A matter of Opinion

Khaleej Times (Issues) / 10 August 2013

 

GUESS WHAT the two most disposable items in our personal kitty are — things we have been endowed with in such large measures that we will burst if we don’t disburse them regularly? Money and material?

You can’t be kidding. None of us ever believe to have been so lavishly provided (for we are always a tad bit short of it) nor do we pop if ever it’s in excess. Try again. It’s what we ladle out unasked, happily and at will. Two things we are pleased to give for free, but never to take, even with love. You got it. It’s opinion, and its twin, advice!

There is only one difference between the two — while Opinion is self serving, Advice is philanthropic in nature; at least seemingly so.  Both are born of a fertile mind that is brimming with responses that we consider significant and urgent for the smooth running of the universe. It’s so hard not to respond to things people do and say. There is so much going on around us that we need to speak about it, primarily because we are all entitled to it.

Whether it is about a deviant political system that we can’t do much about or our neighbour’s choice of new car or a friend’s life changing career decision or a distant family dispute in which we don’t have even a cameo, it’s difficult not to pass our personal judgment. Funny, how many of our own domestic arguments have been over someone else’s life and their decisions! We debate as if there’s no authority over us in the related matter. We spar as if our own happiness depended on it. It’s equally hard not to tender advice to someone who really doesn’t need it from us, yet as citizens of this universe who are concerned about the wellness of our fellow beings (ahem), it’s impossible to disregard our responsibility. So, from the bottom of our heart we counsel, knowing full well that the listener is not obliged to accept it. We plod on with our selfless services, in the vain delusion of being the all knowing wise men who have the key to all problems in this world, except our own.

Oh, we know what ails the society, we know how terrorism can be countered, we know how the errant son of a friend can be tackled, we have suggestions for the economists, we have sound advice for our children, youth and politicians, we know where the other man should put his money to maximize returns, we have solutions for someone’s allergy, migraine and weight issues…we know it all! And how we are raring to let the world know about it!

The opening up of the media has only made opinion making and advice tending easier as a vocation and a pass time. News time on TV has become views time, with people suffering from verbal diarrhoea permanently pasted on panels; the comments section in online newspapers have turned into a malicious riot zone where abuses are hurled and exchanged; the social media has expanded the scope for unrestrained expression further, and in this unzipped version of the world, we have become virtual vending machines for opinion and advice, revelling in our freedom to purge our views and slap it on the world.

Amidst all these thrives a community that is distinct by its intent, style and relevance — thinking people who send letters to the editor. They are writers and philosophers in their own right, holding and proffering genuine views. Their earnestness and the absence of frivolity in their endeavour make them a unique cluster of opinion makers. I hold them in high regard and have immense love for them, for it was as one among them that I started my writing career several years ago and it is in their company that I continue to thrive on this Opinion page.