Colonel Haathi

http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/21/stories/2008062156552000.htm

Chaibasa: No truck driver plying on the Haatgamria-Baraiburu road in Jharkhand can escape without giving him his due. He is no toll collector, but a tusker, who has got separated from a herd. He stands for hours each day on the road waiting for food-laden trucks to give him his daily quota of food.
“We don’t mind giving him a bunch of fruits, rice or other eatables. This is his toll,” says a trucker plying on the route.
Fondly called ‘Ramu Haathi,’ he is not always friendly. If he cannot spot a food-laden truck the whole day, he raids roadside hotels for food.
Assistant Conservator of Forests Arvind Kumar says Ramu got detached from a herd several months ago and took shelter in Saranda forests, nearly 50 km from here.
Normally such a loner becomes violent and attacks human habitats, but Ramu is an exception. He has jelled so well with villagers that they take care of it, said Mr. Kumar, who is posted in West Singhbhum district.
Not only food, local brews ‘mahua’ and ‘haria’ also attract them to villages. “Once they get the intoxicating smell, the elephants will not leave the place without tasting it.”

trying to revive this

I thought I should revive this blog. I shall not just restrict myself to vocabulary and the like but any news item that might just make interesting reading.

chignon - the good old fashioned bun

A chignon, pronounced "sheen-yon,” is a popular type of bun style. The word “chignon” comes from the French phrase “chignon du cou,” which means nape of the neck. Chignons are generally achieved by pinning the hair into a knot at the nape of the neck, but there are many different variations of the style. They are frequently worn for special occasions, like weddings and formal dances, but the basic chignon is also worn for everyday casual wear

Giorgos Seferis

A writer, diplomat, nobel laureate

said

Don't ask me who's influenced me. A lion is made up of the lambs he's digested, and I've been reading all my life.

Schlimazel or shlimazel

pronounce SHLImah-zul

Someone prone to bad luck

tambour

1: drum
2 a: an embroidery frame; especially : a set of two interlocking hoops between which cloth is stretched before stitching
a rolling top or front (as of a rolltop desk) of narrow strips of wood glued on canvas

Jingoism

Jingoism is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "extreme patriotism in the form of aggressive foreign policy"
the extreme belief that your own country is always best, which is often shown in enthusiastic support for a war against another country:
Patriotism can turn into jingoism and intolerance very quickly.(Cambridge)
jingoistic - fanatically patriotic