We are told our country is polarised. Yes, polarised is one of the words that has limited our vocabulary today. We have our opinion on everything under the sun. Nothing wrong with it. The trouble arises when we think only we are right and the whole world and its uncle is wrong. So what do we do? It depends on which side we are -- extreme right or extreme left.
The change in our slang can be divided into pre-Modi and after-Modi – ‘pm’ and ‘am’! The Left and liberals, wait, ‘libtards’, are mad as they believe that there are many who are devoted to the PM. And they have maligned and mauled one of the most beautiful words in Sanskrit — Bhakt — which means an ardent devotee. All PM admirers are designated as Bhakts. And the word today conveys a totally negative connotation, which it is not. Not that this has had any effect on the blind followers of the PM.
And anyone who is a bit traditional is dubbed ‘Sanskari’, a person who is uncool, which in itself is uncool! The Sanskrit word actually means one who is very cultured. Which the extreme groups are anything but that.There are no shades, only Saffron – Saffron that represented renunciation and service – has all of a sudden come to mean anything communal. Like the word Minorities represents only one community in the political world.
Saffron leads us to another pejorative — Sanghi. This word actually means a member of a congregation. But it has come to represent the extreme right – or so dubbed by the extreme left. And why choose Sanskrit words? Is it cool to maul this beautiful language?
The ‘Bhakts’ naturally don’t take kindly to it. So they too in their own wisdom tear the ‘secular’ fabric and call the libtards ‘sicular’, or urban naxals, depending on the context.
Any objective argument is killed by such verbal violence on both sides.Where do we go from here? After calling each other names, we jump on to the protagonists themselves. One is dubbed ‘Feku’ while the other ‘Pappu’ by the ever-clashing left and right. There are any number of jokes, trillions of trolls and memes on both leaders on social media. And trolls and memes are added to our lexicon.
We have been a tolerant nation all along. Somehow ‘intolerance’ has crept into our vocabulary. Ironically, we are so intolerant today that we resort to ‘award wapsi’, I mean, the phrase, to express our anger against the present dispensation. Before you can say ‘award wapsi’, the ‘intolerant’ rightists scream ‘Go to Pakistan’. It has become their refrain. And anyone who doesn’t conform to their opinion is dubbed ‘anti-national’.
The wordy duel continues, with both the groups wanting to chop off the other ‘tukde tukde’, verbally, of course. We are so divided that we have only ‘Bhakts’ and ‘siculars’. For now, we are stuck with these words.
Utthara Kumari B
Assosiate Editor
uttharakumari@newindianexpress.com