DISCOURSE
is the zeitgeist. Talk show pundits to ‘Aam Admi’ all are rooting
for a discourse. Another diplomatic foray by Oscar Fernandez Taranco
seems to be on the offing, apparently 'cause the natives of the land
are not big enough or smart enough to tame the churlish braggadocio
of the reigning actors (I mean, the honorable PM and the honorable
ex-PM).
I am not sure that a meaningful discourse is possible at this juncture, for discourse is a natural extension of two logical minds of differing philosophies as they interact and strive to interject some cohesion. Successful discourse is constructed upon a good dose of healthy respect for the “Opposing Partner”. Although it sounds oxymoron, I am choosing the term deliberately to emphasize the fact that discourse is not for the hot-headed philistine who cannot bear the smell of opposition. “It’s no time to discourse, so Chrish (Christ) save me; the day is hot, and the weather, and the wars, and the king and the dukes: it’s no time to discourse.” (Shakespeare: King Henry V, Act III, Scene II
I am not sure that a meaningful discourse is possible at this juncture, for discourse is a natural extension of two logical minds of differing philosophies as they interact and strive to interject some cohesion. Successful discourse is constructed upon a good dose of healthy respect for the “Opposing Partner”. Although it sounds oxymoron, I am choosing the term deliberately to emphasize the fact that discourse is not for the hot-headed philistine who cannot bear the smell of opposition. “It’s no time to discourse, so Chrish (Christ) save me; the day is hot, and the weather, and the wars, and the king and the dukes: it’s no time to discourse.” (Shakespeare: King Henry V, Act III, Scene II
Well,
without a sense of healthy respect and optimal ambience, not even
Christ is going to save a discourse.
I
do watch deshi television and read a lot more deshi newspapers on the
net. I notice a tremendous amount of knowledge and talent in flux.
Some are lovable while some are odious; and that’s all right. But a
discourse without a sense of common sense is nonsense. A discourse
has to undulate our mind like a gentle stroke of a finger-on-a-harp.
It’s okay to bite and scratch and scratch (borrowed from Montaigne)
as long as there is a sense of sensibility.
Not
long ago I received an email from a person who frequents NFB (a
Bangladeshi news portal and discussion forum) rather frequently. A
firm believer of religion, I gather, he was irrationally furious at a
certain scribe who made a name for himself by incessantly trashing
religion of all sort, especially Islam. I also gather that this
gentleman, a representative of silent majority, wrote only because,
he was infuriated. One who writes or speaks or proposes, by
definition is vocal, and intends to modulate the hearts and minds of
those who are not yet in sink. Hence a discourse that brings forth
such outright aversion is no discourse at all.
Going
back to our honorable PM and ex-PM; I am an eternal optimist and
still my mind is shrouded in gloom. I don’t see them looking eye to
eye, sitting side by side and picking and poking each other’s brain
in a way, that shall glean a ray of hope for the seventeen crores of
souls who call themselves the real owner of Bangladesh.
A
proposition, a concept or a statement that materialize no sensible
consequence in the minds of the involved, whatever vainglorious it
may be, is of no meaning. A noun is nothing a noun unless a verb is
there to undulate it.
