002 Changing Communication Styles!

Dear Reader!

I think, at the outset, I should make one point very clear: the purpose of my blog is to share my sharable thoughts as and when they arise but at my convenience without any commitment regarding the periodicity of my posts.

When I say thoughts, thoughts centering around myriad subjects on earth. I intend this to be an add-on to my first post of 17.07.2010. Elucidation of my reference to my spiritual inclinations has become necessary as at least one reader, the first reader, raised a pertinent question whether all that I would be posting in the days to come would center around spirituality!

Let me make it clear that, in fact, I would be covering less of spirituality as it is unique to each individual and I don't believe in religious dogmas. What I had stated was because of my spiritual inclinations I tend to be philosophical about the world and human life in this world lately and so some trace of such a perception is more likely.

It was also suggested by my first reader that my sentences are long-winding and so could be short. I quite agree with this observation. Before committing myself to such a style, I should admit that I have been used to a particular style of writing for the past many decades, influenced possibly by the writings of the earliest of the writers I was more familiar with during my college days.

As is the case with every other aspect of human life, language too has undergone a dramatic changes over the years. Unlike English of the mid 20th century, which used to be more bombastic necessitating frequent reference to the dictionary, the present day English is more simple. The fine distinction between the written language and the spoken language is evident only in the editorial of leading news papers!

My own reasoning for this change is the dwindling reading habits of the younger generation who spend much of their time on visuals. Naturally, their spoken communication is much better than their written communication.

As one coaching professional course students at college level for their on-campus placement interviews, I have assessed their handicap very well. With all the computer tools like Thesaurus at their command, they do not have patience to get to know the meanings of unknown words, much less to retain them in their memory. Unavoidably (!) they build up their technical vocabulary and so it is not uncommon to find youngsters handling their technical language very well and at the same time fumbling in general communication! The only prescription given by me to the college students is reading of a standard English newspaper. The only investments expected of them is patience and perseverance. Text book based teaching and learning, the hallmarks of our Indian education system are unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. In such a context, I seriously think quite often that newspaper reading and testing the students' skill on such a reading could be made mandatory at the high school level itself. The inadequacy in our basic level education system is so very pronounced, I have to teach the students basic grammar at college level, a sad commentary indeed!

Taking all the above factors into account, consciously, I will be very simple in my communication using simplest of the synonyms, antonyms, adjectives and adverbs. The purpose of any communication is to make the reader or listener understand it and so, before proceeding further, I would like to assure the readers that my communication could be read and understood even by the school going children- seriously, as I may be posting matters of their interest also at times.

Bye for now!

V K Naageswaran (vknwaran@bsnl.in)