Advocate Ansari : Your prediction Professor, has come
true - the DMK Candidate has won in the Upper House
election ...!
Doctor Damu : .... Also the Swatantra Candidate ....
Prof. Pandu : Yes, both of them. And did you notice
Doctor, the difference in the votes as between that
young man Arivalagan and the Congress Candidate ....
?
Doctor Damu : Remarkable, I should say. Really, brilliant.
And that should make the Congress leaders review their
method of propaganda afresh. They are thinking that
to emit fire and prime-stone is the best propaganda.
But that has not paid them the dividend they hoped for.
Prof. Pandu : Sir! The Congress leaders are somehow
asked to munch hope and confidence - hope for an early
'come back' and confidence about the waning of the influence
of the DMK .....
Advocate Ansari : But the victory registered by the
DMK Candidate, and the success of Mr.Seshadri should
open their eyes .... they ought to realise now at least
about the real state of affairs .....
Prof. Pandu : No, Sir! I do not think that the Congress
will change its ways. No! The top leaders are led to
believe that vituperation is the sharpest of weapons
to 'down the DMK'. Anxious to somehow recapture power,
they have become frantic, their vision is blurred.
Doctor Damu : That is unfortunate really. As unfortunate
as the adamancy exhibited by President Johnson in the
Viet Nam problem.
Prof. Pandu : Sir! I am told that the Viet Nam issue
will become a deciding factor in the coming Presidential
election. Those who are to challenge President Johnson,
I am told have already drafted their war-cry - 'Bring
back the Boys' .... !
Advocate Ansari : That is bound to have a tremendous
impact on the women voters of America.
Prof. Pandu : Experts point out that the influence of
President Johnson is waning. The intellectuals are up
in arms against the present Viet Nam policy. And the
other day I found from the newssheet that the Peace
Corps Volunteers who have returned from the scene of
war, have indicted Johnson's policy.
Advocate Ansari : I would say, Professor, that, that
is real democracy. They in America are not afraid to
criticise and warn the party in power, or the personality
at the White House. Democracy surely, is not to be equated
with sheer docility.
Doctor Damu : Whatever the reasons advanced by the President
for carrying on the war in Viet Nam, I do not think
that the American nation will allow its President to
throw more and more millions of money and thousands
of young men into a pit the depth of which is growing
day by day. Rich as America is, it cannot go on squandering
...
Prof. Pandu : Wars, big or small, with or without any
understandable reason, are wasteful. The money drained
for that purpose is indeed huge ...!
Advocate Ansari : Money that is urgently needed for
developmental purposes .... money that can be spent
on non-developed nations .... and with good results,
is being wasted ....
Prof. Pandu : The amount already spent is really staggering.
Not only in America, but also in other places. Do you
know Sir, how much did Britain have to bear due to the
Arab-Israel conflict? The figures presented are of a
terrific dimension ..... 100,0000,00 pounds ... just
because the Suez Canal remains closed.
Doctor Damu : How noble would it have been if that huge
amount has been harnessed to ameliorative efforts ....
to fight ignorance and poverty, disease and dirt ....
?
Prof. Pandu : Mr. Fulbright thunders often about this
aspect of the problem...
Doctor Damu : Many others too. But Mr.Johnson, it is
reported, is calm, confident. His faith remains unaffected
....
Advocate Ansari : Stands as a 'Rock' perhaps! Was it
not Mr.Nanda who stated thus, as regards the former
Chief Minister Mr.Bakthavatsalam.
Prof. Pandu : Some days ago it was reported in the press
that unless the war is ended, there is bound to be a
near-chaos situation in various sectors.
Doctor Damu : President Johnson, I am afraid, is under
the grip of a false sense of prestige .... that is why
he is prolonging the Viet Nam War. One has to pay heavily
indeed for one's own prejudice .....
Prof. Pandu : That reminds me about the colossal amount
spent in Malaysia - to fight the Communist guerillas
- by the British Government. House of Commons Estimates
Committee which investigated British defence expense
over-seas, disclosed that an establishment of 102 dogs
in Singapore cost 110,000 pounds to maintain - nearly
14,000 Rupees per year per dog!
Doctor Damu : If such rich countries like the United
States and Britain are put to a severe stain due to
the high cost of a war, how much more ought to be the
strain to our economy to face a war?
Advocate Ansari : And I think that is the reason why
Mr.Moraji Desai is saying that ultimately there is bound
to be peace and concord between India and China ....
Prof. Pandu : But unfortunately China is in no mood
to be reasonable, or even civilised. Not a day passes
without China pouring forth insult on some country or
other...
Doctor Damu : The Chinese have not spared even the Left
Communist Party of India ...! They have begun chastising
.... and the weapon is of course foul language.
Prof. Pandu : Sir! When one is puffed up with wrath
and prejudice, the language becomes foul .... The Chinese
utilise the gutter-stuff style ... they have specialised
in that style I think. But there are other forms of
attack. I am reminded of an instance. Once an editor
of a news paper had to attack another news paper ...
the article written is a class by itself.
Doctor Damu : Foul words were hurled in plenty I suppose.
Prof. Pandu : I can't say that the language was foul
... but it was tremendously powerful .... it was full
of stinging satire .... Wrote that journal thus : I
can but wonder what will become of the Times editor
when the breath leaves his feculent body and death stops
the rattling of his abortive brain; for he is unfit
for Heaven and too foul for Hell. He cannot be buried
in the earth lest he provoke pestilence nor in the sea
lest he poison it.....
Advocate Ansari : That is tremendously powerful ....!
Prof. Pandu : But Mr. Advocate, it exhibits a very very
bad taste. Thiruvalluvar said two thousand years ago
that to utilise harsh word when soft ones are available
is like stealing unripe fruits when sweet fruits are
available.
Doctor Damu : Our people have built up a high sense
of nobility in thought, word and deed.....
Prof. Pandu : ...... and that, Doctor, at an age when
most of the countries around us were groping in the
dark unable to find out and establish norms and codes
of conduct ...! The Tamilian culture was one of the
finest ones ....
Advocate Ansari : We should make the modern world realise
this .... We may be .... are really .... poor today,
so far as material objects are concerned, but rich indeed
is our legacy, culture and history.
Prof. Pandu : You are right Mr.Advocate ... and an ample
opportunity comes forth soon, in the shape of the World
Tamilian Conference .... to be held in Madras. Delegates
from many countries are going to attend this conference
... and if it is conducted on the right lines and efficiently,
a mighty impact can be created ... the world can be
made to realise and accept the superiority of our culture
....
Doctor Damu : The conference is bound to be a grand
success .... the party in power today will certainly
make it historic.
Prof. Pandu : Not, if we remain dull, dormant or indifferent
.... We should contribute out mite, to make it a great
success....
Advocate Ansari : None would grudge giving encouragement
for such a noble effort ....
Prof. Pandu : But the Congress party in our state would
surely withhold its co-operation. In fact, it would
even actively decry the effort itself.
Doctor Damu : But everybody knows pretty well that the
Congress Party is itching for power, and hence will
go on misinterpreting anything the DMK Government comes
forward to do. The Congress party seems to think that
the people voted them out of power only because of a
temporary frenzy.....
Prof. Pandu : But keen observers and unbiassed critics
do come forward from time to time, to call a spade a
spade. The other day we were discussing about the indictment
launched by that Grand Old Man ..... endearingly termed
as Frontier Gandhi ....
Advocate Ansari : But, Professor! A Congress friend
of mine when I brought it to his notice brushed it aside
by saying that Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan is so far, far
away from India today, politically ... by that he is
not posted with all relevant facts ... hence his criticism
is born out of sheer ignorance ....
Prof. Pandu : If that is the stand that is taken by
your friend - the Congressman .... I can only say that
he is only shielding himself with impertinence. Granting,
just for the sake of argument that the Frontier Gandhi
is not entitled to offer such criticism, what explanation
can he give us for the criticism levelled against the
Congress by Mrs.Vijayalakshmi Pandi .....?
Advocate Ansari : Surely, Mrs. Pandit cannot be dismissed
as a person of no importance by even the rashest of
Congressmen.
Prof. Pandu : And such a high personage - Mrs. Pandit
has stated, quite recently that, "the congress
losses in the last general elections were due to the
fact that Congressmen had totally forgotten their pledges
to the people." Mrs. Pandit remarked that "the
country had lost the vision which Gandhiji placed before
it. A country which lost its vision would perish and
we are 'near-perishing' today".
Doctor Damu : None would be impertinent enough to ignore
Mrs. Pandit's words of advice ....
Prof. Pandu : You are mistaken Sir! Most of those Congressmen
in power would denounce Mrs. Pandit ... and declare
that frustration has made Mrs. Pandit utter such uncharitable
remarks .... They still believe that the people can
be hoodwinked and led astray.
Doctor Damu : .... Not for all-time to come ... No!
Not at the present moment.... the people are today more
enlightened than ever before and it is not possible
today to lead them astray ...
Advocate Ansari : That attitude is entirely due to the
fact that Congressmen are afraid to remain without the
lime-light for a long period. They are apprehensive
of a total liquidation.
Prof. Pandu : Sir! No democrat would wish for a liquidation
of the Congress Party. It should remain in good shape,
to offer its honest and sincere criticism about the
Non-Congress Government, with patience and responsibility.
A party which was in power for such a long period as
twenty years, should be capable of playing its part
in a dignified manner. It should not degenerate into
a camp of disgruntled elements. And more than that,
unfettered by power an position the Congressmen and
for that matter any good a citizen can play a noble
role in serving the people.
Advocate Ansari : That is possible only if an individual
or a party is imbued with an ideal and regulates the
activities in such a way as to discard self-interest
....
Prof. Pandu : Mr. Ansari, you have clarified the issue
perfectly well. Talking about ideals and objectives,
I am reminded of the saying of that noble soul, Dag
Hammarskjold. Said that eminent Humanitarian,
"The day you were born
Everybody was happy,
You cried alone!
Make your life such
That in your last hour
All others are weeping
And you are the only one
Without a tear to shed!
Then you shall calmly face
Death whenever it comes."
Doctor Damu : What a noble ideal ... and how fine is
its presentation ...!
Prof. Pandu : And Doctor, that noble soul, lived up
to that ideal .... dedicated his life for a noble cause
... and he died in harness .....
Advocate Ansari : And the manner of his end cannot but
be termed as poignant ....
Prof. Pandu : Such men Mr.Ansari, are never dead ...
No! they live always through their deeds .. I was thrilled,
when late night I have had an occasion to read about,
this noble soul....
Doctor Damu : Professor! Why not we one day arrange
a talk about him....?
Prof. Pandu : We need not Sir! For, an invitation has
been extended to me by our local College Union to unveil
a portrait of that noble man and say a few words about
him ... and I have accepted that invitation with thanks.
Advocate Ansari : That is a pleasant piece of news ....
and Doctor! Should we not attend that meeting? ....
Doctor Damu : Sure! Are we fools to miss that opportunity
... And now I think we should start home. Professor
Pandu should be given time for further study about the
man and his mission.
Prof. Pandu : That is very kind of you Doctor! Let us
start.
(Home Rule - 3-9-1967)