The Joy of Description

Have you ever had the pleasure of reading Katherine Mansfield? Or P.G. Wodehouse, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, Jules Verne for that matter? Or so many other authors of similar caliber? One distinctive trait that all of them have is a wonderful tendency to describe situations, scenes, sensations, emotions, people and life, in general in great loving detail. It is as though they took the time to notice these things, or rather, they took the time to imagine these situations in such vivid details and mention them. This is so much more pleasing than the present situation where the eloquence of people has been reduced to words such as 'stuff' and 'things'. Such a shame!

This is not exclusive to just the written word, but also in songs. Nowadays, most songs have lyrics that even a 3rd grader would find simple. Not only has this afflicted the English music scene, but also international ones. Love messages have been translated into short, abrupt vulgar passages like "I freaking, fucking love you." Does no one have the time to describe anymore?

Don't say it was red. Describe it. What shade was it? Was it crimson, burgundy or was it maroon? Was it the kind of crimson that you see when you hold red wine out in sunlight? Or was it the kind of crimson that kings of yore wore?

Don't just say it was a nice day. Say "The sky was a clear, beautiful azure blue. The trees were freshly dewed, green and swaying gently with the breeze as though they were waving a friendly greeting to old friends. Birds flew overhead and cried out in joy. It seemed as though they were trying to say, "God's in his heaven and all is well with the world." I stepped outside into this wonderfully orchestrated display of 'La Dolce Vita' and couldn't help but think what a nice day it was." It truly was such a nice day but the person you were speaking to never realized because you reduced heaven to a standard order social response.

So, please dear reader, I request you, the next time you have to narrate an incident or write lyrics for a song, take your time and express yourself at your leisure. Describe it lovingly, leisurely in all detail and share the moments with everyone else.

Innocent Intelligence

I just re-read one of my favourite parts in Vikram Seth's novel, 'A Suitable Boy' and came across a line about how the most lovable thing about intelligent men is their obtuseness and abstracted behaviour. I found this so true.

I know a lot of smart guys. In fact, I know so many that it is a problem. My brother is one, my best friend is one, my uncle is one and so on. Quite recently the best example I saw of an obtusely smart gentleman was my Macroeconomics professor. He spends ages just re-checking his notes when he is taking class that all his lessons are puntucated with these huge awkward gaps and only the noise of shuffling papers. And then, of course, the other most adorable trait of such people is that they are so easily distracted by something that fascinates them. As long as it is worthy of their attention, they are captivated by it and babble incoherently in some form of intelligence speak that no one else can understand.

The best part about such people is that, usually they seem to be the most innocent and calm in the face of well, ignorance. If you tell them that they don't know what they are talking about, they will patiently listen to your point of vies and then rally against you in the friendliest possible way. The fact of the matter is that they are the most genuine people you will ever find.