May I have your attention, please?

Raising a toast to the pleasures and perils of public speaking

Now we’ve had our fill of Bernie Sanders memes, it’s time to reflect on the headlining act of the US inauguration day: the President’s speech. Biden’s address to his beleaguered nation was packed with noble sentiments. As well as echoes from Bill Pullman’s dramatic monologue from the ’90s blockbuster, Independence Day – as is the case with so many presidential speeches. For all the relief at witnessing a credible US President speak coherent words, I did end up missing Martin Sheen of The West Wing ,a pastmaster at political speechifying.

We shall overcome

Few leaders possess the eloquence of Abe Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address in 1863, a timeless speech that lasted less than two minutes and included fewer than 275 words. And while Martin Luther had a dream that will likely echo on in public consciousness forever, there are some kings who are lesser orators. Take, for instance, Colin Firth’s turn as the troubled George VI, a reluctant king put on the spot by the surprise abdication of his love-struck brother. Oscar winner, The King’s Speech (2010), was an intimate study of a public figure. The new king needs to make his first wartime radio broadcast, in 1939, but he is impeded by a nasty stutter. Enter maverick Australian speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush, and we have an adventure film where all the action occurs in the confines of a London clinic.

Nehru’s ‘Freedom at Midnight’ speech is a defining moment in the history of modern India. It’s the speech that gave us, apart from the first words of our new republic, the unforgettable phrase: “tryst with destiny”. It will take a long time for the world to forget certain speeches from the last four years of American history, but “we shall overcome”, as President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaimed in 1965, echoing the unofficial anthem of the American civil rights movement.

The joys of dialoguebaazi

Our own cinema has a weakness for speeches, dismissively called “dialoguebaazi”. But when it comes off, it hits hard. Shah Rukh Khan’s “sirf sattar minute” speech in the dressing room of the Indian women’s hockey team in Chak De! India (2007) is a keeper. (As is the white shirt, blue jeans, Aviator sunglasses and light beard look for SRK.) From a dishonoured hockey player out to exonerate himself, we move on to a middle-class housewife, ridiculed by her family for her poor English. Sridevi’s speech at the climax of English Vinglish (2012) was a lesson

VOICE OF REASON

Keeping aside the Bernie Sanders memes, the US inauguration day saw Biden’s Presidential address packed with noble sentiments

in understated eloquence. While so many memorable speeches are framed in the context of national pride, here we saw a woman stand up for herself in the domestic realm, empowered by language.

I found myself at two quite different ceremonies in the last year or so. One featured Nobel winner Abhijit Banerjee, while the other starred author-politician, Shashi Tharoor. While Prof. Banerjee’s address was a masterclass in compassionate economics, Mr. Tharoor’s words were charmingly self-deprecating. One thing the two events had in common – other than engaging speeches by the two gentlemen – was that I found myself twinning with each of them. No more black churidar kurtas with floral jackets for me; it’s clearly the uniform for middle-aged male intellectuals.

SOME SPEAKERS RISE TO THE OCCASION, INTERSPERSING COLLEGE ESCAPADES WITH EMOTIONAL INTERLUDES SKILLFULLY, DRAWING APPLAUSE AND ADMIRATION

Raising a toast

Things get a bit tricky when one is badgered into making a speech for a friend or a relative. Not every toast can be as entertaining as Sherlock Holmes’ best-man speech for Watson in the Benedict Cumberbatch series. And luckily, few are as offensive. So we bumble on, trying to scour our memories for the most appropriate anecdote, struggling for weeks to come up with an unforgettable tribute. Or we’re thrown into the ring suddenly, asked to honour a loved one on the spot, a dozen drunken pairs of ears turned in our direction. Some speakers rise to the occasion, interspersing college escapades with emotional interludes skillfully, drawing applause and admiration. Mostly, it’s a sorry exhibition of emotions that refuse to take off and jokes that fail to land.

The exquisite Vikram Seth says it best in this poem from his collection, All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990).

Advice to Orators

In speech it’s best—though not the only way— Indeed the best, it’s true, can be the worst— Though often I… as I had meant to say: Qualify later; state the premise first.

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It was conceived almost 20 years ago, it took 10 years to build and today takes just 10 minutes to cross. Welcome to the Atal Tunnel named after the late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee whose vision it was to build a tunnel under the 14,000feet high Rohtang Pass to connect Manali with Lahaul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh.

Since its opening in October last year, the Atal tunnel has already become the icon of tunnels and a big tourist attraction. So, what is it that makes something as innocuous as a tunnel so special? A lot actually.

What’s so special?

First, it’s a massive feat of engineering and this 9.02 km tunnel is the longest in the world above an altitude of 10,000 feet and its staggering to know that there’s still about 2 km of mountain above the tunnel roof. Just imagine how hard it must have been to blast a hole through a gigantic mountain of rock, in sub-zero temperatures in winter.

Built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), the Indian military’s civil engineering and road building arm, the Atal tunnel was possibly its most challenging project. “The fact that the tunnel has almost 2 km of mountain above it meant that complex support systems had to be designed to counteract the stresses on the tunnel boundary,” says Colonel Parikshit Mehra, the BRO’S project director for the Atal tunnel. However, what the BRO hadn’t bargained of is the Seri Nala Fault, the longest shear or fault zone encountered by any highway tunnel in the world. “The 600-metre excavation across the Seri Nala fault took four years to cross while the rest of the 9.02 km tunnel was also excavated in the same time,” says Colonel Parikshit. Building such a complex and long tunnel against huge odds was baptism by fire for the BRO and with the accomplishment of the Atal tunnel, Parikshit says, “India has arrived in the world of tunneling.”

Making a difference

But it’s how the Atal Tunnel has changed the lives of the people in the region, which is of greater significance. For one, bypassing Rohtang cuts the distance by 46 km. That may not seem like a lot but it’s a treacherous 46 km on rough, narrow roads that adds a couple of hours to the journey. The biggest impact the tunnel has is on the lives of the people in Lahaul and Spiti and beyond. Cut off every year for six months over winter because of heavy snowfall that blocks Rohtang, the tunnel now gives all year access to Manali and is a lifeline to the rest of the world.

To appreciate this marvel of engineering, I’ve brought along a marvel of automotive engineering, the mountain-stirring 600hp

Audi RSQ8.

It’s an expectedly scenic drive up from Manali with fir trees lining the entire route. The roads are smooth and well-marked and at the South Portal of the tunnel, there’s a massive ceremonial gate to welcome you.

The entry of the tunnel is lit up like a stadium and a pleasant surprise from the dingy mountain tunnels we are accustomed to. After 200 metres, the lighting isn’t as bright, so the RSQ8’S brilliant LED headlamps come in handy. Cruising through the tunnel, I feel I could be anywhere in Europe. All the signage, like the speed limits, exits and emergency phone locations, are clearly marked. And there’s an escape tunnel built-in too, for emergencies. Also, should the air quality inside the tunnel deteriorate, fresh air can be pumped in from either end.

Except at the beginning and end, the tunnel is arrow straight throughout, and it’s a place where I can theoretically test the RSQ8’S top speed of 305kph. But there are strict speed limits of 40kph and 60kph in the tunnel. Also, there’s no overtaking in the Atal Tunnel and you drive in a single file. It still beats the narrow roads and stomach churning climb up the Rohtang Pass, though.

The 10 minutes it takes to cover the Atal Tunnel feels like time travel and it's when you emerge on the other side and look up at the mighty mountains, which until now were a natural barrier in the winter months, the enormity of what the tunnel has achieved sinks. The late Atal Bihari Vajpayee must be smiling from up above.

IT’S AN EXPECTEDLY SCENIC DRIVE UP FROM MANALI WITH FIR TREES LINING THE ENTIRE ROUTE

The views expressed by the columnist are personal