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I cannot improve upon what Ram has written about this little disagreement. Still I feel like contributing my bit as well. Not long ago a British ambassador in his memoirs stated that ex-Premier of Great Britain Mrs Margaret Thatcher did not know how to argue without offending the other person. Once my job was to pursue mistakes committed by journalists and pointed out by listeners. The journalists hated me for this. But then it was my job! For years I did this thankless job. Then the person to whom I reported changed. His replacement called me one day and said that I should stop reporting these mistakes. The organisation in which we worked broadcast millions of words produced twenty-four hours a day under pressure and mistakes were inevitable. There is a saying sape khai; kape khai. I don’t think I need translate this to our netters. It is easy to offend a person by one’s saying or writing. It is possible to win a point by strategy rather than by facts and logic. At times we may be inclined to attack another participant with garbed language. Once I read an article in the Readers’ Digest where a writer tried to prove that 2 + 2 does not make four. He almost succeeded. I may add here that once a head of a department in Assam accused me of insubordination because of a reasoned reply I sent him. The point I want to make here is that we must learn to argue without giving offence to our fellow netters. We all make mistakes and have prejudices because everyone has been influenced by the circumstances in which we find ourselves: our physical and moral strength, skills, expertise in various fields, beliefs, aptitudes and so on. Language has such power that in yesterday’s The Times there was a letter in which the writer claimed that junior doctors were being appointed on the basis of their ability to write good English rather than on the basis of their knowledge, clinical experience and efficiency.Language is power. Shri Shankardeva and Shri Madhavdeva who were great poets constantly reminded themselves that they should not be carried away by the momentum of their literary creation: they are above all preachers;devotees to the Lord of All Things. They were also great pundits. They utilised that power to preach eksarania dharma? Correct? |
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