KOCHI: Noodgy.
That’s a new word I learnt last week. Used more in the US, it means “fussy, nagging, fretful”.
Sounds like a cute way to describe a twerp, right?
Such people may also be called ‘wazzock’. In all probability, they might consider it a compliment. Or, perhaps, ‘nyaff’; it sounds philosophical. “Ah, my friend, you are such a fine nyaff!”
My editor-in-charge at home calls such people “energy vampires”. Though initially targeted at yours truly, I quite liked the usage. There is some drama in it.
(Notably, it’s a new word suggestion that has popped up in Collins Dictionary – “an electrical device that continues to use energy even when it is turned off”.)
The actual description of an energy (or psychic) vampire is “a creature in folklore said to feed off the ‘life force’ of other living creatures”. It may also mean “a person who drains emotional energy from companions”.
Reminds me of champagne socialists of yore, and, in a more current context, the wokes. Any discussions or debates with them can leave one drained, thanks to all that virtue signalling and the heady scent of ethically sourced, fair-trade coffee beans.
Of late, with all that kerfuffle over ‘Jai Shri Ram’, CAA, UCC and now the SUV-enforced farmers’ protest, it has been a season of live-wire wokery. Incidentally ‘woke’ was initially hailed as a beautiful word of our times. Now, however, the Oxford dictionary has been forced to add ‘disparaging nouns’ ‘wokery’ and ‘wokeism’ – “progressive or leftwing attitudes or practices, esp. those opposing social injustice or discrimination, that are viewed as doctrinaire, self-righteous, pernicious, or insincere” – in its latest update.
No disrespect to the fine art of wokery, or concocting yum dishes using a wok.
Talking of wokeism, a trend has been the use of the PPA Kit – the Preamble Performative Activism kit. Disgruntled with a particular course of politics, immediately post the Preamble of the Constitution on your social media. That IDs one is a champion for social justice, armed with a PhD in moral superiority, and perhaps a kale smoothie to top it.
Awareness can be a rare commodity in this wokeland. For instance, I recently stuck my neck out to point out to a couple of PPA Kit users fighting for their own definitions of secularism that the current Preamble that they were posting proudly was not the original one drafted by B R Ambedkar and adopted on November 26, 1949, and later effected on January 26, 1950 (our Republic Day).
Eyes rolled. I had to inform them about the irony that words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ were inserted by Indira Gandhi in 1976 at a time when all civil liberties guaranteed by the very same Constitution had been suspended on her personal whim.
Eyes rolled again, with scorn and distrust. “Will check and get back on that….” They never did. Noodgy little nyaffs, you see.
A bit of reading always helps. For the record, Volume VII of the Constituent Assembly (CA) Debates – now available online – clearly shows Ambedkar’s position on the sacred terms (no sarcasm meant here).
Socialist member of the CA Prof K T Shah had sought India to be described as a “Federal, Secular, Socialist State”.
On November 15, 1948, however, Ambedkar shot down the suggestion: “Sir, I regret that I cannot accept the amendment… My objections, stated briefly, are two. In the first place the Constitution, as I stated in my opening speech in support of the motion I made before… the House, is merely a mechanism for the purpose of regulating the work of the various organs of the State. It is not a mechanism whereby particular members or particular parties are installed in office. What should be the policy of the State, how the Society should be organised in its social and economic sides are matters which must be decided by the people themselves according to time and circumstances. It cannot be laid down in the Constitution itself, because that is destroying democracy altogether. If you state in the Constitution that the social organisation of the State shall take a particular form, you are, in my judgment, taking away the liberty of the people to decide what should be the social organisation in which they wish to live.”
More power to that little blot of purple, indelible ink that goes on your fingertip at the polling booth!
Incidentally, the Supreme Court is currently hearing on the validity of the amendments to the Constitution during Emergency. The judges, who will hear the case next in April, wondered aloud whether the changes were permissible as the Preamble was a dated text.
“From an academic point of view, could the Preamble have been changed by keeping the date intact?” asked Justice Dipankar Datta, along with Justice Sanjiv Khanna.
“Originally these two words [socialist and secular] were not there… This is the only Preamble that I have seen that comes with a date… The text says ‘in our Constituent Assembly this 26th day of November, 1949, do hereby adopt, enact, and give to ourselves this Constitution’.”
It will be quite interesting to see how the case pans out.
Another Constitutional matter of contention for long has been the Uniform Civil Code. The origins of this debate can, again, be traced back to the Constituent Assembly. Notably, Ambedkar as well as Jawaharlal Nehru backed it. They envisioned it as a means to eradicate inequities present in personal laws, particularly concerning gender justice.
Some Assembly members, like Naziruddin Ahmad, opposed and the subject was eventually relegated as a directive principle akin to the issue of the ban on cow slaughter. It was more of a safe zone; directive principles are not ‘enforceable’.
However, Part IV of the Constitution does direct that the State “shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India”.
Now, ‘endeavour’ means: “attempt to do something, especially something new or difficult”; “to try very hard to do something”
Try telling them, see them seethe. The Red Queens of Wokeland do not merely shout “Off with their heads!”, but banish you for good. Friendships are fickle here.
So time for me to tumble down the rabbit hole of societal exile. You guys have a vampire-slaying week ahead!
And, from the cranny down here, let me yell out the amusing ones from the Winter 2024 additions to Dictionary.com:
Girl dinner (noun): “an often attractively presented collection of snacks that involve little preparation, such as small quantities of cold cuts, cheese, fruit, cherry tomatoes, etc., deemed sufficient to constitute a meal for one”
Mid (adj): “mediocre, unimpressive, or disappointing”
bussin’ (adj): “great; wonderful; amazing”
The ick (noun): “a sudden feeling of disgust or dislike, often in response to the actions of another person”
Cheat code (noun): “a ploy or technique that bypasses traditional methods or rules in order to improve oneself or one’s success”
Enshittification (noun): “the gradual degradation of an online platform or service’s functionality, as part of a cycle in which the platform or service first offers benefits to users to attract them, then pursues more and more profits at the expense of users”
Bed rotting (noun): “the practice of spending many hours in bed during the day, often with snacks or an electronic device, as a voluntary retreat from activity or stress”
“Note: Despite the negative connotation of rotting, many use this term in a positive way to refer to what they consider a form of self-care. The verb form is bed rot.”
Pretty privilege (noun): “an unearned and mostly unacknowledged societal advantage that a person has by fitting into the beauty standards of their culture”
Stellar nursery (noun, astronomy): “a molecular cloud in which new stars are being formed”
“Note: The James Webb Space Telescope has captured some stunning images of these star-forming regions….”
Cozy (noun): “A genre of mystery stories with little suspense, violence, or sexual content, often featuring amateur sleuths and intimate settings”
Barbiecore (noun): “An aesthetic or style featuring playful pink outfits, accessories, decor, etc., celebrating and modeled on the wardrobe of the Barbie doll.”
Eco-chic (noun): “Style, design, or product that is attractive, fashionable, and eco-friendly”
Beer league: “a community sports league for amateurs, usually accompanied by alcohol and food”
Squish (noun): “an intense feeling of infatuation that is not romantic or sexual in nature; a platonic crush”
Sound bath (noun): “an instance of sustained listening to the pleasant sounds emanating from a collection of singing bowls, bells, chimes, etc., used to aid in relaxation or meditation and believed to help restore physical and mental wellness”
Soju (noun) - “a colourless, clear, distilled alcoholic beverage from Korea, often made from a mixture of rice and other starches such as sweet potatoes, wheat, barley, tapioca, etc.”
Dry powder: “cash reserves or liquid assets held for future use”
Climate breakdown: “the collective effects of harmful and potentially irreversible trends in climate, specifically those resulting from unchecked global warming”