No Comments – Strong comments

Often, we make comments without considering their impact later on, and sometimes these comments can be negative or positive. Real comments come from the heart and are spontaneous. If you choose not to comment on a particular issue or person, this can still convey a strong message.

The phrase “No Comments Are Strong Comments” summarizes the power of silence or the absence of response. This phrase is often used when individuals choose not to provide a statement or remark on a particular matter.

Despite its shortness, “No comments” carries significant weight and can convey various messages depending on the context. In some cases, the decision to refrain from commenting can signify indifference or a lack of interest in the subject at hand.

Whether deliberate or inadvertent, the absence of commentary carries meaning and can shape perceptions, relationships, and outcomes in profound ways. In a world full of noise and chatter, the power of silence to convey meaning and evoke a response remains.

Those who advocate that ‘no comment’ is not a strong statement say that it allows people to assume the nature of your position without substantiating any evidence. Then, some kind of positive statement is almost always better than ‘no comment’.

Take the case of media persons, who are supposed to ask question and one may not answer but saying ‘no comment’ is also not an option which is loaded with meaning and it can make you appear guilty and suggests you are hiding something.  Saying “no comment” is a misstep in media relations as it wastes an opportunity to promote and protect your brand and reputation. Saying ‘no comment’ creates a bad observation in the media, and this perception is often equated with reality by the public.

Any news interview is an opportunity to put forward something that can help you and your business. But a story in the media, may be print or electronic channels or web channels, without any comment, is not a story and is considered as half-baked story or one sided story.

Let me share here that a renowned writer Khushwant Singh has the quality of responding any letter written to him, on the post card in his own hand writing.  In 1992, when my book titled ‘Akhon Prokhe’ – a compilation of Punjabi writers including my composition was published, with title design by Imroz, I requested Khuswant Singh to comment or send a message for the back cover as this is the only book in Punjabi dedicated to blind community.  He simply wrote on the Post Card – “I don’t send messages.  They are pompous and pointless.  I however, wish your journal a success”

Frankly Speaking, to co-relate the incident to my tag line title of the book, I recollect that during the COVID-19 pandemic, a viral photograph –   which was a tear-jerking picture – showed migrants walking home on foot, with a young child holding a wheeled suitcase tightly as his mother dragged him along. In such a situation, the distance does not matter anymore even during scorching heat weather.

The story goes like this that it is said that the suitcase’s pull-handle was broken,  a plastic rope which was tied to it, hauling it forward as she too was exhausted and heading towards Jhansi from Punjab. They had been walking for several days from Punjab. They hoped to board a bus for Jhansi at Agta ISBT. But, when their group reached the bus station, it was told that no service was available. They should continue their walk. I was stunned to see, while confined to four walls at home, the way the child was sleeping but his mother felt that it was better than carrying him.

But it left social media users heartbroken but compelled many to download and share it, reminding me of the old saying that “no comments are strong comments.”

Sometimes, when we don’t comment on something, it can still convey a powerful message. This idea suggests that no comments can be just as powerful as strong comments. Even when we feel short of words or ink, or there is stagnation in the digital world, when I had already typed countless words. We should remember that silence or No Comments, can speak volumes.