THE GAME OF WORDS , fiercer than that of THRONES !
‘’Words in my most humble opinion are inexhaustible source of magic,capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it.’’-J.K ROWLING.
As rightly put by J.K Rowling words are a source of magic.It is only that we haven’t explored them enough or even correctly.Even in our daily conversations we use words most recklessly like ,’’I love music’’- really LOVE? or ,’’I think this cafe is so amazing’’-when there is nothing to be amazed about it except the prices of some basic stuff like coffee and sandwich!
The importance of words is undermined every now and then.We use them inaccurately,mercilessly and irrelevantly.The whole karaoke, we perform with words,ends up in loosing the essence of conversation .We miss the point that was meant to be made.If you want to know how much a person really knows about any topic ,just watch his words! The more simpler his jargon ,the better his understanding about it . Fierce ,aggressive ranting is not always a litmus test .Well, of course words alone can’t serve the purpose .It is the whole orchestration.The way one frames a sentence to meet the requirement of expressing a thought, speaks volumes about a person’s level of comprehension.
Truly communication is an art which should be taught and learnt.The messages that are conveyed in any type of communication have an impeccable power.They can impact ones thought process and trigger changes in ones personality silently but poignantly. There are several examples which conform to this fact ,for e.g: the after effects of reading a book.
One is immersed in the feelings of nihilism after reading works of KAFKA,ALBERT CAMUS or caught up disgusting creepiness that tends to smear our innocence after reading some of the works of PAULO COELHO (who apparently wrote them while being high on drugs).Also,one can’t get away with the detective instincts after one reads works of AGATHA CRISTIE. Even music artists are a good example of mastering the art of using words in a manner that evokes people’s feelings in most organic way.Psychoanalysts have time and again concluded from their studies that words ,more specifically the text in which they are organized,influence and juggle with our emotions.Words are like ingredients of a recipe. With different proportions and combinations ,they can change the entire flavor of the recipe.The end result,nevertheless,is always on our psyche .
This phenomenon where words play with our psychology is not curtailed in our world.It is ubiquitous and most of the times it is vicious instead of being healing. I mean Why do you think ‘’FAIRNESS CREAM’’ business has earned so much success and is still growing despite clear knowledge of biology of skin colour and the regressive social stigma associated with it ? Well,if you carefully dissect those advertisements u will notice they link the skin colour with some bizzare concerns like their inadequacy to get a job or getting a suitable life partner,etc,etc,.These connections are cruel as they hit the deepest insecurities a person has asserting they don’t fit into the picture of so called“desirable’’. There are ads on life insurances that clearly capitalize on people’s ‘’fear of death and its repercussions’’.These marketing tricks and strategies compel people to fall for such traps.
Even POLITICS is not left behind in this regard. Infact,according to me it is a field where ‘’THE GAME OF WORDS’’ is most deeply ingrained.From the rhetoric speeches of politicians addressing a crowd to the ramble on news channels,everything sells at the cost of words.Words paint the narrative in the most horrendous ways.Why do you think lies and bigotry are laughing out loud at truth in the face these days? From what I can understand ,It is due to the art of using words mastered by these“WHITE WALKERS’’ of this game .The truth stripped bare in the most overt manner is still struggling to make a radical impact on the minds of people.At present,in my opinion,the political spectrum has two extremes of ‘’game of words’’-on one end there are vindictive,brutal and brazenly catastrophic words said and at other end they are just reduced to mere tacky jokes! There are umpteen examples to invigorate this theory.
George Orwell ,author of the coveted books like 1984 and animal farm,in essay ‘’Politics and English language’’explains how correct use of words can decide the fate of a politician.According to him, for the success of a political agenda,words can be used to push the propaganda deep into peoples psychology .If we go down the line and look at some of the most powerful leaders in history like Napoleon or Hitler ,we see a common thread which is all of them were very good orators.They would take the crowd with storm whenever they would speak.
This parlance also extends to the realm of journalism.If you want to see how words are exploited ,watch the news channels. Yes , I am asking you to inflict suffering on mental peace but at least try.
Despite being a fourth a pillar of democracy ,media has fallen extremely low by thier baseless propagandas and biased opinions .They serve ready made opinions rather than news.Raj kumar jha ,on winning editor of the year award few years back,gave an interesting speech on the plight of the journalism in India. He said,“It is not that good journalism is growing small .Not at all.Infact it is growing stronger.It is just that bad journalism makes much more noise.The bad journalism believes in putting a flag on their screen and then ramble anything in the name of patriotism.’’Also ,to mention in his speech he repeatedly kept on thanking the PM for encouraging journalists for good journalism.This is not his double standards but a sarcasm so well offered.(the look on PM’s face was legit!).
His speech reminded me of a very famous work of Shakespaere. “julius caeser’’ in which Mark Antony makes a speech on the funeral of his friend (Julius) repeatedly praising Brutus (who had killed Julius )in sarcasm ,“but Brutus is an honourable man ”
It is unfortunate we live in a time where freedom is very selective.Those in power can ‘’define’’ freedom as they want and what is funny is that what they practice is nothing like their own framed definition.The common people don’t get to acknowledge freedom of speech or action let alone enjoy that.The picture is much more horrible and heinous than what it seems on the surface.It is a game of words where victory is an illusion and the only thing that operates are the gimmicks to turn people robotic and blind slaves -not of any ruler or system -but essentially of regressive ideologies clothed within the fabric of ignorance embroidered with words. The only way to survive in this game is to see beyond what is shown ,hear beyond the words spoken and call a spade a spade!
Raj Kamal Jha’s speech:
https://youtu.be/CJVnYo-cBaY?si=qLQdwOp28jEe-jIJ
Brutus speech :
