What’s in a name?
Oxymorons are commonplace in the English language and are ‘awfully nice’ to use and are ‘rustically elegant’. We use them regularly, sometimes knowingly and sometimes unknowingly.
An oxymoron is a figure of speech that juxtaposes concepts with opposing meanings within a word or phrase to create a paradox.
Poets have often used oxymorons in their compositions. The great Shakespeare used it regularly in Romeo and Juliet.
“Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health!” — Romeo used four in one line while speaking of Juliet.
The MDA Cabinet has, to its credit, coined an oxymoron and this one’s going to be very official. Meghalaya’s 12th district has been named as Eastern West Khasi Hills District.
The SJ team applied its stock of logic to understand the concept behind the name Eastern West Khasi Hills. This is probably because the new district is sandwiched between East and West Khasi Hills districts. This got us thinking – Why not Western East Khasi Hills District? Is the new district closer to East Khasi Hills than West Khasi Hills?
Now you may say what’s in a name but the name of our new district is certainly going to win a contest of oxymorons or at least this is what citizens are suggesting. It could have been named Central Khasi Hills or North West Khasi Hills District, they argued. Others have described the name as confusing. There are some who have begun referring to the compass and the cardinal directions to understand the ‘new normal’.
Making someone smile
Only by giving will we be able to receive more than we already have. But more often than not we find that most shy away from living life in such fashion.
However, a group of people are always on the job to make someone smile with gestures of kindness.
These people need to be appreciated and encouraged.
Team makeSomeoneSMILE, an organisation focused on performing acts of kindness, headed out late evening on November 3 distributing blankets and a packet of sweets besides other eatables to the extremely needy as well as road-dwellers and homeless persons, across several parts of Shillong.
This they did on Diwali, to celebrate the festival in a slightly different way.
The team found many shivering on the streets due to dipping temperatures, some perhaps without having eaten food, when they visited select parts of the city.
It was a three hours long effort, but the makeSomeoneSmile team feels that their job was incomplete and that there is much to do to impact the lives of this disadvantaged section of people.
While performing the simple acts of kindness that day, the team realised the need to provide light refreshments to security personnel, who can be found patrolling the streets and safeguarding the citizenry in the dead of night.
Deciding an approach, the team hired a local tea vendor and then went around the city distributing a packet of Diwali sweets along with a hot cup of tea among defence personnel they came in contact with.
The gesture was happily acknowledged and appreciated.
Many CRPF jawans as well as other defence personnel expressed their gratitude to the team.
The makeSomeoneSmile team has called for more hands on deck to take up similar activities on a larger scale, inviting local teams, groups and NGOs to make a difference.