On English, Excellence, and Asexual Rice
In bygone days (Treta-yug) we youngsters used to get hold of a national newspaper (ex: The Hindu, Indian Express) and read the editorials with serious attention. Also, our masters at Typing and Shorthand Institutes insisted on comprehending the prevailing times and editorials; this was to improve our grammar, pronunciation, and coherent thought processes. Some of us took such valuable advice seriously and got benefited immensely. Every bit of advice, particularly from elders was valued and appreciated, even if grudgingly at times. Touch typing still is a very precious skill for many professionals, journalists, writers, and even laypersons. These days except the few remaining royal figure heads, presidents, and select upper (uber) management in big companies, almost all others have to type their own letters, memos, and articles. The secretaries are gone, we don’t know to where but that is the fact of life now. So, even in circa 2021 fast and accurate typing is needed for everyone. The shorthand part needs some elaboration. Even in this age of Mars exploration and AI (the much hyped Artificial Intelligence), this seemingly archaic skill has its own advantages. With a microcassette tape recorder one can record a speech or official presentation in any language; alternatively we can use the smart phone with an augmented mike. Later we can transcribe leisurely and generate a faithful print out. Currently software technology exists to generate a verbatim stream of English words on the screen from speech. But are there technological tools for all the world languages to accomplish speech synthesis (written word to audio) and the reverse (speech to text)? Even if technology exists, is it accessible and affordable to the average freelance reporter working on a shoestring budget in a remote corner? These are some issues to think and ponder.
Those of us who use English for transactional purposes (technical articles, blogs, art, science, etc.) have a heavy cross to bear. We should be utterly aware of the “echo-chamber effect” and endless repetition of the same “prevailing/fashionable opinions”. In the beginning one erroneously believes that fluency in English is itself a great achievement. We need both fluency and accuracy in transmitting (communicating) an idea. But that itself is nothing to crow about. Such skills may bring promotions to government officers, bureaucrats, or even some managers in modern companies. But what is the use of having a language skill if one cannot offer new ideas or bring about an amelioration of society’s ills? Sadly proficiency in English goes (parades) with profound ignorance of knowledge in other languages, cultures, science, math, and arts; and this deplorable trait is found in many intellectuals, current and past. Much of all the thought, analysis, and commentary across the world are unfortunately, repeat unfortunately revolves around the wisdom propounded by just 26 English letters. That is an unjustifiable overpowering burden forcibly imposed on a broad spectrum of cultures, peoples, and languages. Definitely we need a more diverse cross currents of opinion rather than the stale secondhand recycled smoke of most of the English media outlets.
Thus keeping in mind the aforementioned views and perspectives, I would like to draw attention to few rare gems found on the Internet. Recently I’ve come across two very interesting articles: 1. An editorial in The Statesman (Pursuit of Excellence)on “Excellence”. A pursuit of excellence in all matters is a worthy goal for everyone, from the topmost statesman to the street sweeper (or trash picker). This point is well articulated and presented with an emphatic closing line. 2. On the radio I heard about the modern advances with gene editing technologies and their implications for future generations. There in the middle of the discussion one of the hosts talked about “asexual rice”(New Rice) and its role in providing food for the growing (billions of mouths) world population. An article in the Egyptian paper explains what is this “asexual rice” and what is its importance. This is really a well-written popular science article.
The readers (young and elder brains) will find both the articles thought provoking. They might broaden our mental horizons. Copyright 2021 by the author
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