What are meaning, origin and usage of word ‘Motley’?
Pronunciation: maht-lee
Meaning: An adjective, motley means made up of many different people or things
Origin: The first known use of the word was in the 14th century. The word has its origin in Middle English, from mot, meaning speck or a tiny particle.
Usage: The police tried their best to barricade the motley crowd that had shuffled in at the scene of the accident.
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English novelist, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights was the author’s first and last novel. It is widely considered by many as one of the most incredible pieces of imaginative literature in the English canon. Let’s find out what makes it a classic.
About the author
Emily Jane Bronte was born on July 30, 1818, in Thornton, Yorkshire, England. She was the fifth of six children, and the fourth daughter of Patrick Bronte and Marie Branwell. Her father was a remarkable man and a minister of the Anglican church. The author lost her mother at the tender age of three. This was the first great loss the family had to come to terms with. In 1825, Emily was sent to join her sisters Maria, Elizabeth, and Charlotte at school. Following the tuberculosis epidemic at the institution that claimed the life of her two elder sisters, Emily and Charlotte returned home. This incident is also mentioned in her sister Charlotte’s magnum opus Jane Eyre. Emily spent the next 10 years of her life at home, where she played, read extensively, and wrote together with her siblings in an inventive creative workshop. During one of such playful workshops, the four participated in fictional world-making, which resulted in Charlotte and their brother Branwell teaming together to create a fictional land called Angria, and Emily with her sister Anne inventing the fictional Pacific Island of Gondol.
Emily was a meticulous reader. Charlotte in her Preface to the 1850 edition of Wuthering Heights elucidated that her sister “always wrote from the impulse of nature”. However, Professor Karen O’Brien from the University of Oxford says that Emily Bronte’s lone novel is a testament to her extensive reading and understanding of the works of English poets and authors such as Sir Walter Scott, William Wordsworth, and Lord Byron. The first edition of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights was written under the pseudonym Ellis Bell and published in 1847.
Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights is a powerful and complex story of love, obsession, and revenge over two generations. It is narrated by housekeeper Nelly Dean and framed from the perspective of a visiting outsider Mr. Lockwood. This narrative revolves around an orphan named Heathcliff, who is taken in by Mr. Earnshaw and brought to live in Wuthering Heights. The story explores the close-knit bond he forms with his patron’s daughter Catherine.
What makes it a classic?
A treatise on women Social conventions were extremely important at the time when Bronte wrote this novel. Italian writer and journalist Italo Calvino, in his book The Uses of Literature, said. “A classic is a classic book because it had never finished what it had to say”, and Wuthering Heights stands true to this statement. One might think of it as just a love story. Well yes, but it’s also a story of ghosts, obsession, and haunting. Where Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters predecessor, wrote about the purpose of romance and how it was intangibly linked to or ended in marriage, Emily Bronte’s sole novel is a treatise on women and tries to explore what is important to her gender other than the pursuit of marriage.
Making a statement
Through Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte changed what was possible and acceptable for women to write, and how women and men can be portrayed in fiction. Her characters challenged the social expectation that one’s emotions and how they are expressed or dealt with must be dictated by an individual’s gender. It advocated that all the things.
that we as people feel are not so different just because one is a man or a woman. It broke away from the tradition that dictated that women must only write about acceptable things (such as love and marriage) and elements of the domestic sphere. It objected to the idea that men (especially heroes) are not capable of emoting grief and passion or being allowed to display any negative emotions such as vengeance. Wuthering Heights is not a moralising novel and calls the hypocrisy of the society that divides people on the basis of gender, turns a blind eye to the violence it inflicts in the name of religion, set unrealistic moral expectations, and is more concerned with respectability, than working towards creating an equal society.
Emily Bronte’s exceptional imagination in Wuthering Heights, says English author Kate Mosse, “makes it clear that a woman who is an artist and a man who is an artist have the same mission-to write what we think is true and to write what we think matters, this makes her sole novel one for the ages.”
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Rudyard Kipling was part of every child’s growing up years in India. His mastery over storytelling and crafting poetry was such that he became a hit with both children and adults. Read up on the author whose birth anniversary was recently celebrated.
Remember the legend of Mowgli? The long-haired orphan boy raised in the wild by the animals? As Mowgli adventured in the woods and learned the ways of the wild, a part of us was also travelling with him, joining in his escapades. That was the magic wielded by Rudyard Kipling which made him one of the most loved children’s writers. Needless to say, “The Jungle Book” (1894) was synonymous with one’s childhood.
Kipling was part of every child’s growing up years India. His mastery over in storytelling and crafting poetry was such that he became a hit with both children and adults. Children grew up listening to stories he wrote, whilst adults knew his poems by heart.
Early years
Born in Bombay in 1865, Kipling’s father John Lockwood Kipling was an artist. His mother was Alice Macdonald. His parents belonged to Anglo-Indian society. Kipling was relocated to England when he was small, a journey that made his childhood traumatic. He was sent to a foster home in England. He even wrote about this traumatic period in the semi-autobiographical short story titled “Baa Baa Black Sheep” (1888).
Kipling was educated in England at the United Services College, a boarding school in Westward Ho, North Devon, England. He then returned to India when he was 17 to pursue a career in journalism which he started off as the assistant editor of the Civil and Military Gazette at Lahore. Meanwhile, “Departmental Ditties” (1886), a verse collection, marked the start of his literary career. He also published stories based on British lives in India. Thus was born “Plain Tales from the Hills” (1888). It was the first collection of short stories by Kipling. In 1888, he joined another publication Allahabad Pioneer.
His body of work spanned different genres, and styles, be it poetry, short-story or novel. His early volumes of short stories were set in India. He appealed to the masses and was a celebrated writer during his time. One of his poems that is often revered by both adults and children is “If” which is considered a classic. The poem is believed to have been inspired by Leander Starr Jameson, a British colonial politician. Kipling is also noted for his stories and poems about British soldiers in India.
Although Kipling published several short-story collections and poetry collections, his most famous novels were published in the 1890s and later. In 1892, Kipling married Caroline Balestier after which he moved to Vermont. It was while in America that he published the much-acclaimed “The Jungle Book” (1894). His novel “Kim” (1901) which is themed around an Irish orphan in India, is one of his most famous works. The sequel to ‘The Jungle Book”, “Second Jungle Book” (1895) is another celebrated work of his. Other noted works include “Captain Courageous” and “The Light that Failed”.
Some of his famous poems are “The Ballad of East and West,” “Danny Deever,”
“Tommy,” and “The Road to Mandalay”. “Just So Stories” is yet another well-loved series by Kipling. These stories were in fact written for his own children. The stories are meant to be read out aloud and were noted for their intriguing, playful language that would appeal to the children. His last work for children was “Puck of Pook’s Hill” and its sequel, “Rewards and Fairies”.
Did you know that Kipling also got a Nobel prize in literature in 1907? He was the first Englishman to receive it! In 1902, Kipling moved to Sussex and lived there until his death.
He passed away in 1936 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
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Did you know that India has a rich textile tradition that dates back to the Indus Valley Civilisation? Cotton was the earliest fibre used. Over time, cotton, silk and other fibres became the raw materials for our textiles. The country boasts a diverse and vibrant textile industry. Here we take a look at some of the textiles of India.
ERI SILK-MEGHALAYA: From the northeastern state of Meghalaya arises a sustainable silk fibre-the Eri silk. The Eri fabric predominantly uses a natural off-white colour and is woven by the Khasi tribe of Meghalaya. It is referred to as a sustainable fabric as it does not use any toxic chemicals. The art of weaving the fabric is passed down from one generation to another in the Khasi cultural tradition.
BANDHANI-GUJARAT
Bandhani is a traditional tie and dye technique used to create exquisite patterns. The word Bandhani is derived from the word “Bandhan” which means tying up. This art is famous in the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. It had its origins in Gujarat in the Khatri community. The fabric comes in colours of violet, blue, green, yellow and black. The design is very unique, with a combination of dots and the fabric is first knotted and then dipped into the specific colours.
BALARAMAPURAM HANDLOOM – KERALA
An off-white classic handloom textile that has its roots in Kerala, this textile tradition dates back over 200 years. These are handwoven and come in natural colour. This fabric is used to make the traditional attire of the state of Kerala. It is woven with gold zari or “Kasavu” and has a range of motifs, the common one being that of a tamarind leaf.
KANCHEEPURAM – TAMIL NADU
If there is one word that is synonymous with silk saris, then it is Kancheepuram. The saris woven out of pure mulberry silk thread often come with heavily ornate motifs and zari borders. This textile tradition dates back to 400 years and has its origin in the hamlet of Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu. This fabric that comes in a plethora of colours is often regarded as the queen of fabrics in India.
PASHMINA JAMMU AND KASHMIR
Popularly called cashmere wool, Pashmina is the most exquisite textile in India. Noted for its regal grandeur, this utterly soft fabric which provides warmth has its roots in the valleys of Kashmir. It is made from the fleece of the mountain goat of the Himalayas. Completely handwoven and handspun, Pashmina is known for its fine craftsmanship.
CHANDERI – MADHYA PRADESH
The Chanderi fabric has its origins in the hamlet of Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh. A tradition that began in the 13th Century, the Chanderi fabric is famous for being lightweight. Since it is incredibly lightweight, it can be worn during hot weather.
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India could experience heat waves beyond human survival limit, says World Bank report. And this impact would be felt in several ways. A look at the report in five brief points
1. HOTTEST ON RECORD: The World Bank report titled “Climate Investment Opportunities in India’s Cooling Sector” said that the country is experiencing higher temperatures that arrive earlier and stay far longer. “In April 2022, India was plunged into the grip of a punishing early spring heat wave that brought the country to a standstill, with temperatures in the capital. New Delhi, topping 46 degrees Celsius. The month of March, which witnessed extraordinary spikes in temperatures, was the hottest ever recorded,” said the report.
2. INTENSE HEAT WAVES: Predicting that heat waves situation in India could break the human survivability limit, the study noted that the recent heat wave supports what many climate scientists have long cautioned about with reference to rising temperatures across South Asia. It added that in August 2021, the Sixth Assessment Report of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that the Indian subcontinent would suffer more frequent and intense heat waves over the coming decade. The G20 Climate Risk Atlas also warned in 2021 that heat waves across India were likely to last 25 times longer by 2036-65 if carbon emissions remain high, as in the IPCC’s worst-case emission scenario.
3. IMPACT ON ECONOMY: The report warned that rising heat across India can jeopardise economic productivity. “Up to 75 per cent of India’s workforce, or 380 million people, depend on heat-exposed labor, at times working in potentially life-threatening temperatures….By 2030, India may account for 34 million of the projected 80 million global job losses from heat stress associated productivity decline,” the report stated.
4. HEAT AND COLD CHAINS: Transporting food and pharmaceutical goods across India requires a system of cold chain refrigeration that works every step of the way. “A single temperature lapse in the journey can break the cold chain, spoiling fresh produce and weakening the potency of vaccines. With only 4 per cent of fresh produce in India covered by cold chain facilities, annual estimated food losses total USD 13 billion,” it said. It also observed that the third largest producer of pharmaceuticals in the world, pre-COVID-19, India lost approximately 20 per cent of temperature-sensitive medical products and 25 per cent of vaccines due to broken cold chains, leading to losses of USD 313 million a year.
5. THE POOR ARE VULNERABLE: According to analysis presented in the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP), only eight per cent of Indian households own air-conditioning units. “Indoor and electric fans can help to maintain thermal comfort, but these too are expensive to buy and inefficient. As a result, many poor and marginalised communities across India are more vulnerable to extreme heat, living in inadequately ventilated, hot and crowded homes without proper access to cooling,” the report warned.
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Hundreds of new UFO reports, but…there is still no evidence of aliens. The Pentagon, the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, has set up a new office to track reports of UFO sightings and collect data.
What are UFOs?
A new Pentagon office set up to track reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOS) has received “several hundreds” of new reports. What are UFOS? Over the centuries, people have reported seeing strange airborne objects or unusual optical phenomena in the sky. These are called UFOS. Over the years, the belief that UFOs are the spaceships of aliens from other planets has gained ground – though without any concrete evidence. Are there possibilities of extraterrestrial life? Shouldn’t the sightings be tracked systematically? Well, that’s why the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) was formed.
2. What is AARO?
The AARO was set up in July 2022 to track unidentified objects in the sky, underwater and in space. It was established following more than a year of attention on unidentified flying objects that military pilots have observed.
It focusses on unexplained activity around military installations, restricted airspace and “other areas of interest” and is aimed at helping identify possible threats to the safety of U.S. military operations and to national security.
3. Scientific approach
Sean Kirkpatrick, director, AARO, did not rule out the possibility of extraterrestrial life and said he was taking a scientific approach to the research. Since the launch of the AARO, there have been several hundred new reports.
“We are structuring our analysis to be very thorough and rigorous. We will go through it all. And as a physicist, I have to adhere to the scientific method.”
4. No alien life
The U.S. military officially calls the 144 sightings observed between 2004 and 2021 as “unidentified aerial phenomena.”
But they have seen nothing that indicates alien life. “I have not seen anything that would suggest that there has been an alien visitation, an alien crash or anything like that,” said Ronald Moultrie, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security.
5. Quick facts
* The Air Force conducted an investigation into UFO activity called ‘Project Blue Book’. It ended in 1969 with a list of 12,618 sightings, 701 of which involved objects that officially remained “unidentified.”
* In 1994, it concluded that the 1947 famous “Roswell incident” in New Mexico, was not an UFO but a crashed balloon, the military’s long-standing explanation.
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The MLF is India’s one-of-a-kind literary festival that solely focusses on military literature and our soldiers’ personal accounts of the war front.
The Military Literature Festival (MLF) started in 2017 as a joint initiative of the Punjab Government and the Western command. It honours the bravery and selflessness of our soldiers and presents a platform to deliberate on contemporary military, security, and geopolitical issues. This annual winter festival usually takes place in the month of November or December. This year saw the sixth edition of the festival take place from 3 to 4 December. It was preceded by a motorcycle brave heart rally on November 27 in honour of the martyrs of Saragarhi and the 1962 Sino-Indian war. The theme for the previous year’s MLA was “Saluting the Selfless”. It celebrated 75 years of independence and the services of the armed forces. The two-day event consisted of enthralling panel discussions on topics like the Russian invasion of Ukraine, instability in Pakistan and its effect on India, and the Relevance of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh’s ideology and beliefs in today’s world.
Books that were brought under the spotlight during this period included Ramesh Inder Singh’s ‘Turmoil In Punjab’: Before and After Blue Star: An Insider’s Account, Lt General Dalip Singh’s Pratirodh: The Resistance, and Arun Bhatnagar,s Orphaned at Freedom – A Subcontinent’s Tale. Celebrated speakers that attended the event included IAF officer Vijay Gokhale, authors Jabin T Jacob, RK Kaushik, Sushant Sareen, and retired servicemen including Admirals like Sunil Lanba, Vice- admiral Anup Singh, and Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi. Lauding our brave soldiers and their bravado in protecting the nation, the MLF is India’s one-of-a-kind literary festival that solely focusses on military literature and our soldiers personal accounts of the war front.
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During Earth’s journey around the Sun, there are times when its orbit crosses the orbit of a comet. It is when the planet moves through the comet debris trail that we witness meteor showers. The showers are named after the star or constellation which is close to where the meteors appear to radiate in the sky.
All of us may have seen streaks of light zip through the sky. We call them shooting stars and we also wish upon them. Well, what are these shooting stars? What are these streams of light?
Consider the objects in space. These are lumps of rock or objects in space with sizes ranging from grains to small asteroids. A small piece of a comet or asteroid is called a meteoroid.
Meteoroid
These meteoroids can be considered as space rocks. They orbit the sun and when they enter Earth’s atmosphere at a high speed, they burn because of frictional heating, causing the light. These rays of light are referred to as meteors.
When many meteors appear at once, we call it a meteor shower. During a meteor shower, a number of meteors can be seen radiating or originating from a point in the night sky.
But where do these meteoroids come from? How does Earth come across these? During Earth’s journey around the Sun, there are times when its orbit crosses the orbit of a comet. It is when the planet moves through the comet debris trail that we witness meteor showers.
The meteor showers are named after the star or constellation which is close to where the meteors appear to radiate in the sky.
The Perseids meteor shower is the most famous meteor shower and they peak around August 12 every year.
Other notable meteor showers include the Leonids, Aquarids and Orionids and Taurids.
Now what happens when meteoroid survives the journey through the Earth’s atmosphere and hits the ground? In that case, it becomes a meteorite.
Did you know that more than 50,000 meteorites have been found on Earth?
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The history of medicine can be traced to prehistoric times. Among the earliest sources of medicines were herbs and various plant parts such as roots, flowers, etc. Across several regions of the world, medicinal plants are in use even today. In fact, research seems to suggest that the demand for these plants could be increasing with people wanting to embrace what are seen as “natural” remedies for ailments. But, how are the populations of medicinal plants faring? Come, let’s find out.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), “between 65% and 80% of the populations of developing countries currently use medicinal plants as remedies”. Apparently, among the few lakh plant species in the world today, “only 15% have been evaluated to determine their pharmacological potential” So, researchers are at work for “demonstrating the efficacy and importance of medicinal plants”. But the truth is that medicinal plants across the globe are facing extinction. An expert has said that “Earth is losing one potential medicinal plant every two years at an extinction rate that is hundred times faster than the natural process.” The situation is no different in our country.
India is among the many countries with known use of medicinal plants. Our country is home to nearly 45,000 plant species, and at least 7,000 of them are medicinal aromatic plants. However, a recent piece of news from experts has become a cause for concern- as much as 10% of 900 major medicinal plant species found in the country fall under the “threatened” category, and “are facing the threat of extinction” What is causing this? The usual suspects – overexploitation, habitat destruction, urbanisation, etc. Another worrisome aspect is that “only 15 per cent of medicinal plants are cultivated while the remaining 85 per cent are collected by the industry from forest ecosystems and other natural habitats”
Conservation strategies such as “field studies, proper documentation, mitigation measures, enactment of special laws…” and recovery programmes are suggested to save the medicinal plants. This is vital because such plants play a crucial role not just in traditional practices but also in treating illnesses such as cancer. It is important to note that “cancer has a long history of depending on natural products for drugs” When medicinal plants disappear, along with them could disappear several chances to better human life.
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