Tag: Reading

Darjeeling # Improve Vocabulary

Source – NAT GEO TRAVELER

Toy trains, excellent tea, and impressive views of four of the world’s highest peaks. Darjeeling’s trademark charms are surpassed only by the niceness of its people, found wildlife photographer Dhritiman Mukherjee and Bollywood composer Shantanu Moitra on the West Bengal leg of their #100DaysInHimalayas project. Between February and December 2016, the duo will make a series of trips in the Himalayas covering reaches running from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, and into the neighbouring foothills of Nepal and Bhutan—and they’re taking National Geographic Traveller India along for the ride. Their latest dispatch is from Darjeeling. For centuries, the cool hill station at the foothills of the Himalayas, has been favoured as a health resort for its brisk weather, first by the British, and then by tourists across India and the world. It’s predictably lovely and laid-back, except on some days as this twosome found out.

Ice, Ice, Baby

 

When Moitra and Mukherjee visited, Darjeeling was reeling from an unexpected hailstorm that caused an hours-long traffic jam. “It was white, covered in 3-inch ice,” said Moitra. As soon as they checked into the hotel, Moitra recalled, “Dhritiman said it’s time to take photos now.” The hail had dented cars and smashed holes in roofs and windows. “That’s the difference between us,” Moitra says. “I say, ‘There’s chaos outside, let’s stay in.’”

Outside, they found a town making the most of the bizarre weather. Life was at a standstill and people were playing with the ice in the streets. It was lovely but Dhritiman was surprised with the number of international food-chain outlets. “The Mall Road now has CCD and KFC,” he said. At the very least, they should “blend with local culture; use Lepcha- or Gurkha-style design for the interiors.”

Hitting The Right Note

For Moitra, each place they visited came alive with the locals they encountered, and the stories they had to tell. At their colonial-era stay Cochrane Place in Kurseong—famous for birding and tea estates such as Makaibari—Moitra discovered that the hotel’s singer honed his craft on the road. A taxi driver by day with dreams of being a musician, the singer picked up playing the guitar from his church group, bought his instrument at a pawnshop, and expanded his repertoire by asking the Indian and international tourists he ferried daily to play their songs off the car speaker. “I suddenly remembered my college days, when I was not trained in music but I just enjoyed singing,” said Moitra. He was so impressed that he made a recording of the musician before leaving.

A World Without Pandas

En route to Sandakphu, West Bengal’s highest point, they met a tea-stall owner in his early 30s, who was involved in conservation efforts for the endangered red panda, native to the Himalayan forests of this region. The high school graduate had moved to Dubai to fund his kid’s education but returned two years later when he “realised that family is more important than money,” Moitra said. Deciding that he could just as easily put in the taxing 16-hour work days to develop his village, he started conservation work and joined in community initiatives such as coaxing locals to keep off alcohol and save up for solar panels to help their kids study at night.

Mountain Lessons

On their return from Sandakphu, Moitra and Mukherjee shared their jeep with a father and his sick child whose smiles and conversation showed no sign of the gruelling ride and the desperation at the remote access to a hospital. “The Himalayas have a really surprising happiness quotient,” Moitra said, who puts it down to the local philosophy: not to fight the elements but accept life as it comes. “The Himalayas teach me to stop complaining, and life will be better.”

Keep posted for updates from Mukherjee and Moitra, as this mountain bromance yields stunning photos of the Himalayas’ stark beauty, and stories of its charming people.

Sr.No.WORDMEANINGSYNONYM
1ExcellentExtremely good; outstandingAccomplished, admirable, attractive, distinguished, exceptional, exemplary, exquisite, fine, finest, first-rate, good, great, magnificent, outstanding, skillful, sterling, superb, superlative
2ImpressiveEvoking admiration through size, quality or skill; grand, imposing or awesome.Dramatic, exciting, extraordinary, important, imposing, intense, massive, monumental, notable, profound, remarkable, splendid, superb, thrilling
3SurpassedExceed; be greater thanBeat, eclipse, exceed, outpace, outperform, outstrip, outweigh, pass, rank, top, best, better, cap, excel, outdistance, outgo, outmatch, outrank, outrival, outrun, outshine, override, overshadow, overstep, surmount, tower, transcend, trump
4dispatchSend off to a destination or for a purposeAlacrity, celerity, expedition, expeditiousness, haste, hurry, hustle, precipitateness, promptitude, promptness, quickness, rapidity, rustle, speediness, swiftness
5briskActive and energeticEnergetic, lively, quick, speedy, spry, vigorous, alert, animated, bustling, busy, adroit, agile, nimble, sprightly, vivacious, zippy
6predictablyAnything that you can see or know before it happensCertain, anticipated, calculable, expected, foreseeable, foreseen, likely, prepared, sure, sure-fire
7reelingWind something on to a reel by turning the reel.Addled, befuddled, bemused, bewildered, blind, blinded, dazed, dazzled, distracted, disturbed, dumbfounded, faint, light, muddled, puzzled, staggered, swimming, upset, whirling
8hailstormA storm of heavy hailBarrage, bombardment, rain, salvo, shower, storm, volley, broadside, cannonade, pelting
9bizarreVery strange or unusualComical, curious, extraordinary, fantastic, freakish, grotesque, ludicrous, odd, offbeat, outlandish, peculiar, ridiculous, unusual, weird
10outletsA pipe or hole through which water or gas may escape. OR A point from which goods are sold or distributed.Channel, aperture, avenue, break, crack, duct, egress, escape, exit, hole, nozzle, opening, orifice, porthole, release, spout, tear, vent, safety valve, way out
11encounteredUnexpectedly be faced with or experience; meet someone unexpectedlyBear, bump into, come across, come upon, confront, detect, experience, face, find, meet, run into, suffer, turn up, close, descry, espy, front, sustain, undergo
12estatesAn area or amount of land or property, in particularArea, farm, parcel, plantation, ranch, residence, acreage, demesne, domain, dominion, freehold, grounds, holdings, territory, villa
13repertoireA stock of plays, dances, or items that a company or a performer knows or is prepared to performRepertory, range, repository, reserve, stock, stockpile, store, supply
14ferriedConvey in a ferry or other ship or boat, especially across a short stretch of waterCarry, chauffeur, lug, send, ship, shuttle, tote, transport, bear, buck ,convey, pack, run, move across, schlepp
15musicianA person who plays a musical instrument, especially as a profession, or is musically talented.Artist, composer, conductor, entertainer, instrumentalist, performer, player, soloist, virtuoso, vocalist, artiste, diva, session player
16enrouteDuring the course of a journey; on the wayAdvancing, along the way, bound, driving, en voyage, entrained, flying, heading toward, in passage, in transit, making headway, midway, on the road, pressing on, progressing, traveling
17conservationThe act of conserving something, in particularCare, conservancy, control, maintenance, management, protection, supervision, attention, custody, economy, governing, guardianship, keeping, safe keeping, salvation, saving, stewardship, storage, supervising, sustentation, upkeep
18endangeredSeriously at a risk of extinctionThreatened, at risk, facing extinction, in danger
19nativeA person born in a specified place or associated with a place by birth, whether subsequently resident there or not.Endemic, indigenous, natural, constitutional, essential, fundamental, natal, original, real, wild
20graduateA person who has successfully completed a course of study or training, especially a person who has been awarded and undergraduate or first academic degreeAlum, alumnus, doctor, grad, recipient, baccalaureate, bachelor, collegian, diplomat, holder, licentiate, master, Ph.D, product, former student
21initiativesThe ability to assess and initiate things independently ; The power or opportunity to act or take charge before others do.Action, drive, leadership, push, ambition, dynamism, energy, enterprise, enthusiasm, get-up-and-go, gumption, inventiveness, moxie, originality, punch, resource, spunk, steam, vigor
22coaxingPersuade gradually or gently to do somethingCajole, entice, induce, tease, tempt, wheedle, allure, barter, beguile, blandish, blarney, con, decoy, flatter, get, hook, importune, influence, inveigle, jawbone, lure, pester, plague, press, soft-soap, soothe, sweet-talk, urge, wangle, worm
23gruelingExtremely tiring and demandingArduous, backbreaking, brutal, demanding, excruciating, exhausting, fierce, laborious, punishing, strenuous, tiring, torturous, trying
24desperationA state of despair, typically one which results in rash or extreme behaviorAgony, anguish, anxiety, desolation, despair, discomfort, fear, gloom, grief, heartache, melancholy, misery, pain, sorrow, unhappiness
25philosophyThe study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence, especially when considered as an academic disciplineAttitude, doctrine, idea, ideology, logic, outlook, reasoning, system, tenet, theory, thinking, thought, truth, view, viewpoint, wisdom, aesthetics, axiom, beliefs, conception, convictions, metaphysics, ontology, rationalism, reason, values
26complainingExpress dissatisfaction or annoyance about somethingGrumbling, protesting, whining, accusing, bellyaching, bewailing, charging, deploring, disapproving, discontented, dissenting, fretting, lamenting, moaning, mourning, murmuring, regretting, repining, weeping
27bromanceA close but non-sexual relationship between two men
28charmingVery pleasant or attractiveAbsorbing, alluring, amiable, appealing, attractive, charismatic, cute, delightful, elegant, engaging, engrossing, fascinating, glamorous, graceful, inviting, likable lovable, lovely ,pleasant, provocative, sweet, bewitching, electrifying, enamoring, enthralling, entrancing, fetching, infatuating, magnetizing, pleasing, ravishing, seducing, tantalizing, tempting, titillating, winning

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Darjeeling

IELTSBAND7

Practice Finding Information # Virunga

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14–26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

[A] When the ranger studied the ragtag crew he was supervising, seven young men repairing a rugged road that leads to Virunga National Park, it did not take much to see what he had in common with them. They were all born and raised in or around the park on the eastern edge of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. None of them were rich. None of them would ever be rich. All of them had seen loved ones fall by the capricious machete stroke of a war with murky logic and no foreseeable end.

[B] And now here they all were, working for the park, filling potholes and clearing drainage ditches in the furtherance of something considerably more profound than nine miles of rough gravel. The road joins the Bukima ranger post with tourists from the West, whose money helps support Africa’s oldest national park. These visitors come here principally to fulfill a dream—namely, to stand mere feet away from the park’s illustrious residents, the rare mountain gorillas.

[C] Less famous but just as important, the Bukima road connects farmers outside the park with village markets and the city of Goma beyond. For years it had been a morass of large rocks and quicksand-like mud. Its impassability made hard lives that much harder. But now the park was pouring money into the road’s reconstruction. And local men like these were repairing it. So the road also constituted a bond, albeit a slender one, between the region’s most visible national institution and villagers who view the park with hostility and, at times, rage, believing the land should still belong to them.

[D] Here was where the ranger, a captain named Theo Kambale, parted ways with the young men. Kambale’s heart held nothing but reverence for the park. You could see it in the crispness of his uniform, the care with which he tucked his green pants into his boots, which he fastidiously polished. Kambale was 55 and had spent 31 of those years as a ranger. His father, also a ranger, had died in 1960, the year of Kambale’s birth, gored by an African buffalo. His older brother had also been a ranger. He too had been slain in the line of duty, in 2006. The killer was not a wild animal, but instead a member of one of many armed groups that have ravaged and occupied Virunga for two decades.

[E]To these young men raised in poverty, that Virunga’s tremendously fertile soil, its trees, and its creatures should be protected by law for the viewing pleasure of well-off tourists struck them as a grave injustice. They were swept into a militia known as M23, which touted a host of grievances against the corrupt government but in the meantime was content to loot and rape its way through a slice of eastern Congo near the park’s southern sector. By the end of 2013, after more than a year and a half of fighting, the Congolese Army, backed by United Nations troops, routed M23. Among the militia’s foot soldiers deemed salvageable, by UN peacekeepers and park officials, were these seven.

[F]The work on the Bukima road was harder and less profitable than looting. But the former rebels kept at it. Kambale was impressed. He talked to them from time to time. “Before now, all you were creating was insecurity in the region,” he would say. “Now you’re building this road. It’s a start. From here you can go on to do other things. But you can’t progress if there’s no security. So tell that to your friends. Tell them to leave their armed groups. Because that is not life. This”—and he would gesture toward the road—“is the beginning of life.”

[G]The ranger hoped that his message would sink in. He knew of their disparate backgrounds. He was aware that most had been conscripted by force. Across their arms and backs was a grisly network of scars, testifying to their semi-enslavement. Seeing these men in their 20s permanently marked by brutality, Kambale thought of his own injury, delivered by a militia spear to his right leg. Proof of residency, you could say. If they could look past their battle wounds, perhaps this park could be saved.

[H]The road constituted a bond, albeit a slender one, between the park and villagers who view the park with hostility, believing the land should belong to them.

There is no nationally protected area in the world quite like Virunga, in ways both blessed and cursed. Its approximately two million acres include a web of glacier-fed rivers, one of Africa’s Great Lakes, sun-bleached savannas, impenetrable lowland rainforests, one of the highest peaks on the continent, and two of its most active volcanoes. Virunga hosts more than 700 bird species (among them the handsome francolin and Grauer’s swamp warbler) as well as more than 200 mammals (including the odd-looking okapi, with zebra-striped hind legs, and 480 of the world’s 880 remaining mountain gorillas). Standing where the Semliki River flows out of Lake Edward with the Rwenzori Mountains glowering in the distance, serenaded by a moaning Greek chorus of water-besotted hippos, and gazing down at a thoroughly uncontaminated tableau of swimming elephants and strutting saddle-billed storks backlit by a low morning sun, one becomes very small, very silent, and very aware that nature’s brave feint of indomitability has all but come to an end.

[I]For Virunga has been, going on two decades, a war zone. In 1994 the horrific ethnic conflict in neighboring Rwanda that led to the genocide of Tutsis by Hutus spilled across the border into Congo. Hutu fighters and more than a million refugees fled Rwanda after their defeat, settling in nightmarishly overcrowded camps around the park. Some Hutus later formed the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda—known by its French acronym, FDLR—the militia that killed Kambale’s older brother. Congolese Tutsis eventually responded with the National Congress for the People’s Defense, or CNDP, which then spawned the March 23 movement, or M23. One bloody iteration after the next—fomented by these armed groups—has plowed into the park like a threshing machine.

[J]Many of the fighters, along with Congolese Army soldiers purporting to defend the territory, lingered well after the cease-fires, expunging the park’s wildlife for personal consumption or for sale as bushmeat. Thousands remain in the jungle to this day, and thousands more from a shifting array of locally formed militias called Mai-Mai have joined them. Attempts by rangers to drive them out have led to deadly reprisals. This past March two rangers were executed in Virunga’s central sector, driving up the death toll of park rangers to 152 since 1996.

QUESTIONS

Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A–J, in boxes 27–35 on your answer sheet.

  1. Virunga National Park is situated near the Democratic Republic of Congo.
  2. Farmers remain connected with the city through Bukima road.
  3. The reason for Theo Kambale father’s death.
  4. The young poor people of Virunga find it not justified to have to protect the lands of Virunga for the foreign rich tourists.
  5. Kambale tried to speak villagers in understanding that being in armed forces is not the right decision to take in life.
  6. Virunga is the world’s most protected national area.
  7. The ethnic conflict in 1994 led to the genocide of Tutsis by Hutus.
  8. Virunga has yet seen the death of about 152 park rangers since 1996.
  9. The genocide of 1994 eventually led to Congolese Tutsis responding with a movement on March 23, called M23.
  10. Kambale was injured in his right leg by a militia force.
  11. People come to visit Virunga National Park to see the rare mountain gorillas.
ANSWERS
  1. A
  2. C
  3. D
  4. E
  5. F
  6. H
  7. I
  8. J
  9. I
  10. G
  11. B
Reason for the answer

27. When you read the first paragraph, the line -> they were all born in or around the park on the eastern edge of Democratic Republic of Congo. Here the park is the Virunga National park which is on the eastern edge of the Cong. The question states the national park is near the Democratic Republic of Congo. The line above makes it clear.

28. The first line of the passage, clearly states that the Bukima road connects the farmers to the city.

29. If you clearly see the D paragraph, it mentions, His father, also a ranger, had died in 1960, the year of Kambale’s birth, gored by an African buffalo. In this line, gored means to cause an injury!

30. In the paragraph E, there is a mention of how it “strucks them to grave” .

31. When reading the paragraph F, you see a line where it states that kamble was impressed! He talked to them from time to time!

32. In paragraph H, it clearly mentions, there is no nationally protected area in the world quite like Virunga.

33. In the paragraph, I, the second line states clearly the reasons for the answer!

34. In paragraph J, the last line clearly mentions the death rate.

35. In paragraph I, one can clearly see M23. In questions with specific keyword presented, it is good to just check out for the keyword and then find out answer related to it.

36. In paragraph G, in the second last line, Kambale thinks about his own injury!

37. The last line of paragraph B mentions the reason for people visiting the place.

Source – National Geographic

Madurai # Improve Vocabulary

Guts and Glory: On a Chettinad Food Pilgrimage in South India

Madurai’s towering temples are feats of the imagination, filled with deities and demons draped in jewellery, armed with weapons, and often, bearing more limbs than usual.

[PARA 1]

There are two reasons people visit Madurai: Meenakshi and mutton. Meenakshi is Madurai’s feared and revered temple deity, the three-breasted consort of Shiva, who presides over the scorching city from the cool, stone sanctum of the Meenakshi Amman kovil. The temple is an arresting sight, its gopuram crowded with candy-coloured angels and demons that seem crafted from fondant. Like a gaudy, tiered confection of mythical proportions. But I am more interested in the mutton. Madurai’s no-nonsense Chettinad messes, I am told, serve every part of the goat—brain, intestine, liver, lung, tongue, hooves, and head—and I intend on sampling each one.

[PARA 2]

My hankering for the peppery flavours of Chettinad food dates back to my schooling in Madras. Thanks to generous neighbours, classmates’ dabbas, and a mother who is both curious and a wonderful cook, I am well acquainted with the powers of traditional Tamil cooking. I know, for instance, that a good rasam delivers not just potency but also clarity of thought. That there is no better way to start the day than with a tumbler of filter coffee, and no better way to end it than with a steel plate of sambhar, rice, and ghee, preferably with pappadums. But my most treasured food memories of Madras are dinners at Chettinad restaurants. Decades later, recollections of that feisty mutton pepper fry flecked with curry leaves and glistening with pure coconut oil, still make me quiver.

[PARA 3]

Geographically, Chettinad is part of the districts of Sivaganga and Pudukkottai in Tamil Nadu, spread over some 1,500-odd kilometres of arid scrubland. Today, the region is known for its cotton saris, heritage hotels, and antique markets. But before India became independent, and even before the British colonised our ports, spices, and princely states, Chettinad was part of the ancient Tamil Pandyan Kingdom. Its capital was Madurai.

[PARA 4]

The one thing that has remained constant from the 13th century is the city’s blistering weather. Our auto weaves past rickety cycle rickshaws, ambassador cars, and ladies on mopeds, hair neatly plaited and gleaming with oil. We’re headed to Amma Mess, one the city’s most popular restaurants, known for its delicious, inexpensive fare. Within minutes of scoring a table, we’re faced with seven shiny steel plates piled with food: rabbit roast, pepper quail, dosa layered with keema and eggs, parotta mashed with mutton, a neat mound of pigeon biryani, fish curry, and an omelette stuffed with bone marrow. As my fiancé and I lock eyes across the table like soldiers before battle, a waiter appears. “Madam” he says, smiling. “Ghee?”

[PARA 5]

Later that day, we meet Praveena and Mukunthan, a chatty couple who conduct food trails, introducing travellers to Madurai’s markets and lesser-known culinary gems. Within minutes, we see the merits of walking with a local. Madurai’s Old Town seems like a warren of rickety lanes, but Praveena tells us it’s actually remarkably well planned. The streets are laid out in concentric squares around the Meenakshi temple. Each has a different focus: jewellery, flowers, spices, saris, kitchenware. The layout instantly becomes easier to grasp.

[PARA 6]

It’s past 9 p.m. but the market buzzes like a Mumbai railway station at peak hour. It’s warm and terribly crowded and yet, I can’t wipe the smile off my face. The scent of jasmine, the snatches of Tamil, the roly-poly script on store-fronts, like a queue of plump ladies waiting for a bus: Like an incantation, these sights and sounds invoke long-forgotten memories. It’s strange, the things our brains choose to save. With every recollection, the dust clears a little more, my confidence is boosted, and soon I tentatively ask for a bottle of water—in Tamil.

[PARA 7]

As we eat our way through the market, we learn about Madurai’s earliest association with food. Madurai is named after maduram, which means nectar in Tamil, and according to Hindu scriptures, the city was birthed when a drop of ambrosia fell to Earth from Shiva’s dreadlocks. This is why “God and food are Madurai’s favourite pastimes,” Praveena says grinning. Egged on by our charming and enthusiastic guides, we devour ungodly amounts of meat: chicken parottas, goat’s trotters, uttappam and mutton keema, idli and fish curry.

[PARA 8]

And yet, it’s the vegetarian flavours that have me scribbling in my food diary. From street carts we have slices of tender coconut tree bark, cottonseed and jaggery payasam, and adirasam, a decadent cross between a doughnut and a puff pastry that’s deep-fried in ghee. The cottonseed payasam, Mukunthan says, helps curb respiratory disorders and was traditionally consumed by workers in Madurai’s cotton mills.

[PARA 9]

Every plate of food we eat is memorable (pigeon incidentally, tastes like gamier chicken) but it’s not authentic Chettinad food, our hosts inform us. Like the many migrant communities that moved to Madurai for work, regional cuisines too adapt to survive, especially when they’re served in restaurants. Recipes are tweaked for local palates—a little more oil, a little less cooking time, maybe a dash of colour—and before long they barely resemble the original. “You’ll have to go to Karaikudi for the real thing,” emphasizes Mukunthan.

[PARA 10]

We round off our night with Tirunelveli halwa, a gooey, melt-in-the-mouth dessert made from wheat, just the right amount of sugar, and far too much ghee. Served warm, on a dried peepul leaf, it is the closest thing to maduram I have tasted.

[PARA 11]

Oddly enough for a community that loves meat, the Chettiars were originally vegetarians from Kanchipuram in northern Tamil Nadu. They lived there for thousands of years before moving to a place called Kaveripoompattinam, a small thriving Chola port town in the marshy Kaveri delta. Here, they began trading in plump Kaveri rice and salt from the Coromandel Coast but before long, they were travelling with fleets to Malacca, Sumatra, and Java. Their zeal for commerce grew, and with it, their appetite for the Southeast Asian food they encountered on their voyages. Seafood entered the Chettiar kitchen, and soon pots of crab rasam were gently simmering in their handsome homes.

WORDMEANINGSYNONYMS
1. ToweringVery high or tallColossal, gigantic, imposing, lofty, magnificent, massive, mighty, monumental, prodigious, soaring, stately, tall, elevated, sublime, surpassing
2. ImaginationThe action or process of forming images or conceptsThought, artistry, awareness, fancy, fantasy, idea, image, imagery, ingenuity, insight, inspiration, intelligence, inventiveness, originality, resourcefulness, thought, vision, wit
3. DeitiesA god or goddessDivinity, idol, immortal, creator, goddess, godhead, celestial, demigoddess, divine being, supreme being
4. DrapedTo cover or hand with cloth or other fabric, especially in graceful foldsCloak, clothe, cover, dangle, don, dress, enclose, envelop, fold, hang, sprawl, swathe, wrap, array, display, droop, drop, enwrap, line, model, roll, spread, spread-eagle, suspend
5.ReveredTo regard with respect tinged with awe; venerateAdmire, adore, apotheosize, appreciate, be in awe of, cherish, defer to, deify, enjoy, esteem, exalt, hold in awe, honor, look up to, love, magnify, pay homage, prize, put on pedestal, regard, respect, think highly of, treasure, value, venerate, worship
6. ScorchingBurning very hotBlistering, fiery, searing, sizzling, sweltering, burning, hot
7. SanctumA sacred place, especially a shrine within a temple or churchAltar, chancel, shrine, temple, holy place, sacrarium, sanctorium
8. FondantA thick paste mad of sugar and water and often flavored or colored, used in making of sweets and the icing and decoration of cakes.
9.MythicalOccurring in or characteristic of myths or folk talesAllegorical, fabled, fanciful, fictitious, imaginary, legendary, mythic, storied, unreal, whimsical, chimerical, created, fabricated, fabulous, fairy-tale, false, fantasy, fictive, folkloric, invented, made-up, mythological, non-existent, pretended, supposititious, traditional, untrue, visionary
10.HankeringA strong desire to do or have somethingCraving, pining, yearning, ache, druthers, hunger, itch, longing, thirst, urge, want, weakness, wish, yen, fire in belly, munchies.
11.GenerousShowing readiness to give more of something, especially money, than is strictly expected or necessary.Acceptable, benevolent, big, charitable, considerate, fair, good, helpful, honest, hospitable, lavish, reasonable, thoughtful, tolerant, unselfish, willing, altruistic, beneficent, bounteous, bountiful, easy, equitable, excellent, free, greathearted, high-minded, honorable, just, kind, kind-hearted. Kindly, liberal, lofty, loose, magnanimous, moderate, munificent, noble, open-handed, philanthropic, profuse, soft-touch, ungrudging, unsparing, unstinting
12.AcquaintedMake someone aware of or familiar withAbreast, conversant, informed, advised, enlightened, familiarized, apprised of, clued in, familiar with, in the know, versed in
13.PotencyThe power of something to affect the mind or bodyCapability, efficacy, efficiency, vigor, authority, birr, capacity, command, control, dominion, energy, force, go, hardihood, influence, juice, kick, might, moxie, muscle, pep, potential, power, puissance, punch, sinew, snap, sock, steam, strength, sway, virtue, zap, zing, zip, what it takes
14.TumblerA drinking glass with straight sides and no handle or stem;Clown, dancer, gymnast, performer, aerialist, artist, athlete, balancer, contortionist, funambulist, stunt person, trapezist
An acrobat especially one who performs somersaults
15.FeistyLively, determined and courageousBubbly, courageous, excitable, fiery, gritty, gutsy, high-strung, lively, scrappy, spunky, active, alive, difficult, enthusiastic, frisky, full of pep, game, gutty, hot-blooded, mettlesome, ornery, peppy quarrelsome, sensitive, thin-skinned, tough, truculent, zestful
16.GlisteningShine with a sparkling lightBright, burnished, glassy, glazed, gleaming, lustrous, polished, shining, shiny, silky, sleek, reflecting, slick, smooth, brilliant, silken
17. QuiverTremble or shake with a slight rapid motionConvulsion, flash, glimmer, glitter, oscillation, palpitation, pulsation, shake, shimmer, shiver, shudder, sparkle, spasm, throb, tic, tremble, tremor, twinkle
18.ScrublandLand consisting of scrub vegetationBackwoods, bramble, briar, brush, chaparral, creeper, forest, hedge, hinterland, jungle, outback, plant, scrub, shrubbery, thicket, vine, wilderness
19.BlisteringIntenseFiery, heated, scalding, scorching, searing, sizzling, sweltering, torrid, baking, boiling, broiling, burning, roasting, blistery, intense, broiling, burning, roasting, blistery, intense, red-hot, severe
20.GleamingShine brightly especially with reflected lightBright, burnished, glassy, glazed, glistening, lustrous, polished, shining, shiny, sleek, reflecting, slick, smooth, brilliant, silken, silky
21.WarrenA network of interconnecting rabbit burrows
22. RicketyPoorly made and likely to collapsebroken, decrepit, derelict, dilapidated, flimsy, ramshackle, shaky, wobbly, feeble, fragile, frail, imperfect, infirm, insecure, jerry-built, precarious, rachitic, rattletrap, rocky, tottering, tottery, tumble-down, unsteady, wavering, weak
23.BuzzesMake a low, continuous humming soundHum, murmur, whisper, drone, fizz, fizzle, hiss, purr, ring, ringing,whir
24.IncantationA series of word said as a magic spell or charmEnchantment, hymn, abracadabra, bewitchment, chant, charm, conjuration, conjuring, formula, hex, hocus-pocus, hoodoo, invocation, necromancy, rune, sorcery, voodoo, witchcraft, wizardry, ala kazam, black magic, mumbo-jumbo, open sesame
25.AmbrosiaThe food of the godsDelicacy, nectar, heavenly food, immortal food
26.ScribblingWrite or draw carelessly or hurriedlyCacography, graffiti, graffito, griffon age, hieroglyphics
27.TweakedTwist or pull sharplyTease, twist, jerk, pinch, pluck, pull
28.TradingThe action or activity of buying and selling goods and servicesCommerce, deal, dealing, exchange, industry, manufacturing, market, sales, selling, trade, traffic, transaction, affairs, bargaining, barter, commercialization, contracts, game, industrialism, merchandising, racket, undertaking, buying and selling, capital and labor, free enterprise, production and distribution
29.ZealGreat energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objectiveArdor, determination, devotion, diligence, eagerness, earnestness, fanaticism, fervor, gusto, inclination, intensity, passion, perseverance, sincerity, spirit, urgency, verve, warmth, zest, alacrity, bustle, dispatch, drive, enterprise, fierceness, fire, hustle, initiative, intentness, keenness, mania, push, readiness, vehemence, yen, stick- to-itiveness, what it takes
30. SimmeringStay just below boiling point while bubbling gentlyBoiling, heated, hot

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Village That Inspired Tagore # Improve Vocabulary

Source : National Geographic Traveler

Download the text with meaning for print – The File

The Village That Inspired Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore often holidayed in Mongpu, a quiet Himalayan village about 1.5hr from Darjeeling, during the last three years of his life. So it was only natural that photographer Dhritiman Mukherjee and Bollywood music director Shantanu Moitra visited Mongpu—and their Bengali heritage—when they were on the West Bengal leg of their #100DaysInHimalayas project. Between February and December 2016, the duo will make a series of trips in the Himalayas covering reaches running from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, and into the neighbouring foothills of Nepal and Bhutan—and they’re taking National Geographic Traveller Indiaalong for the ride.

On a day trip to Mongpu, they visited the bungalow where Tagore stayed at the invitation of his protégée, the author Maitreyi Devi. The house overlooks a cinchona plantation and quinine factory, once managed by Devi’s husband. On his last visit in 1940, Tagore fell very ill and had to be shifted to Kolkata. He passed away the next year, leaving behind several possessions at the Mongpu residence, which was later turned into a museum by the government, and named Rabindra Bhavan.

Among Rabindra Bhavan’s display are artworks, handwritten documents, and most interestingly, furniture designed by Tagore and carved by his son, Rathindranath Tagore. Moitra and Mukherjee saw Tagore’s bed, which has an inclined headrest said to have tackled his respiratory problem. His mahogany writing desk and chair, said to be designed to support his back, faces a window with a tranquil view of the lush, hilly landscape that the nature-loving writer treasured. For Mukherjee, the window by which Tagore wrote provided the biggest emotional connection. “He had a vast view in front, and that landscape is intact,” the photographer said, “It’s very green, there are lots of trees; it’s at the edge of the snow.”

Like many visitors at this memorial to a literary giant, Moitra was dismayed by the broken windowpanes, cracked walls, dented doors and inadequate security. “We could have walked out with any of Tagore’s belongings,” he said. And yet, much of it remains. The place may be unkempt but the legacy of Tagore’s visits is still strong in the village.

WORD MEANING SYNONYM
1.       Photographer A person who takes photographs, especially as a job. Paparazzo, photojournalist, shutterbug
2.       Heritage Property that is or may be inherited; and inheritance;

A special or individual possession; an allotted portion

 Ancestry, culture, custom, legacy, right, tradition, bequest, birthright, convention, dowry, endowment, estate, fashion, inheritance, lot, patrimony, portion, share
3.       Cinchona An evergreen South American tree or shrub with fragrant flowers, cultivated for its bark
4.       Plantation An estate on which crops such as coffee, sugar, and tobacco are grown;

Colonization or settlement of emigrants, especially of English and then Scottish families in Ireland in 16th -17th centuries under government sponsorship.

 Estate, homestead, orchard, ranch, farmstead, hacienda, vineyard
5.       Protegee A person who is guided and supported by an older and more experienced or influential person Applicant, buyer, consumer, patient, patron, shopper, believer, chump, dependent, disciple, follower, front, head, mark, purchaser, walk-in, ward
6.       Quinine A bitter crystalline compound present in cinchona bark, used as a tonic formerly as an antimalarial drug. Blame, castigation, censure, curse, defamation, derision, hosing, insults, invective, knifing, libel, obloquy, opprobrium, put-down, reproach, revilement, scolding, signifying, slander, swearing, tirade, upbraiding, vilification, vituperation
7.       Possessions The state of having, owning, or controlling something.

Something that is owned or possessed.

 Custody, dominion, hold, occupancy, occupation, proprietary, retention, tenancy, tenure, title
8.       Residence A person’s home, especially a large and impressive one. Apartment, condo, dwelling, hall, headquarters, home, house, mansion, palace, abode, address, co-op, domicile, habitation, hole, household, inhabitancy, inhabitation, lodging, manor, occupancy, occupation, rack, roof, roost, seat, settlement, villa
9.       Artworks Illustrations, photographs, or other non-textual material prepared for inclusion in a publication. Art, artwork, picture, piece, portrait, watercolor, oil
10.   Carved Cut in order to produce and object, design or inscription. Chiseled, engraved, sculpted, carven, chased, cut, etched, furrowed, graved, graven, grooved, hewed, hewn, modeled, scissored, slashed, sliced, whittled
11.   Tackled Make determined efforts to deal with ( a problem or difficult task) Accept, begin, deal with, engage in, take up, try, undertake, work on, attack, attempt, essay, launch
12.   Mahogany Hard reddish-brown timber from a tropical tree, used for quality furniture.

A tropical tree which produces mahogany.

 Amber, bay, beige, bister, brick, bronze, buff, chestnut, chocolate, cinnamon, cooca, coffee, copper, drab, dust, ecru, fawn, ginger, hazel, henna, khaki, nut, ochre, puce, russet, rust, sepia, sorrel, tan, toast, umber
13.   Tranquil Free from disturbance; calm Amicable, balmy, calm, easygoing, gentle, mild, pastoral, placid, restful, sedate, serene, sober, stable, tame, temperate
14.   Intact Not damaged or impaired in any way; complete Flawless, perfect, unblemished, unbroken, unharmed, unhurt, unscathed, untouched
15.   Memorial A statue or structure established to remind people of a person or event; a statement of facts, especially as the basis of a petition. Remembering, canonizing, celebrative, commemoratory, consecrating, consecrative, dedicatory, deifying, enshrining, in tribute, memorializing, monumental
16.   Inadequate Lacking the quality or quantity required; insufficient for a purpose Deficient, faulty, incompetent, incomplete, incomplete, lacking, meager, poor, scarce, sketchy, skimpy, unequal, weak
17.   Unkempt Having an untidy or disheveled appearance. Bedraggled, dilapidated, disheveled, grubby, grungy, messy, neglected, rumpled, scruffy, shaggy.

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