A WORD IS A POWERFUL THING, and the ancients saw it for the potential it held. Hence the veneration accorded to Om, the word that denotes the primordial sound that was heard in the beginning. A word considered to be older than the world as we know it. In Sikhism, the word is considered to be a living guide, an eternal flame. When Guru Gobind Singh proclaimed the Guru Granth Sahib as the eternal guru, the act placed the word above the faithful and so it remains to this day. In the Bible, the Gospel of St John begins with this verse: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Little wonder that the promise “I give you my word” is considered binding. At weddings, the spoken “I do” is crucial and must be said with witnesses present. And, 221 years ago, when the London Stock Exchange was born, the founders chose this Latin phrase for its motto and made it part of its coat-of-arms: Dictum Meum Pactum (My word is my bond).
People come and go, but the word remains. This is especially so when we consider the affairs of nations and their constitutions. Citizens tend to look at the Constitution as a bulwark against abuse, injustice and inequality. But some corners perceive it as a hindrance. Even last week we were debating whether the Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution was unlimited and whether the Constitution’s basic structure was set in stone. And it is against this background that your favourite newsweekly brings you the story of the man who shaped the words that govern us, Dr B.R. ‘Babasaheb’ Ambedkar.
Much has been written about Babasaheb’s life, yet one does not tire of reading about his grit and perseverance, and his erudition in diverse subjects. His life is also an illustration of how political parties and leaders were different then, I guess. Despite the ideological differences between some Congress leaders and Babasaheb, the party proposed him as chairman of the Constitution drafting committee and as independent India’s first law minister, in Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet. But when Babasaheb fell out with the party and floated his own outfit, the same Congress fielded a candidate against him and defeated him. Perhaps, things were not so different!
These twists and turns of his life have been skilfully captured by Senior Special Correspondent Pratul Sharma, Chief of Bureau Dnyanesh Jathar, Special Correspondents Sravani Sarkar and Nandini Oza, and Principal Correspondent Rahul Devulapalli. Their words are indeed a tribute to Babasaheb and his inimitable life. How else does one honour a man of words but through words? And Babasaheb’s bond with words is reflected in every statue of his.
Dictum Meum Pactum. An interesting phrase, I thought. And, even more interesting is the first word—dictum, meaning something that is spoken. Its influence can be seen in a host of other words from diction to diktat, to edict and dictionary. Let’s not forget ‘dictator’. Globally, dictators are the ones most afraid of words. And they must rightfully fear the likes of Babasaheb, shouldn’t they?