"Pen"- this three letter
word plays a predominant role to target a wide audience. The maxim highlighting
the power of a pen was first penned by an English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton
in 1839 for his play Richelieu. It is considered as the omnipotent ruler of the
world. It expresses a personnel or public opinion. It implies press, literature,
newspaper books and other writing. It may also imply opinions, ideas, thoughts,
beliefs, positive and constructive views. It represents diverse persons such as
scholars, thinkers and philosophers publishers, writers and authors. On
the contrary, sword connotes force coercion, violence, weapons, negative
postures and destruction. The days are gone where deadly battles were fought to
bring a change since the sword suffers from serious inherent drawback. We are
living in an era where ideas have a considerable impact than violence. An
idea can cause a revolution, a change and a difference.
The pen commands an
authoritative power of changing the face of the world. With the advent of the
printing press in 1440 by Johannes Guttenberg, the printed words became the
most effective means of propagating one's ideas and beliefs. The written words
are immortal and can inculcate a permanent impact on several generations. Many
religious books like Gita and Mahabharata, Bible have inspired millions of
people to tread the path of righteousness. Ideas are easily expressed through
the power of the pen. The sword can only engender subjugation and violence but
cannot propagate ideas. Albeit pen is a small instrument, yet it has
the power of cultivating an awakening spirit among the masses.
India witnessed its
glorious independence on the 15th Aug 1947 against the British rule by the
supremacy of the words. The freedom fighters and social activists contributed
their cumulative efforts for the attainment of one goal i.e. freedom. They were
able to instill a spirit of nationalism and unity among people through the
printed words. The triumph of our freedom movement can be attributed to the
impact of the pen. Our constitution also espouses the power of the pen.
Therefore, declares freedom of speech and expression as one of the fundamental
rights under article 19(1)(a).Major social evils like sati, purdah system, female
infanticides, untouchability, child marriage prevalent before independence were
eradicated using this effective tool. Enforcement of the new economic
policy1991 in India was a product of the pen. It has consolidated the position
of our country at the world's panorama and has succeeded in achieving unprecedented
growth since then.
Who can forget the
notorious men like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Napolean Bonaparte in the
history?? They tried to conquer the world using the power of sword but their
desire remained unfulfilled and fell to dust .It is realized that the pen acts
as a device to raise one's voice against tyranny and oppression. Pen exercises
an effective control over the mind's of multitude. Many great leaders like
Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther, Nelson Mandela have manifested the power of Pen
to the world.
Pen can resolve many
intricate issues. Strained relationships between different nations can be
improved by the peaceful and amicable agreements. Establishment of United
Nation Organization marked as a historic event in the world's history to
overcome the poignant disaster caused by the world wars. It was made possible
with the persuasive ability of the pen.
Today we are living in
an era where the entire world is moved by the influential thoughts. India is a
democratic country and confers certain fundamental rights on its citizens.
People are empowered to express their thoughts freely. People have a greater
unflinching conviction in the power of the pen than that of a sword. Newspapers,
periodicals, social media inform people about significant event on a daily
basis.
With the advancement
of information technology the almighty power of the pen can be viewed as an
effective tool of a common man. Various movements and campaigns took place over
the internet with the presence of social networking sites, blogs and web
forums. They triggered various social- economic problems existing in the
country and had spread awareness among the masses. Recent example was the Anti
corruption movement started by the social activist Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejrival
who brought into light various scams related to corruption and money
laundering. Many eminent personalities came forward and associated themselves
to support this noble cause via twitter and facebook.
The pen has a
stronger influence than the sword. The written word can bring about a
change in a person; however this weapon should be use judiciously and
carefully. One must be careful in expressing and propagating one's
thought.
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