(Two days back Mr P.P. Ramachandran drew reference to Shakespeare while explaining the use of double superlatives - 'the most unkindest cut of all'. I had written a light-reading piece deploying Shakespare's name and his works. It was published in Hindustan Times on 11 February 1983.)
This term, “Speaking of….” provides an inexhaustible scope to any writer to hop from one topic to the other. It is so tactfully used that the reader does not feel the switchover at all. Here is an attempt I have made to use this expression and make much ado about nothing. Speaking of much ado about nothing, there was a hotel owner, an ardent admirer of playwrights, who named all the rooms after famous plays. A newly married couple checked in for the night. They were shown a room, named “Taming of the Shrew”. They did not like it, and were taken to another, “Twelfth Night.” They rejected that too, and finally, feeling tired, accepted the third room. The next morning, as they checked out, they observed that the room they had occupied was named “Much Ado about Nothing” – another well-known play of Shakespeare. Speaking of Shakespeare, there is a school of thought that believes that Shakespeare was an Indian. They say his name was Sheshappa Aiyar and that he migrated to UK as his literary talents did not receive recognition in India. He shot to prominence in England, and anglicized his name to Shakespeare as he observed that Englishmen had difficulty in pronouncing his long name. Speaking of long names, we are familiar with quite a few such names: Srinivasavaradarajadesikan, Meenakshisundareswaran, or Saravanabhavanandan... Such names mostly originate from South India, if you take statistics. Speaking of statistics, one is reminded of the havoc that the statistical average can cause. Think of the man who, guided by the statistical data that the average depth of the river was only waist deep, ventured to wade through the river, and never got to the other side. This of course, is not to suggest that statistics is useless and that all statisticians should be turned out—no, not especially in these days when it is very difficult to get a job. Speaking of jobs, one fellow applied for the job of a Security Officer in a company. In his application he wrote that his father had worked as Chief Security Officer in the Defence Ministry for 25 years and had displayed exemplary alertness in his job, etc. The man was called for interview, and asked: “What is the age of your father?” “65, Sir”’ replied the candidate. “Sorry, we cannot hire him; he is too old,” said the interviewer. The boy replied, “But Sir, I have applied for myself, and not for my father.” “Yes, but you have given details of your father, and not about yourself”, replied the panel member, bringing to close the interview. Speaking of interviews, we have heard many anecdotes about the interviews that have reportedly taken place in the selection for the Indian Civil Service. One candidate was asked, “How many senses does a man possess?” He gave the figure as five. “Don’t you think there is also a sixth sense, called commonsense?” queried one of the interviewers. “Yes gentleman”. The chap replied, “in that case there is a seventh sense also, called non-sense. Speaking of non-sense, perhaps that is what exercise I am engaged in right now, and it is time I stopped making much ado about nothing. V.V. Sundaram Phoenix 18 November 2011
