There are some proverbs you just can’t forget like- ‘Jack of all trades, Master of none’ – that was used deprecatingly to describe those who tried their hand at many things but never excelled in anything. Yet most of us dabbled in different streams to eventually become post-graduates having ‘mastered’ in some subject but we couldn’t be ‘Masters’ of the same. And we hardly ever used that academic knowledge in our professions…
The noun ‘Master’ had connotations of perfection and is attributed to experts in various fields of art, music, literature, science, medicine, new technology, sports etc and those recognized through prestigious awards for their exceptional skills and expertise. This became general knowledge to us but one delighted in reading poets and writers casting a spell with stories and describing nature. As sports lovers we enjoyed the language of reporters & their labels – Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ 1986 World Cup goal, ‘Roger, Rafa, Novak’ the ‘Big Three’ of Tennis, Sunny ‘The Little Master’, Dravid the Great ‘Wall’, Sachin ‘God of Cricket’, Saurav ‘God of Offside’, Kapil ‘lifting tallest bowlers’ (for sixes) !
With time, abbreviations came like ‘GOAT’ for the greatest ever. Yet as it happens with the changing mores, the use of such dramatic, over-the-top words from ‘Iconic’ and ‘Phenomenal’ to ‘Incredible’ and ‘Extraordinary’ have been generalized to triviality. In modern day parlance almost anything from junk-food, attires to artists with funky hair styles are termed as ‘Amazing’, music shows ‘rocking’, good is often ‘Out of this World’ ! Recently in a reality show, the anchor called a popular composer ‘Legendary’ and the musicians as ‘legends’. What do we call iconic singers & composers of golden decades ?
However, today it’s par for the course to hyper-articulate for effect and create an impact. Comparisons are drawn between those present to the past greats and achievements are blown high. The POTUS has become synonymous with words that are misplaced using ‘beautiful’ where it’s hardly so and ‘disgusting’ when he’s not in agreement with others. There’s Shashi Tharoor’s suave linguistic brilliance articulating words like ‘recalcitrant’ (that few understand) and ‘Snollygoster’ and ‘Rodomontade’ that frankly none of us do !
How then can we not mention our mainstream Media on one side for its exaggerated reports and views that many feel are partisan and the burgeoning Social media reels/posts that present the strong alternate versions of stories and carry unreported ‘breaking news’ – all too confusing for the netizens now completely hooked onto them ! We have become familiar with phrases – ‘setting narratives’ and ‘changing the goalpost’ and speeches containing divisive intent that are termed as ‘Masterclass’ in oratory. Any thing done that outwits political opponents is applauded as a ‘Masterstroke’ carried out.
Rephrasing the old proverb, are we becoming ‘Masters of Tall Talk and Jack to None ?’
Working on Living 