65.3 Power of Speech

 65.3 Power of Speech

Question:

      How should a speech be?

 

Answer:

A speech should captivate the audience, and even those

absent should long to hear it.                                                          (Couplet – 643)

              கேட்டார்ப் பிணிக்கும் தகையவாய்க் கேளாரும்

வேட்ப மொழிவதாம் சொல்.                                        (குறள் – 643)

 

Explanation:

What Valluvar says in Couplet 643 may appear like a tall order for a speaker. However, there have been several speakers whose speeches have outlived them. The Gettysburg address of President Abraham Lincoln and the "I have a dream speech" of Rev. Martin Luther King are two well-known examples of such speeches. One example of such a captivating speaker, whom the author is familiar with, is Mr. C. N. Annadurai (1909 – 1969). Mr. Annadurai, affectionately referred to as Anna by his followers, was a politician during the second half of the twentieth century in Tamil Nadu, the state in which Valluvar lived 2000 years ago. Anna was a successful politician. He rose from virtual obscurity to become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Anna’s meteoric rise and his party's victory in the elections were primarily due to his phenomenal public speaking prowess.

 

During the late 1950s, I was a student at Loyola College in Chennai (the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu), pursuing my undergraduate studies. Loyola college is one of the premier educational institutions in India, run by Jesuit priests. Loyola college was not only well-known for its academic excellence but it was also known for its strict enforcement of discipline among the students. When I was at Loyola College, I stayed in the dormitory. As per the dormitory rules, the students in the dormitory were supposed to be in their rooms from 8:00 PM each night till 6:00 AM the following day. Anyone who violated the rule was subject to heavy penalties, including eviction from the dormitory.

 

Anna used to speak often on the Marina beach in Chennai. The beach could accommodate thousands of people. Anna was an outstanding speaker. He had a great sense of humor. He was always very convincing in his speech. Even his political adversaries would love to listen to his speeches. He had the remarkable ability to make thousands of his listeners laugh, think, and even be motivated to act on his behalf. His diction was excellent. Alliteration was his specialty. Usually, his speeches were in the early part of the night. On several occasions, some of my friends and I violated the rules of the dormitory and went to the Marina beach to listen to Anna's speech and sneaked back into our rooms without the knowledge of the dormitory warden. The following day, my friends who did not go to Anna's meeting would gather around me and ask me to imitate his speech. Of course, Anna was inimitable. I used to try my best.

 

 If I had been caught for my transgression, I would have been in serious trouble with the dormitory warden and my father. But my interest in Anna's speech got the better of me. The point of this anecdote is to illustrate that there have been captivating speakers who met Valluvar's dictum in Couplet 643, and perhaps there will always be speakers like that.