An appeal for silent talking
The answer to
this title is a unanimous “No”. Isn’t he one of the greatest entertainers of
all time? The answer is an equally resounding”Yes!”
Does this not
strike you as absurd? If you have not heard someone, how do you know what he
stands for, what his achievements are or his ideals? In an age of obsessive
Facebooking and Twittering, silence is foolish. Silence, for the lack of a
better word, is bad.
And yet, actions
do speak louder than words. After flirting with bankruptcy in ’90-’91, India
opened up to trade, overseas investments and basically got off the backs of
people. The subsequent lifting of millions from the tragedy of poverty is an
unsurpassed feat. Years ago, most
references to China would end with a funny intonation in Chinese, or some such
similar cliché. The Chinaman is now no laughing matter. The singular focus of
the Chinese masses has made them a force to reckon with.
In each of these
instances people stopped talking and did something. I put a thesis here that
doing is not any different from talking-it is another form of expression. A far
more potent expression because it displays intent, sets an example and seizes
the initiative, hence forcing a reactive response.
Doing is silent
talking.
India is the
Saudi Arabia of armchair analysts. The argumentative Indian has moved on from
being an expression of exasperation into becoming a book title. Everyone agrees
that we love talking. MBA lore is filled with references to it – “global
gas”,”gyaan”,”CP”, “arbit CP” and what have you. Perhaps we owe it to a rich
tradition of oral education – our gurukulas. Or the fact that we are a nation
of many, many beautiful languages each with its own treasures of grammar,
poetry, prose and history. In this age of rambling (and loud) conference calls,
copious meeting minutes and ping-pong e-mail, Indians perhaps actually play a
critical role in the global forum with all our talking?
The doers don’t
mind. They are busy building the future and content to let others spend their
lives talking about it. They are the Caesars, while we remain the baying masses
in the Coliseum of Life.
Unless we
understand the art of silent talking. And then, nobody can stop us.
