Have you ever eaten a dish which tasted so good, that you began to ponder what in the dish was so special? With every bite, you take you start to observe the flavors added in the dish or the unique combination of certain ingredients. I have a friend who could taste Sambar and comment on the cleanliness of the knife used to cut the onions.
A beautiful essay is akin to a delicious meal. The flavor of its content lingers long after you have relished it.
I came across two articles that left me amazed. The first was written by Arun Maira who is a former member of the planning commission. The second is by Arundhati Roy who is an Indian author best known for her novel The God of Small Things, which won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997. As I read each paragraph in their articles, I observed certain elements in it which made them so good. I have listed down some of these elements so that you will be able to appreciate them.
Starting with a powerful quote
The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history - George Hegel.
Arun Maira started his article with this powerful quote which immediately grabbed my attention. Churning up quotes relevant to the context of the topic takes a lot of effort and practice. It would need you to keenly observe various quotes you come across by philosophers, great personalities, and administrative thinkers. On this front, I have started collecting quotes like beautiful shells found on the beach. One can attempt to memorize the quotes, but only when we are able to internalize them we will be able to recall them in the relevant context.
The power of three…
The below statement was written in July 1987 by Satish Saberwal on India’s failing institutions.
“As the year 1987 grows, there is a sense of crisis in and about Indian society. The difficulty is not specific, local and temporary, it is general, wide-spread, and persistent. It is evident in the difficulty we have over such elemental issues as unemployment, population, growth, sanitation, and control over violence; in all branches of government; political parties, legislatures, bureaucracy, judiciary; in key societal institutions like the universities and trade unions. The list can go on. It is a complex situation."
Here the author Satish Saberwal has used two sets of three words that contrast with each other. This makes the sentence express a comprehensive view.
Another beautiful example I had observed was in Arundhati Roy’s article - “The Pandemic is a Portal”1
Who can use the term “gone viral” now without shuddering a little? Who can look at anything any more — a door handle, a cardboard carton, a bag of vegetables — without imagining it swarming with those unseeable, undead, unliving blobs dotted with suction pads waiting to fasten themselves on to our lungs?
Putting this into practice might take a lot more time. As you read articles and essays lookout for authors who use this style to emphasize a point. To be able to try out the same you would also need to enhance your vocabulary.
The beauty of contrasts
Economic growth accelerated, though it’s spluttering now, and millions were lifted above the poverty line—though, sadly, millions have fallen below it again in the covid pandemic. The economy has changed since the 1990s, but the fundamentals have not. 2
The beauty of the above lines is that the author has used simple language and yet made a powerful impact. All he has done is highlighted contrasting situations by comparing the present to the past.
Imagery blended with contrasts
L.C. Jain had written in that 1987 issue of Seminar:
“Electoral equality is the only sphere in life where, after Independence, we have established equality. In all other spheres, especially in the economic and social spheres, be it education, health, income, employment, housing, the inequality is gross and has widened over time. It does not require much imagination to realize that the oasis of electoral equality will not be able to last long in the midst of the expanding desert of inequality in all other spheres of life."
The author has carefully selected the metaphors oasis and desert which have an element of contrast in them and help us to visualize his thoughts.
Usage of rhetorical questions
A rhetorical question is asked to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to elicit an answer. Arun Maira has used the rhetorical questions mentioned below to highlight the stark differences between the rich and poor in society.
Who is benefiting most from economic growth and becoming even richer, and who has no security whenever the system is shaken? And, how did the process of trickle-down become a process of flowing up of wealth? And with wealth spelling power in politics, are democracies hollowing out while leaving a shell of elections in place? 3
Arundhati Roy also uses rhetorical questions in her article to elaborate on the changes that have come in our lives due to the Pandemic.
Who can think of kissing a stranger, jumping on to a bus or sending their child to school without feeling real fear? Who can think of ordinary pleasure and not assess its risk? Who among us is not a quack epidemiologist, virologist, statistician and prophet? Which scientist or doctor is not secretly praying for a miracle? Which priest is not — secretly, at least — submitting to science?
Using analogies to drive home a point
Reforms of institutions require the skills of gardeners, not engineers. Good gardeners are sensitive to the condition of the soil in which they plant seeds. They also know that the environment must support growth. Whereas engineers work best with a tabula rosa, a clean sheet to draw their blueprint on, or a clean piece of land, from which troublesome slum and forest dwellers are swept aside to enable their marvels. 4
In the above paragraph, Arun Maira has introduced the analogy of a gardener and an engineer. One grows plants and the other is instrumental in the creation of concrete jungles. Their approach to growth is starkly different. By using this analogy, the author implies that the reformation of institutions is a gradual process that needs the right environment and continuous nurturing for them to blossom.
I hope you were able to appreciate these elements which have been seamlessly woven into the essays to make them interesting to read. Do share your thoughts and observations!
I will conclude with a quote from Marcus Aurelius who was the Roman Emperor and also a stoic philosopher.
Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life.
Sources:
https://www.ft.com/content/10d8f5e8-74eb-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca
https://www.livemint.com/opinion/online-views/our-technocratic-approach-to-institutions-has-failed-us-11623340935220.html
https://www.livemint.com/opinion/online-views/our-technocratic-approach-to-institutions-has-failed-us-11623340935220.html
https://www.livemint.com/opinion/online-views/our-technocratic-approach-to-institutions-has-failed-us-11623340935220.html