{"id":342,"date":"2013-07-13T01:27:25","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=342"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:27:25","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:25","slug":"082-work-and-speech-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/01-bande-mataram-volume-01\/082-work-and-speech-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","title":{"rendered":"-082_Work and Speech.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

\nWork and speech<\/b><\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/b>\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/p>\n

<\/font>
\n<\/b>                       
\n<\/span><\/font>W<\/font><\/span><\/b>E<\/b>
\noften hear that the time for speeches has gone by and action, silent, strenuous,
\nsacrificing action is all that is necessary at the present moment. Denunciation
\nof speeches has almost passed into a fashion and to rescue at least a certain
\nclass of speeches from undeserved contempt is a duty we owe to the speakers and
\nthe country they are serving no less by their speech than by other kinds of
\nactivity.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>Those who happen to be in any kind of touch with the people will agree
\nwith us when we say that there is no consensus of opinion even amongst the
\neducated section as to the wisdom of pursuing a great and bold ideal or our
\ncapacity of making the least possible progress towards its realisation. The
\nindifference towards all patriotic activities still too common is not
\ninfrequently the result of a total lack of grasp of the situation and of the
\nlines of activity which the situation demands. Most people are so immersed in
\ntheir own affairs, so much oppressed by the anxieties and cares of the average
\nlife that they cannot study for themselves the actual condition of the country,
\nthe causes that have brought about its miseries and the true way of escape from
\nthem. Much help can be obtained from them if they are once
\nconvinced
\nthat many of our ills are the necessary results of subjec<\/span>tion
\nand everyone who desires to leave his country better than he found it, should
\neither by thought or action, help the assertion of a separate national existence
\nand an administration which can maintain and perfect such an existence. We have
\nuntil now resigned ourselves to the absolute sway of a small alien body and by
\npassive obedience had almost rid ourselves of the capacity for political
\nanimation. Real self-examination, real study of our political condition and the endeavour to discover a practical line of work which will build up a free
\nnation, have only begun. If therefore the need for action is great, the need for
\nspeech is not yet over. Speech in itself is an instrument for good and not a
\nmere waste of energy. But what we need is that the speeches shall<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-474<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nbe
\nby men who can think, see and feel and not by mere mouthers of political
\ncommonplaces and unrealities. Patriotic propagandists who understand the
\nsituation themselves and have formed a tolerably good idea as to how work should
\nbegin can always make converts who will help them in promoting the cause. But
\nmere declaimers who have no light to give, but rather give out mere darkness and
\nconfuse practical issues, have brought and will continue to bring the gift of
\nspeech into discredit and alienate public sympathy from propagandist work. But
\nafter all propagandist work has only begun. In Bengal, Barisal is the best-organised
\ndistrict; by a successful organisation of propaganda and moral pressure the
\nBoycott has been almost a complete success. Yet we have been informed that the
\nmasses have not been reached and the opposition offered by a section of them
\nmust be put down to this deficiency of missionary work. It is therefore clear
\nthat there is still much to be done in this direction of bringing home to our
\npeople the necessity of the Boycott and kindred activities. And for this purpose
\nwe want men whose <\/font> <\/span>ideas are clear and who
\ncan act as an inspiring force by pouring
\ninto
\ntheir speech the strength of a convicted intellect and a powerfully moved heart
\nand will. They must radiate the light from a highly reflective surface. A fine
\nillustration is the Shivaji address of Mr. Tilak recently delivered at Poona.
\nThe force and effec<\/span>tiveness of the address
\nhas been acknowledged in the editorial columns of journals like the Indian
\nPatriot <\/i>of Madras. Mr. Tilak took the occasion of the Shivaji celebration to
\nmake it clear that we are all being moved by a mighty impulse, by a natural
\naspiration and to desist from its forceful expression for fear of consequences
\nis not only unmanly but prejudicial to the best interests of the country. Now
\nsuch a pronouncement can only come from one with whom the aspiration is a
\nguiding reality of his life and who is so much possessed by the certainty of its
\nrealisation as to be careless of the persecutions and sufferings its pursuit
\nmust involve. The Maratha leader does not conceal truth in the hope of
\nconciliating the bureaucracy nor resort to such diplomacy on the platform as may
\nobscure the purity of the ideal or demoralise the ardour of its pursuit in his
\nfollowers. His admirable judgment saves him from utterances which may imperil<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-475<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nthe
\ncause either by excess or by unseasonable reservations. A courageous and
\nclear-sighted utterance which inspires and gives nerve and strength to the
\nhearer, it observes the limitations which our own environments impose on our
\nspeech and actions. Powerfully directing the mind to the goal in view,
\nemphasising the necessity of a perfect sacrifice, there is no touch in it of
\nirresponsibility, no froth and foam of mere unmeaning rhetoric. The extreme
\ncourse is not concealed; the sacrifice is not excused; but nothing is demanded
\nof us which our present capacities and surroundings do not warrant.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n           
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span>Nothing, for instance, can be better than the exposition of the use and
\nmeaning of the national festivals which have now become a part of our public
\nlife. Helpful to the cultivation of courage \u2014 such courage as the appreciation
\nof heroes securing their salvation against odds can give, they are not held for
\nraising the standard of revolt; not because revolt is in itself a thing
\naccursed, \u2014 no such loyalist cant is to be expected from a true Nationalist
\nleader, \u2014 but because it is not under present circumstances either possible or
\nnecessary; for neither have we the means to revolt nor have we yet exhausted all
\npossibilities of action within the law. Speeches of such an admirable temper
\nshedding a dry light, as the Indian Patriot <\/i>well says, fearless, cogent,
\noutspoken and statesmanlike \u2014 who shall say that they are no longer needed, or
\nthat action can long endure in our present stage of preparation if we
\ndeliberately deny ourselves the stimulus of such utterances? The cry for work,
\nthe cry against mere noise we can sympathise with, but the cry against public
\npropaganda has no meaning. No great movement has ever been able to do without
\nit.<\/font><\/p>\n


\nBande
\nMataram<\/i>,
\n<\/i> <\/font> July 12, 1907<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-476<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Work and speech                             WE often hear that the time for speeches has gone by and action, silent, strenuous, sacrificing action is all…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","wpcat-8-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}