Nurungukal…3…

v..chat… There was a time when we used to gather around a radio to hear eagerly the voice of Melvin Demalo, the famous news reader of all times. The husky rhetorics between Nehru and Lohia on the floor of our parliament still reverberates in our ears. When one praised about the ethos of India ,the other countered to remind the pathos. These are memories every Indian once again cherish to experience. So are we proud about the proceedings in the first Kerala assembly lead by EMS Namboodiripad. The never ending speech of V.K. Krishna Menon  before an august audience on the floor of UNO can not be forgotten so easily. There were many luminaries, to mention a few for eg. AKG, Dange, Vajpaye, etc. etc. who had made a mark of their own as good parliamentarians. If we search history  we can spot many such luminaries both in the distant past and in recent time worth emulating in speech and actions. I have read somewhere about the instant rhetoric of an advocate when he was admonished by the judge. The advocate by a slip of tongue addressed the judge as ‘you’. The judge immediately pointed out that there is no ‘you’ in the court. The advocate countered it by saying that …’but Me Lord …there is a U in the middle of the CO U RT’, making the entire court, including the judge to enjoy the counter. The above examples show the high degree of sense of respect the speakers held while driving home their point of view effectively.

       If one follow the language of some of the present day speakers, who are holding important positions acquired through public support, we shudder to claim a legacy of decency. Although many words in our language have derived different meanings, such as adipoli,kalakki etc. they are accepted as harmless improvisations.  But surprisingly now a days we venture to defend other’s intentional act of disrespect to others. Even an act of vulgar gesticulation of showing the inner wear in open by a public personality was pardoned off. These are situations which  can not at any stretch of imagination be compromised  by a society, which claim hundred percent literacy and progressive mind. It indicates that the time is ripe to initiate a sense of refinement among us to claim that top position. Otherwise posterity will blame us for the degradation.