Obsession with English

I got some funny interaction today which made me write this blog. During the course of the conversation I pronounced the word "Career" in the same way I pronounce "Ca" in "Carrier". My friends started making fun of my pronunciation. At that moment I asked how does he pronounce "Tier" and he confidently called it like a "Tyre" as most of the Indians do instead of "Tear" which is the correct pronunciation. I also called him out with "Quesidillas" (Casidias) and "Quilin" (Chilin). I was happy that I got my share of making fun of someone else. But I just realized that how stupid I was. How could anyone make fun of some one's language skills. Language is just a form of communication. As long as the listener is able to understand me, I should not worry about the way I pronounced them. I am not saying people calling "Tier" as "Tyre" is correct as it conveys different meaning. But what difference would calling "Career" as "Carrier" make? Is it not similar to using "Know" and "no" Would the listener be blinded just by pronunciation.But in my opinion such obsession is very much prevalent with many Indians. I am surrounded by many Americans and I have very different way of pronunciation with words like "Environment etc. But I was never once been asked to correct my pronunciation as they very well know English is not my native language and I am speaking in a way I was taught. All my friends would do is listen to me and call out the correct pronunciation for themselves. I learnt so many words in that way. I have a chance to listen to Dr.Kalam when he came to Houston. For any of you who have heard him talk, you would realize he is not the smooth orator especially in English. I was there with my close friend who is an American. I started worrying about what my friend would think about Dr.Kalam, as I have praised Dr.Kalam whole hearted before the speech. After the talk I was trying my level best to avoid asking my friends opinion but ended up talking about the speech. Apparently my friend not even bothered about the way Dr. kalam spoke and he was all praise for the content.But today's episode made me realize how obsessed are we with English.You take any of the Indian movies (I am taking liberties here I watch only Tamil and Malayalam movies, sometimes Hindi and Telugu movies as well) the way to show someone as cool person is to make them speak in English. How stupid is this? What does the language has to do with being jovial or smart? Even my cousin sister talks phrases like "Whats your problem man?" "Hey Dude" which I dislike to the core,but my whole family is in awe of her language skills. I am not complaining here, but my point was we give too much importance to language skills. You do need language in work place to convey your idea, but would that be sin to not to fuss about aesthetics if the content is conveyed good enough?

Parody called Politics

Couple of days ago, I read about Dr. Subramanyam Swamy, chief of Janata party in India attacked in Chennai High Court. He was there for his views on "Sedhu Canal Project" (now put on hold after stubborn resistance from public). The attack on him has got nothing related to the project, but he was attacked for his views on a terrorist organization called LTTE. As most of the Indians (at least south Indians) know Dr.Swamy along with Cho. Ramasamy and Jayalalitha (Former Cheif minister of Tamilnadu) are some of the few sane people to oppose the the terrorist organization.
I am having troble comprehending why some people associate LTTE with the plight of Tamil Ealam. The organization might have started with a noble intention, but it certainly does not have any such image now. We clearly know that LTTE leadership has killed more pacifist Srilankan Tamil leaders than the so called Sinhalese government has. We could clearly see that they are power corrupt and their intention is not about getting peace but about keeping their wealth.

Leave all of these points. Why are these people insist on India stopping the war in Srilanka? Are they really worried for the safety of common man? If yes, why are they not staging such protests for the ongoing war in Iraq? or they did not even rise a flag for the war on Georgia by Russia a few months ago? May be the presence of Tamil speaking people might be the reason for their involvement ! How concerned they are? Can language alone be the reason for concern? If yes, what kind of people we are letting to lead us. If India heeds to these people's request and set a seperate country for Srilankan Tamils, how can we be sure that these people would not ask for separate country for all the Tamils in India? I am sure they will, because most of these protesters didn't even bother about many of the ongoing problem with in our country of India.

We keep seeing that Law and Order situation is getting worse in Tamilnadu. How could they not be? one of the worst violence I ever witnessed recently took place in Ambedkar Law College in Chennai. It has reached to a point that if you want to study law in Tamilnadu, you need to be at least good in two arts 1) Attacking with deadly weapons 2) Belong to a political party. Look at the latest images of the Lawyers Vs Police confrontation and you will how many goons are there in the name of Lawyer.

Irritating Interference

I do understand that people are like pebbles and it is tough see them the same way. Your success is how you cope up with them without actually getting frustrated. But I think it is very challenging to keep the face straight when dealing people with the annoying habit of talking themselves up too much. I do remember one such person I met. Someone I admire for their wisdom, ended up believing the one talking himself up little too much, when it was very apparent that the conversation has too many jargon to make any real sense. I was trying to understand the reason. One plausible reason is that the talking too much person is very articulate and he was very careful about using jargon that are exclusively outside the horizon of the one who is listening. You won't be bothered too much as long as his gibberish does not hit you in the face. When it does, I think it is normal for sane people to be furious.

I am still wondering why I started writing this blog at the first place? May be because I was reading about constructive criticism and I realize that the person criticizing you actually heeds to these annoying people. Though not intended, the criticism might look scathing as you know the source for such comments is absolutely rubbish. So I was wondering how do any one manage such situation with out showing obvious irritation?

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I found this quote suitable for the situation described above

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe"

-Albert Einstein

who else could have said this :-)