When I watch televised press conferences and interviews, I am struck by the loquacity

of our media-men. There are a few - a truly endangered species - that can ask a question in a few well chosen words. For the rest of the tribe, armed with a well-labelled microphone, it is an occasion to run amok with words. This is the brood who, having reached this station in professional life in general and the venue of the press-conference in particular, have concluded – a bit prematurely, I suspect – that they have truly arrived. Not for this creamy layer the assiduous pursuit of prior research, nor the kindling of unnecessary and wholly avoidable enquiry. They give the impression that in their offices, they have forever been mentally leaning back, allowing their minds to saunter from Hole to Hole, plotting their putts. Once they have captured the mike, however, they plunge into words with the zeal and labour of a Roman marathon runner, who has been assured first vacancy to gallows should he stand second or worse.

I am not a journalist. But I have some unsolicited (what else do you expect from free stuff?) advice.....

Sooner rather than later, you will have the urge to get up in a press conference and inform the speaker, “Excuse me sir, I have a question”. When that groundswell rises within you, you are to be applauded for your participatory instinct, verve, courage and quest for knowledge. But allow me, the virgin voice of inexperienced objectivity, to give you a hint or two.

A question is a question. It is not an inquisition. It is not a passionate bid to educate the speaker himself or the teeming masses sitting around you in India Habitat Centre or Bombay Press Club or Wherever. 
Take a cue from that perpetual doubter, Arjuna, who was not dissuaded by imminence of battle from asking a question. When he rose, he asked a question and it is the Ultimate Answerer, Krishna, who waxed eloquent for a few chapters and more. Arjuna did not first attempt to raise the awareness level of the Lord by holding forth in a preamble on ‘unipolar world’ (by the way, it was one even then) or the background to the geo-politics of the region (there was a region and as is the case with any self-respecting region, it had its geo-politics) and after burying the speaker under a heap of words then proceeded to ask his query, which, by then, would have been rendered meaningless anyway. No. He was crisp, focused and to the point. And having said his brief piece, he sat back and heard the Lord in rapt attention. Asking the question was an honest enquiry and a means, not an end.

If one goes by the quality of some of the questions unleashed by members of press corps, one is struck by the remarkable relevance and the cogence of the presentation of most of the queries. More power to such askers.

But, every once and a while, deftly beating the bastard next door by centuries, arrives a warrior, whose thrust and parry is designed not at quenching some intellectual thirst on behalf of his impatient employers, but to make an impact. He speaks for effect, but, alas, creates an effect that he did not intend. May I venture to point out to these wonderful unguided missiles that since the collective IQ in your target audience that fuels the TRP is nothing to be shy about, most of them can spot the honesty index of the question from a mile. It follows, therefore, that if the only purpose of asking the question is to impress the hapless speaker and the remaining ‘flotsam and jetsam’ (such appears to be the presumption!), the thought must be perished with the alacrity of a brake-less and driver-less vehicle coming down the ungentle slopes of the Local Cliff.

Finally, a question is an effort to understand. It is not a platform to air grievance or contend a differing view-point or to passionately defend own convictions. We are all entitled to opinions and, arguably, the expert who has spent a life-time poring over his specialization is more equal than others. He must be given that space.

I am not an expert on this subject, merely an observer. But should you have any doubt on the above, do stand up and ask me. I live at opus7@rediffmail.com.