Oh My Word:Defy, Deify

Defy as a verb (past tense and past participles are defied and defied) refers to disobeying, non-compliance, giving up or renouncing faith, or obligation, or bonds of emotions such as love, attachment; refuse to respect an authority or an established tradition or custom; it also means to reject someone or something; refuse to yield or oblige; to challenge someone to do something daunting or a difficult task; Can the police in our country defy the order of the judge or magistrate? Indian parents can get annoyed when their children defy marrying a person of their choice.

One of the problems on the Indian roads is that many drivers defy the traffic rules and drive resulting in accidents. In spite of daunting social circumstances, Dr B R Ambedkar gained education defying all the challenges of his times and became the architect of Indian Constitution: that is Ambdekar had overcome all the challenges and difficult circumstances.

The doors to the almirah defied all the attempts made by the robbers to open them out (in this sense defy refers to – impossible to open, difficult). The social problems in the country are constantly defying the solutions evolved by the lawmakers (ie the problems are difficult to solve). Deify means to make a god out of something or someone. Deify means to worship someone as a god.

Deify is a verb, its past tense and past participle are deified and deified. Deification is a noun: the process of deifying or being deified. Ancient societies deified the Sun, and this practice continues to this day (many people offer obeisance or surya namaskar to the sun god).

The deification of India’s Golden Age echoes in many of the textbooks on history though critical historians scorn at this. Indians are gullible to deify any member who dons the robes of a sadhu or swami: that is we begin to worship.

Shirdi Sai Baba was normal human being who renounced the material life (family and household) and went on to preach on simple things of life but today he is deified. Puttaparthi Sai Baba was defied when he was alive not only by Indians but by many westerners too.

Whether to defy or deify someone or something is a sheer matter of personal choice but institutions and governments should not indulge in this but it is often the case in the country.