chauhan of Rajasthan in India with the longest moustache at 5.65 meters; nor the handle-bar moustaches of many of his contemporaries from the adjoining state of Punjab as well as many of the country’s policemen from the south!

But did you know that several women took great pride in grooming luxuriant moustaches too!

Frido Kahlo, a famous Mexican painter of early twentieth century is as famous for her own prominent unibrow and moustache.

In more recent times, the great pop artist and singer Madonna, has, in her long career, gone through every imaginable change of hair and body color, and it was therefore not a surprise that at one point her facial hair took center stage!

But the woman who continues to set an exemplary status for herself with her moustache is Shyja from Kerala in India, who has gone on record in a BBC interview to assert that she keeps a moustache because she just “likes it a lot’!

So, whether it is from a sense of customary tradition or an idiosyncratic expression and fastidious personality trait, or just a matter of loving it, a moustache can be the door that opens into a world of socio-cultural nuances.

If only we take the courage to grasp and tweak it with our thumbs and forefingers! If indeed, we do happen to engage in this bold affair in a country such as Albania, we will be pleasantly surprised or intrigued to know that there are ten different words to what we are caught up with! Just see the list below:

madh – bushy moustache; holl – thin moustache; varur – drooping moustache; big – handlebar moustache; kacadre – moustache with turned up ends; glemb – moustache with tapered tips; posht – moustache loosely hanging down at the ends;  fshes – long broom-like moustaches with brushy hairs; dirs ur – newly sprouted moustache; rruar – moustache shaved off

I will stop here and allow you to keep wondering at the world through this interesting word!