About ten months back, on this very blog, I had commented that there is a severe crunch of good English speakers these days, especially among the youth we talk to and meet in our everyday lives. It was very refreshing indeed to see that last week, Chetan Bhagat opined on this very issue in an editorial on TOI.
The fan-following and the literary stature that Bhagat enjoys among Indian youth are bound to trigger an earnest effort on the part of the latter to improve their English speaking and writing skills. Chetan, in that column itself, has also suggested ways on how to improve one’s ability to use and apply the language cogently and in a very simple manner. For me, that column is a highly recommended piece of reading.
There is still a high proportion of young kids in our country who have no option but to study in non-english speaking schools, thanks to the lack of vision and the atrocities of the responsible authorities including parents. Learning the English laguage well becomes all the more imperative for these kids, because they have to put in that extra bit of hard work and inconvenience compared to their more fortunate counterparts who study in english-speaking schools.
Bhagat’s ideas may not yield results overnight, because good spoken English is a process rather than an event. You need time to master it. However, such good advice is always worth considering, especially if it comes from somebody who is a master of writing the most enthralling of novels in the simplest of words.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
A long drive to remember….the first in our Manza
It was the beginning of a long weekend on Friday, April 22, 2011. Our new Manza Elan was about a month old, and Kuhu and I were waiting to launch ourselves into such an occasion. We decided to witness the sunrise atop the Nandi hills. Preparations started the previous day. We bought cakes, chips and cookies, loaded an ipod full of immortal melodies, had a light dinner at 8.30 pm (our normal eating time is around 10) and went to sleep at about 9.30 pm.
We knew we had to leave by 4.15 am in the morning to reach Nandi hills (around 75 km) by 6 am. When we got up at 3.15 am, a light drizzle was on. It was exceedingly romantic. We embarked on our first long drive amidst the rain at 4.17 am, with Shreya Ghosal buzzing one of her most romantic numbers in our ears (the song was from the film “Autograph”). Even in those wee hours of the morning, there were quite a few cars and cabs around, especially the ones which were on their way to the airport.
We raced through outer ring road to Hebbal junction and took a right turn towards the international airport. After crossing the airport at about 5.10 am, the traffic eased considerably. Hence we had the time and space to take some mighty cute photographs of ourselves in the middle of a highway in pitch black darkness. It was an experience of a different kind. We reached the foot of the hills at 5.40 am and it was still dark. About five cars were lined up in front of us waiting for the check post to open at 5.50 am.
We could see traces of dawn in the horizon. The clouds too were almost within touching distance and it was starting to get chilly. Kuhu was starting to shiver as well. As we started our ascent in a cloudy morning, the scenaries started getting from beautiful to magical to heavenly. We reached the top (about 2250 mts above mean sea level) at 6.17 am. We could only see a silhouette of the sun amongst some grey clouds, but even that was a visual delight. As time passed, the crowd started to grow. We walked around a bit, savoured the moments and had a cup of coffee in that chilly weather. It had started drizzling again, and we were feeling as if we were in Darjeeling.
We left the place at 7.45 am and started our sojourn back. A kite, in its mission to capture its hunt, slammed into the windshield as I was blowing my car on the empty roads at 100 kmph. Luckily it was quick enough to fly out just in time without injury. We reached home at about 9.30 am. These 5 hours that we spent in contact with each other, with Mother Nature, music and the magnificent roads, were moments to remember and cherish forever.
We knew we had to leave by 4.15 am in the morning to reach Nandi hills (around 75 km) by 6 am. When we got up at 3.15 am, a light drizzle was on. It was exceedingly romantic. We embarked on our first long drive amidst the rain at 4.17 am, with Shreya Ghosal buzzing one of her most romantic numbers in our ears (the song was from the film “Autograph”). Even in those wee hours of the morning, there were quite a few cars and cabs around, especially the ones which were on their way to the airport.
We raced through outer ring road to Hebbal junction and took a right turn towards the international airport. After crossing the airport at about 5.10 am, the traffic eased considerably. Hence we had the time and space to take some mighty cute photographs of ourselves in the middle of a highway in pitch black darkness. It was an experience of a different kind. We reached the foot of the hills at 5.40 am and it was still dark. About five cars were lined up in front of us waiting for the check post to open at 5.50 am.
We could see traces of dawn in the horizon. The clouds too were almost within touching distance and it was starting to get chilly. Kuhu was starting to shiver as well. As we started our ascent in a cloudy morning, the scenaries started getting from beautiful to magical to heavenly. We reached the top (about 2250 mts above mean sea level) at 6.17 am. We could only see a silhouette of the sun amongst some grey clouds, but even that was a visual delight. As time passed, the crowd started to grow. We walked around a bit, savoured the moments and had a cup of coffee in that chilly weather. It had started drizzling again, and we were feeling as if we were in Darjeeling.
We left the place at 7.45 am and started our sojourn back. A kite, in its mission to capture its hunt, slammed into the windshield as I was blowing my car on the empty roads at 100 kmph. Luckily it was quick enough to fly out just in time without injury. We reached home at about 9.30 am. These 5 hours that we spent in contact with each other, with Mother Nature, music and the magnificent roads, were moments to remember and cherish forever.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
On oath to unleash again……
It has been almost 20 weeks since I wrote last on “Unleashing myself.” A lot of transformations have come about in my personal life in these five months – my brother-in-law Bubu has got engaged to Kurchi, I have joined a swimming club, my nephew Pupu has grown six months old AND I have gifted a brand new Manza Elan to Kuhu. We have just completed our first HALF-ANNIVERSARY as well yesterday. All this, and a lot more of the mundane life that lesser mortals like me have got accustomed to, have just not allowed me to devote an hour to my blog everyday.
However, last week I attended a two-day training session on “Assertiveness Skills at the workplace”, which was conducted by my company. Among many other tips to enhance assertiveness in personal and professional life, my instructor waxed eloquent about one thing. That was, to be assertive, one has to hold oneself in high esteem, and for that to happen, one needs to harness one’s strengths and feel confident about those. Writing is certainly one of my strengths.
It is almost as if I am on oath to sharpen my strengths on a daily basis. After marriage I had hardly blogged due to a paucity of time, but now I would hate myself carping about my daily busy schedule and not do something which comes so naturally to me.
Kuhu has always said jokingly that I have stopped writing because I have nobody to “impress” now, which was not the case before marriage. I have taken that statement with a smile and pinch of salt, I must say. Now it is time to start impressing no one else but myself. Life would continue to throw up its challenges, but there is nothing more calamitous and deplorable than to jettison one’s passion for the sake of mundane day-to-day activities.
However, last week I attended a two-day training session on “Assertiveness Skills at the workplace”, which was conducted by my company. Among many other tips to enhance assertiveness in personal and professional life, my instructor waxed eloquent about one thing. That was, to be assertive, one has to hold oneself in high esteem, and for that to happen, one needs to harness one’s strengths and feel confident about those. Writing is certainly one of my strengths.
It is almost as if I am on oath to sharpen my strengths on a daily basis. After marriage I had hardly blogged due to a paucity of time, but now I would hate myself carping about my daily busy schedule and not do something which comes so naturally to me.
Kuhu has always said jokingly that I have stopped writing because I have nobody to “impress” now, which was not the case before marriage. I have taken that statement with a smile and pinch of salt, I must say. Now it is time to start impressing no one else but myself. Life would continue to throw up its challenges, but there is nothing more calamitous and deplorable than to jettison one’s passion for the sake of mundane day-to-day activities.
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