Of sheep and speech
I don't think I planned it this way, but it's truly been Shivarathri for me!
I started work at around 8-30 a.m. after having gone to sleep at about 2 a.m. the previous night and I'm still working. It's about 2-30 a.m. on March 9 now.
In the insonmiac flux I live in, I seem to have finally conquered time: today is yesterday is tomorrow.
Nevermind that. I started telling you what a grand day this was. Er...March 8 was. The generality of journalism makes our lives quite chaotic and interesting; If I'm covering an expert talking on the human genome project today, it often happens that I cover a conference on sheep shearing in Australia tomorrow. No offense meant to either sheep or the gene. We merely take both in our stride.
Come to think of it, its a bad example, post Dolly and all, the gene's the sheep and the sheep's the gene. But I guess you get the general drift.
As we drift on then, like this, there comes a moment in time when we shrug out of that slump and sit up in our chairs. Quite unexpectedly it hits us. As it did today, without warning.
It was at the Madras Management Association's Women Managers Forum event for International Women's Day. And things were proceeding along their predictable sheep-rearing path, until former Union Minister Margaret Alva took the dias by storm. Everybody in a slump sat up and listened as the woman spoke forcefully on women's rights.
And then came Kiran Bedi (with whom I have a picture. I'm getting better at celebrity-hunting these days!) and as if it were a bonanza, next came Union Minister of State for Tourism, Renuka Chowdhury. I do not have to elaborate about the 'Supercop', but I could say I was floored completely by Renuka Chowdhury - master orator.
I could not do justice to her if I were to recount what she said, so I will not even attempt to. I will say it my way, the way I SAW, not heard it happen. All orators seek to establish links with the audience they are speaking to. As Renuka Chowdhury spoke, I could almost physically see the link
form right across the auditorium, linking her with every hearing person in the audience. As the words rolled off her lips, they hurriedly floated across to strengthen that link, with which she toyed with the audience, joking now, smirking then, tugging at their heart strings, having them eat from her hands.
How do I manage to reach the sheep metaphor, again and again?
Here was a master artist at work and there I was watching her at her canvas. My hair stood on its edge. Like a sheep about to be sheared. :)
On my grand day, I'm inclined to be benovolent to all. Sheep included.
* * *
Wings, who I have enjoyed reading, has moved on, beyond her blog. Her "life has matured and risen far greater than a web page." Fare thee well, Wings. Your link will go out of my blog roll, but some of your words will continue to roll through my head.
Life Goes on in the Blog...
Vanitha, who I am happy to have introduced to blogging and who claims to be a vampire by night and a sun-block- cum-coffee lover by day, also did away with her blog. Not by design though. Therefore, another blog is up again, and since it has been a long time since I said this, May the Force be with her!
Now, Van, I take cheques too!
