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.

Read to Lead?

DO.Lead form the front. The next stage of India poised. If you read the “Times of India”, I am sure you must’ve come across these phrases almost a hundred times. This, I understand, is part of a campaign that the newspaper started on the 15^th of August which marked the 60^th anniversary of India. Since then, the paper is filled with snippets of patriotism and stories of how great leaders made a difference in the lives of their countrymen. And that is not all. Take a look at their Sunday supplement, Times Life, and you will see how India just got sexy at 60. How people are doing stuff they were shy of doing before. But the best part is the choice of the face of the campaign, Sharukh khan. Now how many of you know he’s a born leader who has changed many a lives? Perhaps, you should substitute ‘leader’ by ‘entertainer’ and ‘lives’ by ‘characters’.

Now I really like this newspaper. In fact, the Times has some of the best journalists and columnists of the country and they regularly churn out quite innovative content. But there are some things I can’t fathom. What good are these campaigns? What are they trying to achieve through them? The subject is pretty abstract and I can see no particular motive in it. As far as having a leader goes, I think we have enough of them already. We just need them to act like one. It’s an eyesore to read in papers everyday that India is progressing. They make it seem like everything happened instantaneously. The only thing that makes sense is publishing the articles about the various leaders of the world. Other than that, the whole idea seems worthless, even childish. India today doesn’t need a leader. A newspaper which tells it the way it is would suffice.