Stating the obvious is so obvious that it rarely occurs that what is being stated is indeed obvious. Conversely, it is often unobvious not to state the obvious. Ever noticed the first observation that gets exchanged with an acquaintance? More often than not it is about weather, ‘It is quite cold today’, as if the other person wouldn’t know what the day has been like. With the obvious being so obvious, there has not been anything unobvious about being obvious.
Even since the word ‘obvious’ came into existence in 1586, it has become such a hard reality that at times it hardly gets noticed. Its absence is glaring even though its presence at time may be difficult to see. The compulsion of stating the obvious quite often turns amusing. ‘Our bar is presently not open because it is closed’, read a notice outside a bar. As if this wasn’t enough, another notice went a step ahead: ‘This door has been closed, do not enter’. Yet, the art of stating the obvious persists!
Notice this: women constantly need the obvious to be said about them. They need to be constantly reminded how beautiful they are, continuous compliments must flow towards them. Any breach in this flow can create consequences of unknown magnitude. The obvious may be invisible, like chameleon, but its absence in the case of women can reflect the true but changing colors of a chameleon. One may run the risk of not stating the obvious at one’s own cost!
Delving further into the world of obvious one is reminded of Mark Twain who had quipped, ‘It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.’ It truly is because there is perhaps only one way in which the obvious got to be stated. An interviewee got a shock when his obvious response to a question had earned him a flak. To the question ‘river Ravi flows in which state’ he had stated the most obvious answer: ‘liquid’. For the interviewer, however, it was obviously an unobvious response!
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