The Myth-buster

The best part about any newspaper is its edit page. You can always find an interesting article in it as the editor makes it a point to include something for (almost) everyone. A day back, I came across a real eye-opener of an article in the edit page of the ‘Times of India’ (that’s the only thing I read now-a-days). And it was rightly titled ‘Myths about English’. The best thing about it was the inclusion of various anecdotes and facts and figures that really gave the true picture.

Though the article was wonderfully done, I would surely want to disagree with the author in some matters. For instance, the author said that learning English, though important, isn’t a must for Indians. It is a must for the development of the country. To support this, he provided the example of Japan stating that very few Japanese know English and yet, they are so developed and are continuing to progress at a steady rate. However, the author fails to see this in the Indian context.

We must understand that India and Japan are two very different nations. Japan, has immense skilled labour and it is known as the ‘Land of the rising sun’ partly because it has contributed in a big way in a whole lot of innovations. Whereas India, on the other hand, has much history and culture to its credit to worry about inventing something that doesn’t cross it shores (no offence to the Japanese, but their products just don’t fit the bill for being recognized worldwide). Also, not learning a world-language serves as a huge handicap as far as global trade and commerce is concerned. And as you know, much employment in India is dependent upon outsourcing. All in all, I think any other country, but India, can do without English.

Nevertheless, the article was most unique and well-written. It even alleged that English proved to be a barrier between the different strata in the society. It also states that by learning English, we are unlearning Hindi amongst various other languages. Last but not the least; the author says that due to the craze of English, Hindi, our national language, has taken a beating as very few Indians, let alone foreigners are keen on learning it. I sincerely hope all that changes and in near future, even this blog is written in Hindi. Amen.

P.S. I can never imagine not giving a link to such a wonderful article. Click here if you have already not done so.

The English Patient

How many times have you come across a piece of literature that made you think, “This does seem to be written in English. Then why the heck am I not able to understand a thing?”? Now when this happens, there can be only two things; either you cannot read English or the writer cannot write in English.

It’s a widespread belief in India that using high sounding words or jargon or even obsolete ‘nigga’ slangs is the ‘in’ thing. And what’s worse is that even the so-called ‘language and speech’ trainers stress on this. Also included are putting up an accent, mugging up tough words, speaking quickly and my favorite, having weird expressions while talking. Some bright pupils go as far as using the ‘F’ word in multiple ways. It can be for joy, sorrow, happiness, exclamation, request, order and so on (there’s even a neat little sound clip which shows the uses with examples but it’s understood that it’s only for entertainment purpose.). Clearly, the Queen’s language has taken a backseat while people embrace the new, improved gibberish.

While doing all that, we have forgotten the basic rules which are of prime importance in any language. Grammar, spelling and phrasing of a sentence are rarely given any importance. Proper salutations and greetings are unheard of and people, more often than not, rely on ‘Waddup?’. The sms lingo, which was invented to save the labor of typing on a cramped keyboard has entered mainstream and there have been cases where school children have been using it in exams.

In my view, there’s an easy solution to all this. Reading stuff. Be it newspapers, magazines or even textbooks. Reading anything in which there’s minimal abuse of language will make you imitate its style and better your writing and speaking skills. You do not need to be a noble laureate in English but a correct knowledge of the language would suffice. Also, this will assure that you don’t go in an interview, hold up your hand and say ‘Waddup mate? Let’s make it quick and smooth’.