CLARIFICATION - Dual - Citizen ship - Reply to Prabhu Guptara.

["Vinay Chandekar" <vinay@asiaaccess.net.th>]

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Administrative Note:
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Week's Agenda: Political & administrative reforms
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Dear Friends,

You all know what I am referring to (the objected-to passage appears
at the end of this) and although I have already clarified the matter
to PS and SS, the following will expatiate on same. I am sending CC
to MP for his ref.

When, this morning, I received The Bounce from my good friend,
Puneet, I was somewhat staggered because what  was involved was not
a matter of debate but one of MANNERS. If I am not courteous to
others, I can not expect courtesy from them !

Believe me, when I wrote that posting, even though I was in
tremendous hurry, I DID NOT intend in the least to be discourteous
to any one, least of all to Prof. P.G. In fact, it was the wordings
of his question -

     "But I will be pleased to have my ignorance of the practical
      disadvantages of such a policy revealed to me by other IP
      members."  - (words of Prof PG)

- that started me off with these words - "professorial-type people
such as you who lead a sheltered life in the marble edifices of
academia and do not know what street-wise means".

English language and composition is a funny thing and sometimes we
are apt to sense a different connotation to one intended by the
author. I have gone thru' the article again and find that the only
reason I used direct pronouns and language was because of the
phrasing of words in his original question - a demand for direct
answer. But, looking at the reactions it has produced, I begin to
wonder,  if it will hurt the feelings of the Prof. himself, for
after all it was a reply to him !

But I hope, he does not take it ill because I do not find the
language intrinsically bad. "Professorial - type" is grammatically
wrong (a result of hurry !) Professorial is enough, but only means,
"in the manner of Professors". This is well documented in literature
e.g. Professor Higgins of MY Fair Lady based on Pygmalion by George
Bernard Shaw : Professors are expected to be noble, good-hearted,
forgetful (enshrined in the idiom - the absent-minded professor),
un-wordly i.e. not worldly-wise and generally living in their own
world. "Marble edifices of academia" is a rhetorical expression
which is by no means derogatory and means more or less the same as
"cloistered security".

The words not knowing what "street-wise" means does not seek to
demean such lack but to emphasize  goodness that is common to a
gentleman. Similar effect is intended by phrases"you can never
imagine" and "good-hearted ignorance" i.e. you are far above such
things, in the next two sentences.

I hope, I make myself clear.

A re-worked version with some additional points has already been
posted which kindly peruse.

Thanks & Best Regards,

Vinay.

THE OBJECTED PASSAGE" :

"The problem lies with professorial-type people such as you who lead
a sheltered life in the marble edifices of academia and do not know
what street-wise means. You can never imagine that  there are people
who will stoop to any depth and commit any crime to achieve their
nefarious ends. In fact, it is the good-hearted ignorance of people
such as
you that is behind many "wet" ideas such as human rights etc which
seek to give the guilty the full protection of law while ignoring
the sufferings of the injured party."





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