As a one time half decent Orator ( In my school days decades back) and a passionate student of Languages and especially what I consider my mother tongue* English, I have always been fascinated with finding just the right words and the right way to express a view.
I believe it is so much more than just conveying information. It has to - of course - accurately convey what we want to say. But it has also, to express the opinion or emotion to the right degree of emphasis, to convey our opinion on what it is and ideally be witty too so as to take the sting out of the.... Sting?
This passion for the usage of more complicated words to make a more accurate statement has faded over the years. The focus has shifted to not making the other person feel one is showing off; or out of fear that the other might not actually comprehend it's meaning (What with India being a nation where English is mostly a third language for most people and who have not had the luxury or the privilege I had of a good English Convent Education).
However I do enjoy a pithy comment or a proper turn of phrase. It could be shouted football slogans sung by thousands (We lose every week. You aren't anything special" by Man U fans - I think - after a match they lost), or a truly sarcastic hit like " Intelligence has always chased you. You, however have always been faster" or even a simple Advertisement slogan like the Nike "Just do it".
And while so many of us today consider ourselves modern in every way with our fluent speaking of English and our modern Coffee and Pizza culture, we forget that so many of our Freedom Fighters were from a very good English learning background too.
Not just the Western, Oxford Educated, Scottish Whiskey drinking Nehrus and Jinnahs, but even our loin cloth fakir Gandhi spoke English eloquently ( if with a very desi accent). And I do not know great an orator he was, but I think one of the most impactful writers of that era, the Tharoor of that time if you will was B R Ambedkar. ( Only with respect to their verbosity and control over the English Vocabulary! The timidity of Tharoor's politics could not be more opposite to the brilliant revolutionary politics of Ambedkar).
All this brings me to my find of the day. In a statement anticipating opposition from Orthodox Hindus, B R Ambedkar in his book 'Who were the Shudras' says "They are more selfish than any other set of beings in the world, " followed by the jewel " and are prostituting their intelligence to support the vested interests of their class".
Aaah. What a phrase. How apt. The impact, the scorn, the total lack of Effs given to their kind and their known attacks. Muah. Chef's kiss.
This in itself was worth it. However, the extremely wide range that this statement can be applied both across types of humans and across time left me in shock.
This seems so apt in today's age to the Pam Bondis and the Fox News Hosts and the entire Republican Party in the US who use their very high intelligence, their grasp of Public sentiments all to spin the words of a complete Baby who has both the vocabulary and the impulse control of a 1.5 year old! And to the detriment of the world at large! What all people are willing to destroy for some paltry money!
I believe that more than 95% of Trump followers in the corridors of power do not believe his statements or his views. The average MAGA follower might be emotionally gullible to fall for Trump's lies. These life time politicians and media experts are not. Tucker Carlson and many others have been caught calling him vile names behind his back. Yet they have "prostituted their intelligence" and that too to "support the vested interests of their class". This second part is so true too!
To the extent that they believe they are doing what they are doing not just for themselves, but for a cause, it is to further the benefits to their "class". The rich Oligarchs and their select coterie. Some are there and hope to make more. Others aspire to enter that class by sucking up to the Big Man and pushing his agenda. They might be telling themselves things like "I'm just doing my job" or "If not me, someone else will" or any of the plethora of proverbs people say to justify doing wrong things.
This statement will apply equally ( if not more) to the Godi media of today. The brilliant minds like Arnab who knows how to convey outrage, who can hold centre stage and who turned a neat 180 degrees from when he started Republic. So what if it causes a few hundreds of Muslims to be killed? So what if a few lakhs feel disenfranchised? So what if NRC will cost thousands of Crores of rupees and end up being a massive failure ( like it was in Assam) and cause untold trauma to so many under priviledged people?
He gets to "win like crazy" and that's all that matters to him. The same for all the other anchors who claim to speak the Truth but end up "prostituting their intelligence", doing seemingly impossible contortions to prove BJP is right and this Govt can do no wrong. And if a wrong was done, why it was not Dear Leader's fault.
The hilarious Galgotia scandal where they claimed a 350 Crore investment into AI leading to the creation of "Orion" the Robotic Dog made India's image fall flat on it's face across the Globe.
Godi said "China is copying so many things, so we too showed it can be done". Wow! Footinmouthasana done perfectly with poise! Another "prostituting of their intelligence" if their thinking could be given that honourable title.
It also makes me realise how polarised the world was and is. How little has changed w.r.t. the rich crushing the poor and claiming to be their saviours. How wars are fought by the poor to enrich the rich. So little has changed.....
But yet, the words of people like Ambedkar, Gandhi, Nehru, Bose, Bhagat Singh and many other give us hope in these despondent days. That if they could stand up to the more open tyranny or the British, maybe we too could ( to whatever extent) do our bit for our fellow citizens.
So here's to celebrating not just B R Ambedkar and his incisive cuts, his brilliant clarity of thought and vision but also to celebrate the beauty of the English Language and it's ability to convey in just the right way, what needs to be said.
Jai Hind
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