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Showing posts from September, 2024

The meaning of the word "bereft"

 "Bereft" is used to convey a feeling of loss. It can also be used to mean being deprived of something. Though it can be used to describe a number of situations, it is mostly used in case of loss of someone close to us or someone close who has to go far away like on a journey.  The word Bereft was first used in 1525 in Old English language. In the form of a literature work, it was first used by Thomas Elyot in 1531. Later many authors used this word like Shakespeare in "The Merchant of Venice" where it is used as "Madam, you have bereft me of all words". Which means that this word has now been described as a loss but not of a loved one. Even the concept of robbing could be described by this word.  The Hindi translation of this word is interesting. It is associated with the sense of loss and that too romantically. Here are a couple of words,  पागल and  दीवाना. This translation is using Google Translate and AI so it definitely not spot on. 

Why is the Necrotizing Fasciitis or the flesh eating bacteria called the super bug?

 A bacterial infection is effectively treated with antibiotics which are also called the miracle medicines. However the power of antibiotics also mean that if used indiscriminately, the effectiveness against bacteria will reduce.  Let's just say it is natures way to fightback by making bacteria drug resistant. One such case is that of the infamous flesh eating bacteria. The word "Necrotising fasciitis" was first used by Wilson in 1952 but the first medical record is as old as 4th Century BC by Hippocrates who first described it. In recent years it became more and more known as Hospital Gangrene. It is caused by bacteria in conditions such as crowded places like prison, un-hygenic places like overcrowded slums and places where bacteria can resist drugs like a hospital which is treating large number of patients.  The problem with this type of bacterial infection is that it can lead to death in a matter of days.  In case of the flesh eating bacteria majority of the time...

What is a Vestibuled Train?

 When coaches of a passenger train are joined together with a passage, it is called a Vestibuled Train. Coaches are also called passenger cars.  Why do we need Vestibuled Train? In the days of the steam engine, two compartments were connected with heavy metal plates overlapping each other with guard rails to hold for support. This area was exposed to the elements, dust, ash and soot from the smoke coming out of the engine. Not a pleasant way to cross between two passenger cars.  Before the age of vestibuled trains, passengers were confined to a seat in one car. There used to be meal stop where passengers could grab a bite. Travels were short and over the day only. Even if there was night travel, passengers had to sleep on the seats.  The invention of a vestibule changed the face of train travel. It was introduced for the first time on 15th June 1887 in USA. It was not an easy invention because of design challenges. But once it came on the scene suddenly everything el...

What is an ensemble cast?

 In a theater if there are a number of actors in a play with each having the same amount of screen time, then the cast is called an ensemble cast. Today being the times of movies, the best example which comes to mind is the movie X Men as opposed to the movie Iron Man where the entire focus of the movie is on one actor who takes the maximum screen time. The more popular one out of the two is of course the option of having a protagonist. Who doesn't like a hero to take control of the plot, fight the bad men and walk into the sunset with the heroine.  Do all the actors in an ensemble cast get equal screen time? No necessarily. Sometimes it comes to mixing of the two concepts like in case of the movie X Men, the character of Logan overpowers the entire cast to such an extent that the audience thinks that the movie revolves around the abilities of Logan.  The term Ensemble might have originated during the era of theater and plays when play writers wanted to experiment with th...