[Assam] An evening in Hyde Park

[Rajib Das]

There is one big difference too: In Kolkata it is just
Bengalis. What amazed me about Hyde Park was the sheer
variety of people from all walks of life from around
the world - if anything is the epitome of
multi-cultural, this is. 

I hear, once the very beautiful daughter of Muammar
Gadfhafi (who is now lawyer to Saddam Hussain) reached
London, escaped her security detail and landed up to
speak at the Speaker's Corner against "American
Imperialism".

As for the police, I did not see much uniforms, but I
am sure there were plainclothes ones hanging around.
With so many European Muslims of the fundamentalist
variety putting in their rhetoric here, I would doubt
it would be otherwise.




--- BBaruah at aol.com wrote:

>  
> Ram says that the Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park,
> London,  has a parallel in 
> Kolkata. It is a fact that the Bengalis do love a
> debate as can be seen  
> whenever a number of Bengalis gather together at
> some place, maybe even inside a bus 
> or a tram.’Adda’ is a  very popular form of
> unscheduled group discussions 
> amongst Bengalis and it is  perhaps just this
> institution which Ram visualised 
> when he responded to Rajiv’s  lively description
> of an afternoon spent at the 
> Speakers’ Corner, Hyde Park. I  am afraid the
> cramped inside of a bus or tram 
> would not accommodate the  spectacle which the
> Speakers’ Corner is. 
> The  Hyde Park Speakers’ Corner is an unique
> symbol of democracy in Great 
> Britain. It  symbolises free speech as well as
> Britain’s major role in the modern 
> world. In  Speakers’ Corner the Speaker is usually
> a single person 
> challenging anybody and  everybody with a  verbal
> duel with  him (or her, though female 
> orators are rarely seen). He anticipates antagonism 
> and he is ready for it. 
> He might be hustled up or shouted down. At the end 
> nothing untoward happens 
> because of the presence of the police. After all it
> is  well-organised although 
> the public may not be much aware of  it. 
> Bhuba
> > _______________________________________________
> assam mailing list
> assam at assamnet.org
>
http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
> 


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com