Daily English Vocab
PDF 22nd May 2017
The Holy Cow Debate
“Make the cow a national animal“, declared Maulana Syed Ashrad Madani, president of the Jamiat
Ulama-i-Hind. He said this not so much to buy peace as to bring sanity (तर्क सगं तता) to the issue of
beef eating. Both sides have misplaced priorities, and this is bad for our brains. Those who argue
that minorities are being pampered (indulge with every attention, comfort, and kindness)
should ask themselves, why then, in aggregate terms, are Muslims always poorer than Hindus?
At the same time, a fact check is advised for those who think banning beef is anti-secular. True,
Hindus are forbidden to eat the cow but neither does Islam ordain (आज्ञा देना) that it be slaughtered.
Muslims would certainly not lose their faith if they did not get a regular ration of beef. In fact,
some of the best cuisines from Awadh, Hyderabad and Kashmir, are mutton based and, in all such
instances, the connoisseur (an expert judge in matters of taste.) would be horrified to stir cow
meat into the pot.
Nor is it that the veneration (सम्मान/आराधना) of an animal is strictly a Hindu peculiarity . The
Egyptians believed the cat was sacred; the Zoroastrians, like the Hindus, revere (सम्मान र्रना/आदर
र्रना) the ox as their prophet was, in lore, saved by one; the Cherokee Native Americans give the
eagle a special place and nobody is allowed to mess with it. The gentle turtle is also an object of
worship among many peoples, ancient and modern.
In a number of cultures it is forbidden to kill the totemic (र्ुलचिन्ह) symbol of the community , be
it an animal, even a plant; why , sometimes also a creature nobody has ever seen. The Chinese
have a near totemic relationship with the dragon, Czechs with a double-tailed lion, but none of
these animals actually exist. Humans and nature interact in ways more complex than the dichotomy
between “us“ and “them“.
Beef is banned in 24 out of 29 Indian states; besides our Constitution also directs us to protect the
cow. Other countries have outlawed other kinds of meat for reasons not always religious. However,
when a law prohibits the consumption, or slaughter, of a certain animal, then it applies to every
citizen, without exception. In Germany , Britain, Ireland, France, South Australia, among several
other countries, dog meat is banned. In six states in America you cannot flip dog flesh on your
hamburger grill.
As you can't pet a dog and slaughter it too, eating its meat would mean farming the animal and
keeping it under conditions in which chickens and turkeys are bred. This thought, by itself, is so
revolting, that plating dogs for a meal is now a hideous (extremely unpleasant.) crime in many
parts of the world. Curiously, even where eating dog meat is allowed, there are restrictions on
slaughtering it. Such is the case in Appenzel and St Gallen districts of Switzerland.
If you are hopelessly addicted to dog meat, you have to go somewhere else, and the space for that
is shrinking. Now even Taiwan, post westernisation, has banned the sale of dog meat. The Chinese,
for a long time, had no inhibitions (चनषेध/अवरोधन) against this kind of protein, but now some qualms
(आशंर्ा/सदं ेह) are emerging.
It is often argued that this is an outcome of the one-child policy which allows for more time, room
and emotional space for raising a pet. Under these conditions the dog, predictably, is the most
popular choice in many homes.It is hard to imagine this for as recently as in 1983 in Beijing, it
was illegal to keep a dog as a pet.
Eating a horse was not particularly encouraged in the US, but is known to have happened. When
it did, it was usually under strained circumstances; when food and victuals (food or provisions.)
were scarce and even the kitchen salt running low. Today, however, there is a specific law against
horseflesh in the US and there is nothing religious behind this. It is true that over 600 years ago
Pope Gregory II had instructed St Boniface to campaign against horse meat, but when the last
horse slaughter house was closed in America in 2007, nobody remembered what a Pope had once
said.
The horse, the dog, the cat, are treated as pets in many cultures, which is why eating them is not
just bad manners, but illegal too. It does not matter where the sentiment to ban the eating of a
certain animal comes from: it may be religion, or because of a certain affection towards a species.
But whenever this prohibition is in place, the arm of the law is equally muscular and long. Under
these circumstances, it is pointless to demand dog meat as a legal claim; it would be laughed out
of court.
Doubtless, there will be random attempts to trick people into buying dog meat as goat meat, or
horse meat as beef, or selling cat meat as rabbit meat.This practice must have been prevalent
enough for there is, in fact, a Spanish saying: “To pass off (प्रर्ट र्रना) a cat as a hare.“ In India,
sadly, gau rakshaks often set out to “pass off “ buffalo meat (sometimes any meat) as beef, to
create terror among Muslims. Well-meaning secularists, on the other hand, frequently end up
falling on their swords. When gau rakshaks turn murderous they should be single-mindedly tried
for their crimes. Why blunt this thrust by simultaneously arguing that eating beef is a democratic
right?
To insist on beef in India, in the name of secularism, is just as ridiculous as demanding a dog or
horse in a New York restaurant. All that is forbidden need not be holy!
Courtesy: The Times of India(Concerning)
1. Sanity (noun): Reasonable and rational behaviour. (तर्क सगं तता)
Synonyms: Rationality, Judiciousness, Reasonableness, Sensibleness.
Antonyms: Insanity, Unreasonableness.
Example: Because the children were eager to get their inheritance, they challenged their elderly
mother’s sanity in court.
Related words:
Sane (adjective) - reasonable or sensible.
Origin: from Latin sanitas ‘health’.
2. Pamper (verb): (indulge with every attention, comfort, and kindness) (अधिक प्यार जताना)
Synonyms: Indulge, Overindulge, Cosset, Mollycoddle, Coddle.
Antonyms: Abuse, Ill-Treat, Maltreat, Mishandle.
Example: After a tense day at work, she chose to pamper herself with hot yoga and a pedicure.
Verb forms: Pamper, Pampered, Pampered.
Origin: akin to Dutch dialect pamperen means to pamper.
3. Ordain (verb): To establish or order by appointment, decree, or law. (आज्ञा देना)
Synonyms: Decree, Order, Command, Legislate, Dictate.
Antonyms: Revoke, Rescind.
Example: The recession may be severe enough to ordain structural change.
Verb forms: Ordain, Ordained, Ordained.
Origin: from Latin ordinare means to put in order, appoint.
4. Connoisseur (noun): An expert on a particular subject /(an expert judge in matters of taste.)
पारखी/चवशेषज्ञ
Synonyms: Gourmet, Epicure, Gastronome, Expert, Master.
Antonyms: Ignoramus.
Example: Because the psychologist talks to many individuals, she considers herself to be a
connoisseur of people and their relationships.
Origin: from French conoistre ‘know’.
5. Veneration (noun): Respect or awe inspired by the dignity, wisdom, dedication, or talent of
a person ( सम्मान/आराधना)
Synonyms: Reverence, Respect, Exaltation, Esteem.
Antonyms: Disrespect, Dishonor.
Example: The Bible says we should venerate our parents and our elders.
Verb forms: Venerate, Venerated, Venerated.
Related words:
Venerate (verb) - to respect someone or something
Origin: from Latin venerat- ‘adored, revered’, from the verb venerari .
6. Revere (verb): Feel deep respect or admiration for (something). (सम्मान र्रना/आदर र्रना)
Synonyms: Respect, Venerate, Exalt, Regard, Deify.
Antonyms: Abhor, Condemn, Criticize, Denounce, Despise, Detest.
Example: After he saved nine children from the burning building, the entire town will revere
Charles as their local hero.
Verb forms: Revere, Revered, Revered.
Related words:
Reverence (noun): (सम्मान /आदर)
Origin: Latin revereri, from re- + vereri to fear
7. Hideous (adjective): (extremely unpleasant.) (भयंर्र/चिनौना)
Synonyms: Abhorrent, Abominable, Appalling, Awful, Disgusting, Distasteful, Dreadful, Evil.
Antonyms: Delightful, Pleasing, Pleasant, Innocuous.
Example: The communal riots were characterized by hideous actions of violence.
Origin: from Old French hisde ‘fear’.
8. Inhibition (noun): Something that forbids, debars, or restricts (चनषेध/अवरोधन)
Synonyms: hindrance, hampering, obstruction, impediment.
Antonyms: assistance, clearance, liberation, permission, approval.
Example: The lack of money is the biggest inhibition we face in opening our cupcake shop.
Verb forms: Inhibit, Inhibited, Inhibited.
Related words:
Inhibit (verb) - hinder, restrain, or prevent (an action or process).
Origin: from Latin inhibere ‘hinder’, from in- ‘in’ + habere ‘hold’.
9. Qualm (noun): A feeling of doubt or uncertainty(about whether you are doing the right thing)
(आशंर्ा/सदं ेह)
Synonyms: Apprehension, Misgiving, Uneasiness, Anxiety.
Antonyms: Calmness, Ease.
Example: The crooked businessman appeared to have no qualm about tearing down the nursing
home to build a parking lot.
10. Victual (noun): (food or provisions.) (आहार/खाद्य)
Synonyms: Food, Provision, Bread, Comestible.
Example: Before leaving his mother packed victual to his child.
Related words:
Victual (verb) - Provide with food
Verb forms: victual, victualled , victualled .
Origin: From Latin victus means ‘food’
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