Powerful silence

AGKSPEAK

A blank is poetry somewhere; elsewhere, it shouts for attention.

What I've Liked
You say it best when you say nothing at all.

Isn't it ironical that sometimes the most powerful statements are made when nothing is said? This ad from AIG celebrating the spirit of the Mahatma has a headline (or sub-headline, if you may) so brilliant it outshines everything else ever said on the subject in the recent past. If you need to know how evocative a blank space can be, all you need to do is to look at the line (1869- ).

That little island of silence has managed to say more than reams of praise can ever do. It has in true spirit immortalised the Mahatma. So powerful is it that even Gandhi's trademark pair of spectacles feels redundant in the ad.

After all there is only one Mahatma that we talk about, especially on Oct 2. Admittedly over the past couple of years Gandhi, Gandhigiri and all things Gandhian have suddenly acquired an all-new fan base.

It is reassuring that today's youth even though slightly hazy on the history of Gandhi and what he actually stood for, are aware that his was a spirit that we as a nation have to be extremely indebted to.

It is even more touching when an ad like this comes along to know that we still intend to carry on his mission, that he still has the power to inspire a generation so far removed from his era both in values and personal goals, and that his life still fills us with a wonderful sense of purpose and possibility.

And more importantly, that we want him to live forever. In all of us. Yes, that powerful little blank space is a true torch-bearer to the spirit of the Mahatma.

What I've Learned
Lofty ideals, poor deliverables

I sometimes wonder if our civic woes are caused by people who, to paraphrase a famous socialite, 'tell us what we want to hear and do exactly what they want'! A couple of incidents that I had experienced in the recent past have left me completely dumbstruck.

What can you say when you read a news item that claimed that the BMC has banned paan chewers from entering their premises when elsewhere in the city a pedestrian has to pick his way through spittle and fresh faeces of both man and animal, on a daily basis?

What can you say when you enter Delhi airport at the height of summer and discover non-functional air-conditioning and seating that accommodates only about 150-200 domestic passengers?

Which results in about 500 passengers standing in wait for flights. What can you say when you find yourself standing (once again) on a railway platform in the 44° C heat that Hyderabad is known for, with no fans, no benches in sight and the announcer declares a change of platform just five minutes before the train chugs in?

And you have to haul your bags and your family up the over-bridge and down a long platform to your compartment magically, all in a matter of minutes? And then you read in the papers the next day, glorious accounts of how well the railways are doing and you wonder why your experience hasn't changed for the better.

I dread the day when 'the smallest worm will turn, being trodden on', because though the attitude of taking people for granted might provoke random skirmishes now and then, especially when it happens to be the last straw in some poor victim's day, it wouldn't be surprising if an irate mob decides to take things in their own hands soon enough.

A market correction, in a manner of speaking. But let's hope that sometime soon, talk does translate into action, giving us cities and transportation that we'll be proud to hand over to our children, rather than fondly dreaming that they enjoy a better life elsewhere.