I was reading up on the
origin of the word ‘Capricious’. I had always known its meaning had something
to do with goats. I found some sources saying it is derived from the Italian
word Capriccio that means the spiny
head of a hedgehog. However a large number of sources cited Capra meaning goat in Latin, as the
etymological root for this word. The word capricious is used to mean whimsical,
unpredictable behavior. I had never before observed goats too closely to know if they
were really whimsical.
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Group of young bucks caper at the fringes of a Tea Garden.
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So during a stroll in a tea garden, when I found these young bucks
gamboling around, I spent some time observing and making pictures of them in their
act.
The young white buck
with the black mane in the pictures, I felt, was an embodiment of what the word
capricious means. The restlessness it exhibited was so infectious, that within
a span of a few minutes it had the other bucks capering to its tune.
The word ‘caper’ means light hearted skipping or dancing. The synonyms in common
usage for this word are romp, gambol, cavort, prance, frolic,
bound, spring. However it was interesting to know that the word caper also
means ‘leap of a goat’.
The Goat is an intelligent animal. Its immense energy coupled with great
agility makes it a powerhouse of activity. It is this restless energy that
makes it so erratic and unpredictable. The goat is notorious for jumping and
breaking fences.
However it is not
fair to say that this animal is always so restless. It is capable of very long
spells of ‘meditative’ inactivity as well. The goats I found atop Bhongir fort during a recent visit, stood still on ledges and cornices of the huge granite hill as if under a
spell. I observed these animals for over a quarter of an hour and none left
station in that time. They seemed like guards on duty looking out for danger from
the fort ramparts.
But this adventurous surefooted being has more things to its credit. The
Goat has a sizeable contribution towards English language as well. In the Old
Testament a
goat used in the ritual of Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16) was symbolically laden
with the sins of the Israelites and sent into the wilderness to be destroyed.
Thence came the English word ‘Scapegoat’.
If you think that’s the end you are wrong. The word ‘Tragedy’ has its roots in ancient Greek where, ‘tragos’ means goat and ‘aeiden’ means a song. Brought together, Tragedy means, ‘Goat- song’. In ancient Greece, a goat was given as a prize in a competition of choral dancing. Sometimes it was a goat around which a chorus danced prior to its ritual sacrifice.
Whoa! Is it not mind blowing?
Did you just feel like you got
head-butted by a goat? Well I felt like that when I came to know all of this for the
first time.
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