تدريب Shadowing: ENGLISH SPEECH | AKASH BANERJEE: India’s Path (English Subtitles) - تعلم التحدث بالإنجليزية عبر الفيديو

Today we feature Akash Banerjee, an Indian journalist and political commentator, delivering a thought -provoking debate at the Oxford Union Society in 2024.

He challenges the idea that India's future hinges on a single leader by examining economic figures historical context, and democratic standards.

In this speech you'll learn key phrases, analyze persuasive techniques, and practice your listening skills to level up your English fluency.

Thank you sir for that amazing electoral speech.

It was almost as if I'm going to press a button right now and vote.

and vote Modi out of power.

It was very ironical that you spent what, I don't know, 25 minutes talking about the danger that India faces,

and at the end of your speech you land up saying is Modi's aura is on the wane.

If it's on the wane then what's the problem?

Why are you so scared if it's on the wind?

But the debate till now has progressed as a chat GPT research.

One side coming and saying, "Oh, after 2014 everything is absolutely speak and span, India is shining.

On the other side, after 2014, everything has gone down." That's the level that we have seen till now.

I hope with Prashant, sir, the level goes up beyond this.

But I hope that the opposition comes up with better arguments, because at this point of time, there is nothing but statistics.

And as a school debater will tell you, that you don't rely your entire speech on just statistics.

Because even a class 8 debater will tell you there are three kinds of lies: white lies, black lies, and statistics.

So I'm going to stay away from overburdening this audience with just statistics.

We're going to talk about India a little bit, and a little less about Modi.

That seems to be an obsessive angle here.

We are forgetting what is bigger.

India. or Modi.

So there are two basic points in this debate topic.

Modi's India?

We'll get to that in a bit. Where is India going?

Is it going in the right direction or not?

You have a very simple job: to prove to this house that it is going in the wrong direction.

Not that it is making mistakes.

Are you trying to tell me the Congress never made mistakes?

Are you trying to tell me the CPM never made mistakes?

What are we talking about here?

You're counting down mistakes.

Are we here to just count good things versus bad things?

Let's go a little beyond that.

India is bigger than that.

You know, Look at England from India.

Okay, I'm going to give you the Indian perspective.

If you switch on broadcast and watch the headlines.

What do you see?

Oh, Brexit.

Oh, Boris.

Oh, cost of living.

Oh, England is going down.

It's It's a pretty gloomy picture. So I thought, really?

Things are that bad?

Are they going to start taxing us again?

Theen guna lagaan?

You know, you guys, you know, But it's not funny.

You know, you guys took the Kohinoor.

And now you're charging us how much?

How much did I pay that day?

Thirty - thirty -two pounds to watch and have a look at the Kohinoor and the other crown jewels and then?

6 pounds for a fake koinur, I bought it actually.

Anyways.

But, But you know, When I was doing a little bit of research, I see the other side.

And when I lived in London for the last one week, I saw a buzzing metropolis.

I saw buildings going up.

I didn't see a country in decline or collapse.

And I also realized that people, average people, are driving around in Beamers and Mercs because, well, guess what?

We might have beaten you guys in overall GDP, and trust me, it's a celebration point in India, Good, we should celebrate.

But when it comes down to per capita, and that's the finer point, you guys are sitting at $45 ,000 and we are sitting at 2 ,300, we are competing with Bangladesh.

So there is, of course, a problem.

And I am just trying to tell you that let's go beyond this headline.

And after 2014, this was good, this was bad, this was good, the debate can extend for the full night.

- The first time we have been in the last year, we have been in the last year, and we have been in the last year.

Now let's stretch our imagination and answer this question to me, sirs.

At what point of time was India in the right direction?

Which decade was India in the right direction?

1950s? when everybody was talking about balkanization, this house would have debated.

Is India going to become another Europe?

Is there going to be Balkanization?

1960s, if we were going to have this debate in this house, we would have said, is India going to starve?

Because, well, there was...

was famine all around.

In the 70s, we would have said, has democracy finished in India?

Because there was one lady called Indira Gandhi came and imposed emergency.

Well, she was thrashed after that very soon, and reduced to the footnotes in history.

Besides landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, we don't hear too much about Indira Gandhi.

A lady at one point of time was India is Indira, Indira is India, something that we often sort of hear today.

Then let's come to the 1980s when there was economic collapse, literally, Hindu rate of growth.

Then the 90s when there was political upheaval and coalition governments falling.

Then there was 2000s where there was terrorism all over the place.

And yes, There is a problem of communal politics, I admit.

I'm not going to shy away.

I am going to admit to the fact that yes, there is a problem of communal politics.

and that has been harvested by politicians.

And that is what politicians do.

They harvest issues.

And maybe, In another 10 years, if I'm lucky enough to be invited again to this August house, we might be debating something on the environment because,

well, we are sitting on a time bomb.

56 of the most polluted cities in India.

belong to, out of 100 belong to India.

So first and foremost, let's change this mindset that we are in a wrong direction.

Because we are not.

There is never a right direction, a wrong direction.

India is larger than one person trying to set the country in one direction.

India has always stammered, stopped, hopped, jumped, but there is never a great leap.

We are not China.

We will take our time.

100

It's an elephant, remember guys?

101

It will take its own time.

102

We are a behemoth.

103

There are issues that we are facing, but we are still on the right track.

104

And I am not going to sit here and count the numerous economic angles to this, how we are a bright spot, while the rest of the world is staring at recession.

105

England barely missing recession, Germany getting into recession.

106

And as a matter of fact, even the World Bank has been saying is that not only overall GDP, but per capita GDP, India is the largest.

107

fastest growing large economy.

108

So as far as the economy is concerned, there are issues, there is concern, but we are much better off than the rest of the world.

109

So let's take the economy aside.

110

Everybody is in a worse off state than us.

111

Then, besides us having losses and having wins.

112

Let's come to another point.

113

which I find very interesting.

114

We are upheld to this standard of democracy.

115

I, on my channel, scream day in and day out that we need to be better.

116

Agreed.

117

But who am I competing with?

118

Whose standard of democracy you want us to live up to?

119

UK You guys had the Magna Carta in 1215, if I'm not wrong?

120

And then King Charles I was hiding in Oxford, then he was dragged out and then beheaded in 16th century or whatever.

121

You guys took centuries to get your democratic act right and even now, Well, let's not get into what's happening at this point of time.

122

But I am just saying, look at 75, 80 years.

123

Was England a good practicing democracy after Magna Carta, 16th century, 17th century, 18th century, when?

124

How much time did it take you?

125

Let's take USA.

126

1776 and then 70, 80, 90 years down the line, civil war ripped apart the nation.

127

Everything had to start anew, and even then you had the Jim Crow's, etc. etc. I am not saying India is perfect.

128

I am admitting to the Lots of flaws that India has at this point of time.

129

What I'm trying to tell you is that a democracy will not leapfrog

130

or one person can't hold back such a massive country that had been set on a path in 1947.

131

And to say that one person can decide the destiny of this nation.

132

is to do injustice to the country, called India.

133

The...

134

Sorry, over drinks.

135

The point that is very, very important for us to understand is that One person may try,

136

and we've had a dictator who tried, but failed.

137

Allow me to elaborate on this point a little bit.

138

I know this is a little counterintuitive, But let me explain.

139

Thank you.

140

If you see 2019 election results in India, Because today, the other issue that I have with this topic is Modi's India.

141

And because right path or wrong path is going to be decided by Modi's India, let's try and analyze, is it really Modi's India?

142

Why are we giving Modi such a lot of importance to decide that he controls the destiny of India?

143

I don't agree with it.

144

So what I'm trying to tell you is that India's path and destiny cannot be decided by Modi.

145

Here's why.

146

2019, BJP peaks.

147

How much does it have?

148

37, 38 % of the popular vote.

149

It's a big thing, I agree.

150

1989, post -1989, the biggest vote share, 303 seats, well done.

151

But the fact of the matter still is that out of 10 voters, you only have four.

152

you don't have the rest of the six.

153

The rest of the six voted for somebody else.

154

The problem is that the rest of the six can't get their act together.

155

The CPM, the Congress, the Aam Admi party to which Prashant Bhushan belonged to earlier but understood the problems in the party.

156

What gives?

157

people in the BJP to say to any argument that you might make, "Ayega to modi hii." "Deshke Papa" I'm not saying this,

158

spokesperson Samit Patra has said this.

159

Supreme leader, these are words uttered by - a very senior spokesperson of the BJP.

160

What gives them this confidence?

161

The confidence that they have comes from a very, very fractured opposition that can't get its act together,

162

that can't decide to work together some progress has been made.

163

Now they are saying that they're going to have a meeting in Patna, I believe, and many of the opposition parties are coming together.

164

Mind you, that if the opposition gets its act together, if they stop cutting each other's votes, then Modi, like Indira Gandhi,

165

in another 5 to 10 years, can easily be reduced to the footnotes of history.

166

Forget him changing the path of India.

167

I absolutely believe that.

168

The question is whether the Congress, whether the CPM, 61 seats in 2004, I wonder what happened after that.

169

So there is of course a problem of the opposition not understanding social media, not understanding the younger generation, not understanding how hard work really happens,

170

how Panna Pramukhs draw people to the voting booth.

171

So there is a lot of work that the opposition needs to do, which does not happen.

172

I'll end with just one simple point.

173

A lot of people thought Trump is also going to change India.

174

And as a matter of fact, Trump got, if I'm not wrong, 73 .6 million votes, the highest for a sitting US president ever.

175

It just so happened.

176

that Biden even got better than that.

177

So there is always a threat to democracy.

178

There are always people trying to change the direction of a country.

179

It is, of course, the opposition, what the leaders of the opposition, what the alternative leadership does,

180

that can save or at least stop this change of track that is being attempted.

181

So the point is very simple.

182

My point is very, very, very, very clear and I hope that I'm refuted on this.

183

I hope that I'm corrected on this that A,

184

the path that India has set on is too huge to be changed by one person.

185

Karnataka is a very small example.

186

I'm not even getting into the elections.

187

If you want to take a quick look at the map of India and how many states does BJP actually rule, It'll be surprising for you.

188

So it depends on how the leaderships work.

189

The only reason why we are debating this, I believe, in this house,

190

is because the opposition of India really failed and allowed one person to grab so much of mind space.

191

That's all.

192

And that can change within months, if not a few years.

193

I'll end with A simple challenge.

194

The opposition, I hope there's to two speakers still left, they just need to prove me one thing.

195

It's not a question, and by the way, right or left, you know, right turn in court as you mentioned sir,

196

I can also mention left turn that we have been for the last 70 years, when liberalization was not allowed and we starved ourselves.

197

Had we liberalized much more, maybe our per capita income today would have been 20, $20 ,000 maybe.

198

So we have been stuck at the left turn also.

199

So it's not a question of right turn or the left turn.

200

The question is, are we on the right path?

201

Yes, there have been blockages, yes, communal politics has been exploited, just like you had exploitation of caste politics,

202

just like you had exploitation of poverty politics, Garibi Hatau, which the Congress would remember very well,

203

in the same way, communal politics and religious revivalism has been weaponized.

204

I agree to that, I admit to that.

205

The question is, can you, can you, sir, counter that and help us again, get back to a very fast Based on direction,

206

have we meandered a little bit?

207

I would agree.

208

Have we not done the best that we could have?

209

I absolutely agree.

210

But are we on the wrong path?

211

I am not getting that.

212

Please let me know where is it that India has taken a U -turn or completely gone on a wrong path.

213

That is what you need to prove to this house, which unfortunately hasn't been done till now.

214

Thank you.

215

Join our global community of English learners absolutely free.

216

Download video transcripts, Listen offline, start our beginner course, and join live classes with certified teachers.

217

Access over 1 ,000 resources to improve your English faster.

218

Everything's in one place.

219

Community .englishspeeches .ca Let's speak English.

220

Together.

221

Thank you.

ما هي تقنية التظليل الصوتي؟

التظليل الصوتي (Shadowing) تقنية تعلم لغة مدعومة علمياً، طُورت أصلاً لتدريب المترجمين الفوريين المحترفين. الطريقة بسيطة لكنها قوية: تستمع لصوت إنجليزي أصلي وتكرره فوراً بصوت عالٍ — كظل يتبع المتحدث بتأخير 1-2 ثانية. تُظهر الأبحاث تحسناً كبيراً في دقة النطق والتنغيم والإيقاع وربط الأصوات والاستماع والطلاقة.

تدريب Shadowing: ENGLISH SPEECH | AKASH BANERJEE: India’s Path (English Subtitles) - تعلم التحدث بالإنجليزية عبر الفيديو

لماذا ممارسة الكلام مع هذا الفيديو؟

القواعد والتعبيرات في السياق

الف traps في النطق الشائع

ما هي تقنية التظليل الصوتي؟