Page 12 - Seniors Today - March Issue
P. 12
Comment
The Nation wants to
Bak-Bak
By Vickram Sethi
India has a well-deserved reputation for itself into a situation where everyday
being a very competitive nation on the conversation seems to have become a
world stage. We beat the Asian nations in winner-takes-all contest.
business processing outsourcing, back- Try going out to one of those fashionable
office telephony, computronics. It will take pubs; restaurants the noise level is
a long time for the Chinese to learn how irritatingly high. It seems to me that
to speak English and in the meantime it occupants at the next table try to spit
will be our voice that will be heard. While out as many words as possible before
all this is very good, we have developed they’re interrupted. Little attention is
an insatiable urge to speak and want to given to whether the ‘hearer’ has actually
be heard all the time. We have become a heard and understood what is being said.
bak-bak nation and we compete with each Unfortunately this habit has travelled over
other to have our say to the extent that a to family conversations too, and nobody
conversation becomes a competition. Many seems to be listening to each other.
of our radio and TV presenters seem hell- Try taking a long flight – the guy next to
bent on just such a contest. They spit out you is happy to tell you his entire life story.
as many words as they can as fast as they I can see it coming; as soon as you settle
can – regardless of whether their audience in there is a comment on the weather, the
understands them or not. The shouting and approximate time the flight will take off or
the bellowing about what the nation wants will land… I have a strong urge to tell the
to know or should know that we ought person, why not ask the air hostesses for
to know and gory little details that they these details. The unfortunate thing is the
want to feed us with. Whatever its genesis, whole flight is talking to their neighbours
this insane competitive urge has morphed so loudly that it is impossible to get sleep.
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