The King's Speech & I

Last week I saw a movie that I have been waiting to see for a long time: The King's Speech (http://www.kingsspeech.com). It is a dramatised version of a certain aspect of the life of King Geroge VI: his speech problem.

As the second son of King George V, Prince Albert was not supposed to ascend the throne. That privilege belonged to his elder brother, the Prince of Wales, Edward. On the death of King George V, Prince Edward ascended the throne as King Edward VIII. However, very soon, his love for an American divorcee, Mrs Wallis Simpson, and his desire to marry her resulted in his having to abdicate the throne. As the next in line, Prince Albert had to ascend to the throne and took on the title King George VI.

Prince Albert / King George VI was a most reluctant monarch. And his reluctance did not have to do entirely with him being forced to occupy a position that he thought rightfully belonged to his brother. King George VI's reluctance was also in great measure due to his stammering problem. How could the great British dominions--an empire so large that 'the sun never set'--have a King-Emperor who could not command and/or inspire his subject through his words? How do you proclaim the majesty of a stammering king? How do you maintain the magic of an institution who members do not measure up publicly.

The movie shows the fascinating relationship between Prince Albert--yet to be king--and his speech trainer Lionel Logue. And how they together triumph at the end.

Colin Firth, playing the role of Prince Albert, brings out the rage and frustration of a headstrong man handicapped with a situation that results in public humiliation for him. Just imagine: how would anyone of us feel if thrust in front of a huge crowd of adoring and expectant public, and find that our vocal chords desert us?

I could very well identify with the pain and frustration of the young prince. For, till well past my adulthood, I had a huge stammering problem. The situation was so bad that there was not a single sentence I could speak without stammering. 

Of course I was not born that way; I guess no child does. But I got affected pretty early on. My earliest memories of stammering go back to my Classes IIIrd and IVth. I would get caught up on particular words, and from then on I would freeze. And to stop my embarrassment, I would refuse to speak from then on. Seeing Prince Albert struggle with his vocal chords and the resultant distortions on his face, brought back a flood of memories of my younger days.

It was sometime in my +2 days (classes XIth and XIIth) that I decided to take things into my own hands. Of course we did not have speech therapists in those days; and even if they existed, I did not have any knowledge of their existence. So I decided to train myself in front of the mirror, and my process of recovery began. To say that it wasn't easy is to state the obvious. But it was also extremely frustrating and painful.

The movie shows how Prince Albert's frustrations would turn into violent temper and self-pity. I guess my emotions too weren't different. Today, in retrospect, I can trace, with some degree of certainty, the roots of my temperament: my short fuse and social aloofness. Not that I did not want to open up, I could not. And it has stayed that way.

Today, as a political leader, I speak in front of large audiences; I address public rallies. And at such times do I marvel at the recovery I made. 

As the movie ended and the credits scrolled, I said a silent prayer for all the young men and women affected with a speech handicap, and hoped that they too would recover some day!