Sunday 5 January 2014

Let’s Talk! : Blog # 159

Let’s Talk!


        These are times when we don’t talk enough. If we want to buy something, we click a couple of buttons on a website. If we want to communicate with someone, we do it through pings. If we want to know something, we type it out and find the information. Even though all this is the way forward and part of our advancement, why should we leave a great conventional medium behind?

            Recently, one of my senior colleagues lamented that it is easier to reach out to his son through ‘whats app’ than calling out to him when both of them are at their own home. Leave alone discussions, there is not even chit chat happening at dining tables. Look at the coffee tables these days at those uber looking cafes. People are looking down at their tech gadgets while having their cup of coffee. There is no conversation happening there either.

            It is said that a Language and thereby its use for communication is one of the indicators of the advancements that we have made as a race. For instance, if you look at a tribal language, it will not have as many scripts and syllables as the languages that we use. This evolution happens over a prolonged period of sustained usage of a language. This might be the reason why there is an inherent tendency for people of different linguistic groups to sustain their own language. Losing one’s language means losing a community’s hard earned footprint in the higher evolved bracket. Language is also a strong thread of the fabric of identity. Each community derives its persona heavily from its language. This is due to the simple reason that it is the single biggest differentiating factor for a community to stand out from the larger crowd.

            For languages to sustain and then to evolve, they need to stay relevant. This relevance comes from it being used for day to day interactions. When the interactions in itself become minimal, where is the hope for a language to evolve? Moreover, it is important that we exchange viewpoints. We need to express, understand and evolve our perceptions. That, I think is the easiest way to broaden ones thought process and grow as an individual.

            Also, in this day and age of maddening rush to nowhere and clutter that the comforts of Life bring along, the best reassurance that you can get and give is by indulging  in a heart to heart conversation.

Let’s talk enough so that we ensure there doesn’t come a time when we are at a loss of words and we fall in to an abyss of silence.

Arun Babu

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