The power of semantics

In Pre-partition India, Mahatma Gandhi held a million meetings with the representatives of the British Crown. He showed through these sessions how useful semantics could be. He won battles without firing a bullet.

During one of the meetings, he told the English representative that he had decided to accept his plan in principle. “What do you mean by in principle?” the Queen’s representative angrily shot back. “You either accept it or not,” he added.

The employment of smart words…

Gandhi repeated, “I accept your plan in principle.” The representative insisted on a straight answer. Gandhi called off the meeting and wrote to the Queen’s office stating that “please appoint someone who knows English for the job.’’

The employment of smart words can reduce a mountain to a molehill in minutes. If done with a certain degree of deftness and conviction it can help successfully deal with complicated issues at meetings, calm down angry opponents and save the odd day.

As I walked into the meeting, Mr A said, “You better watch out, Ms B is really angry with you.”

“Anger is a form of fondness that isn’t perceptible when the heat is on. Therefore, as far as I am concerned anger doesn’t put me off.”

“Cut out your rubbish,’’ she hit back. I allowed her a clutch of similar wrathful lines to smear me up. Unmistakably emboldened by the belief that no matter how high the level of anger is it has to come down, I saw through the session.

With time, my efficiency began to speak. Ms B did get angry, but the hawk in her responded to the dove’s serene strides. Ms B made space for geniality to wallow in luxury.

We started to drink coffee together. It went on for months. I grew in worth, hold on, as a worker. One evening as the sun went down I realised a lot of what used to appear like coffee was froth, a lesson that went on to play an influential spare in life’s unbendable vane.