Pathetically Exquisite

Annual Day was held at my school on September 8th.
A dance drama (adaptation of a poem by Rabindranath Tagore) was the highlight of the evening.
Though the play was in Bengali, (one couldn’t understand a single word of it), the impressive portrayal of the protagonist by Amrithavarshini of class XI is worth to laud. She is a passionate, expressive, and endowed dancer, and stole the audience with her magnificent performance. Bishen, as the saintly monk, gave a splendid act, as well.

After the play, the English teacher commented that it was a “pathetic play and a wonderful dance drama,” over the speakers. Wait a minute! Did she actually say pathetic? Is she expressing her acquiescence as a dreadful director?
I went to my dictionary, to recall the definition of pathetic and pitiful… well the two definitions given are on completely different arms of the galaxy.

pathetic

1. pitiful:
provoking or expressing feelings of
pity
2. contemptibly
inadequate: so inadequate as to be laughable or contemptible
(informal)

pitiful

1. arousing pity:
arousing or deserving pity or
compassion
2. arousing
contempt: arousing or deserving contempt or derision

I think, she was referring to the first definition… I think. I guess she could have used a better word…but all said and done, one can’t help but chuckle at the ironic conclusion.

The final word: The dance was amazing.
I’m sure most of you also had the wrong definition of pathetic, from the fact that there was a big controversy after the play. No denying… what did you think by just seeing the title of this post? So I hope I have cleared your doubts.