GRE WORD GROUPING-Sojourn and Swine flu

Last week I got some respite from my monotonous working life and visited Pune for a sojourn. I was traveling by train and it takes almost twenty-six hours before you begin to relish Pune's exhilarating monsoon. The odyssey, in no way, was going to be eventful and I realised this after five or six hours of traveling as I found everybody sleeping in my compartment. I was not in mood of hibernation, though I felt a little torpid. I bought a magazine to kill the ennui and was hoping to imbibe the magnanimous nature and its beauty through this transition from northern planes to the Deccan plateau. However, a nap would engulf me in between but an old impoverished seeker asking for money or food would wake me up. I happened to see a number of such people who seemed to have fallen prey to senility and now forced to pursue this occupation to get bread and butter of life. I would then continue looking out of window, feeling the inner serenity that the vast green fields brought to my mind. I usually don't enjoy sleeping in train (I avoid night journeys), but this time I didn't have an option. To make it worse, I found the berth space not capacious enough to sustain me. Throughout the night, I tried hard to ensconce my body into the confined berth space but my overly (although average in stature) sized body denied every posture. Eventually, I found solace when sleep embraced me in the wee hours. I was almost half way to my destination now. Next morning the whole gusto of visiting Pune went off air when I saw in newspaper swine flu cases were rising at a pace.

The first thing I observed when I entered the city was everyone wearing masks as prophylactic measures (using a mask proved to avert the spread of the disease in crowded areas). So to put an end to my apprehensions of getting infected I also purchased a mask. Next morning in the newspaper, I saw a picture of a long serpentine throng of people queuing outside hospitals waiting for their turn to get checked for the H1N1 virus. The state government had asked many hospitals to screen people and to take required actions to forestall any turmoil. However, media reported a couple of times mayhem outside hospitals where people were fighting for their turn- everybody wanted to get checked as soon as possible. It seemed less people were infected and more were nonplussed. Recently Govt. officials claimed that government is taking every necessary steps to prevent swine flu become a pestilence and to occlude its spreading in surrounding areas of Pune. Apart from that, the Govt. had also asked media to stop showing canard and to present a realistic situation without any fabrication. Moreover, scientists were claiming that this latent bug is not found to be pliable and is a mild form of the influenza virus, and the infection caused is certainly not invincible/ irremediable but curable at this point of time, atleast.

I am back in Delhi but the picture in Pune is still jumbling because of the panic undulated around in the city. Here, the take home message is: rather than creating chaos by believing in nugatory claims (either by media or hoax) one should follow Govt. guidelines to prevent infection- such as using masks, visiting hospitals when you see symptoms etc.

GRE WORD GROUPS:

(1) Respite, Hiatus, Reprieve: A pause or gap for relextion

(2) Monotonous, Humdrum, Prosaic: Not challenging; dull or lacking imagination/ excitement

(3) Relish, Bask, Savor: Enjoyment (enthusiatic or vigorous)

(4) Exhilarating, Inebriating, Elating: Fill with sublime emotions; making lively and cheerful

(5) Impoverished, Indigent, Destitute: Poor enough to need help from others

(6) Serenity, Placidity, Tranquility, Repose: A feeling of calmness

(7) Apprehension, Misgiving, Dread: Fearful anticipation/expectation

(8) Turmoil, Tumult, Upheaval: Great commotion and confusion

(9) Nonplus, Perplex, Bewilder, Bemuse: Confuse

(10) Occlude, Obstruct, Impede, Obturate: hinder/ prevent

(11) Pliable, Malleable, Tractile, Ductile: Easily influenced; Flexible

(12) Jumble, Welter, Fuddle, Muddle: A confused multitude of things

(13) Enuui, Tedium: Boredom

(14) Senelity, Dotage: Mental infirmity because of old age

(15) Forestall, Preclude: Prevent (keep from happening/arising)

Other GRE words-- Sojourn ( a short stay); odyssey (a long eventful journey); Torpid (slow and sluggish); Imbibe ( absorb, take/drink in); Magnanimous (noble and generous in spirit); Capacious (large in capacity); Ensconce (settle, fix firmly); Solace (comfort in times of disappointment); Gusto (enthusiasm); Prophylactic (preventive); Serpentine (snake like in shape/form); Throng (Crowd); Mayhem (violent and needless disturbance); Pestilence (plague/ devastating epidemic of a disease); Canard (a deliberately misleading fabrication); Latent (inactive); Invincible (unconquerable, unbeatable); Irremediable (incurable, uncorrectable); Nugatory (worthless)