Gone are the days when thousands flocked to venues of meetings to hear the big political guns of yore boom. There is a sad lack of speakers of the calibre of NM, Colvin, Peter K., or W. Daha, to name a few. They were crowd pullers. Whether the listeners agreed with their view points or not, what excellent fare they provided! Their parry and thrust laced with didactic proclamations kept the crowds on their feet for hours. Whatever we picked up at these meetings we could recap and mull over. Yet their verbal barbs lacked lethal venom, and were copiously coated with refined wit and humour. Ah... ..those were the days!

What have we now? Mercifully the TV aired clippings were brief. But the fare doled out was far from digestible. We were compelled to hear political harangues where speakers berated, their adversaries with vitriolic contumelious terminology interspersed with words like "Oo, moo, thakkadi", and more in that strain. Such language could in no way be classed as being pleasant. With the freedom of speech as we see it, no one will want legislation to ban such practices, but it will be in order to appeal for moderation in expression. One feels that youngsters listening to such tirades will emulate their elders to carry the trend to even school debates. Apparently in present day controversies there is no room for friendly banter. I am reminded of the words of the late Mr. Ananda Tissa de Alwis who, in 1982, said. "A country that is governed by humourless people would be in great jeopardy", Are we on such a track ?