Sunday, November 7, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Indlish
Some 60 years ago, when the British left India, they did not realize the blunder they had made during that time. They taught us English. I now wonder why Mr. Blair gets so upset about getting a sales call from Mr. Kumar in Bangalore. Afterall, Kumar spent a good part of his childhood education learning English so as to make a living by calling Mr. Blair. The British had created an elite class of English speakers during their rule in India to administer the empire. Even today in India, if you are good at making English jokes, you are a dude, otherwise a yarr (pal). However, over the last decade or two, there is another language that is flourishing, though out of frustration, among not-so-dude Indians. These youngsters, who have tried their best in life, but failed, to learn the nitty-gritties of English grammar, have created an indigenous English called Indlish.
Indlish varies across different regions in India based on the local language. In the north, it is Hinglish, a hybrid of Hindi (the local language) and English; in my home state, it is Punglish from Punjabi. The way ‘Indlish’ works is that when an Indian struggles to find the appropriate noun/verb/adjective to complete an English sentence, they finish it with an Indianized word. Sometimes, they use English words to complete sentences in their local language. However, it is now a common trend on college campuses to use such words.
Some words are quite common like ‘timepass’ (Kill time)or ‘timewaste’ (to not utilize time appropriately). I believe ‘tension’ is one of the most commonly used words by non-English speakers in India, like my grandmother who speaks Punglish, ‘Put tension hee te bimari di jaad hai’(tension is the root of diseases). However, there are some English words which she has had difficulty in pronouncing like inverter, a power backup system in India. She settled with an alternative in Punglish, hor-power (more-power). In India, you never address someone older than you by his/her first or last name or you could be badly scolded by somebody. It is considered very disrespectful. Every person who looks significantly older than you is called AuntyJi or UncleJi, where Ji is the most widely used suffix in North India. The Ji at the end signifies respect. If you are being extremely respectful to someone, you may call him/her SirJi/MadamJi.
In one of my courses during my first semester at Tech, a professor spoke, very fluently in a language similar to English; later on, a friend of mine told me that I was listening to the American English. I liked his style of teaching, cracking jokes in between the lecture to make it interactive. Because of his accent, I often missed the transition from his lecture to his joke, so lagged in laughing. Watching American movies (not porn) helps a lot in getting the hang of the American accent, but to my surprise, I found that even they have Americanized the Queen. There were many words, which I heard in movies and during my interaction with fellow Americans, I didn’t find in my Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. I believe it doesn’t matter if the Queen is in jeans or a sari (Indian woman’s dress). English is now the world’s local language. According to Stefan Bergman- it is the bestest.
Indlish varies across different regions in India based on the local language. In the north, it is Hinglish, a hybrid of Hindi (the local language) and English; in my home state, it is Punglish from Punjabi. The way ‘Indlish’ works is that when an Indian struggles to find the appropriate noun/verb/adjective to complete an English sentence, they finish it with an Indianized word. Sometimes, they use English words to complete sentences in their local language. However, it is now a common trend on college campuses to use such words.
Some words are quite common like ‘timepass’ (Kill time)or ‘timewaste’ (to not utilize time appropriately). I believe ‘tension’ is one of the most commonly used words by non-English speakers in India, like my grandmother who speaks Punglish, ‘Put tension hee te bimari di jaad hai’(tension is the root of diseases). However, there are some English words which she has had difficulty in pronouncing like inverter, a power backup system in India. She settled with an alternative in Punglish, hor-power (more-power). In India, you never address someone older than you by his/her first or last name or you could be badly scolded by somebody. It is considered very disrespectful. Every person who looks significantly older than you is called AuntyJi or UncleJi, where Ji is the most widely used suffix in North India. The Ji at the end signifies respect. If you are being extremely respectful to someone, you may call him/her SirJi/MadamJi.
In one of my courses during my first semester at Tech, a professor spoke, very fluently in a language similar to English; later on, a friend of mine told me that I was listening to the American English. I liked his style of teaching, cracking jokes in between the lecture to make it interactive. Because of his accent, I often missed the transition from his lecture to his joke, so lagged in laughing. Watching American movies (not porn) helps a lot in getting the hang of the American accent, but to my surprise, I found that even they have Americanized the Queen. There were many words, which I heard in movies and during my interaction with fellow Americans, I didn’t find in my Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. I believe it doesn’t matter if the Queen is in jeans or a sari (Indian woman’s dress). English is now the world’s local language. According to Stefan Bergman- it is the bestest.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Batch Year or Batch Number?
Whenever someone asked me which batch I belonged to for my bachelor’s degree, I had trouble answering because I used to think the year of admission was my batch year. After some enquiry, I found it to be the year of graduation. Now that I know, I wouldn’t have to be embarrassed again after my master’s in the U.S.
In India, it is a very popular notion that the U.S. institutions are the best in the world, and that a degree from a good U.S. university means plenty of opportunities ahead. No doubt about it; even I have found it to be quite true. But there are some very disappointing facts about the American education system which no one told me before. I had been very interested in knowing the history of education especially about the US education. Fortunately or unfortunately, I was introduced indirectly by a professor of mine to the work of Ivan Illich, John Holt, John Taylor Ghatto and few others names in American education reform movement.
The first disturbing thing I found was the fact that the present school model had been taken from the factory model of the industrial revolution in the 20th century, eliminating the earlier school house model where children learned from peers of different ages and where the teacher could cater material to individual needs. In a factory model, a teacher is seen as a worker and a student is seen as a product to be manufactured. Each year is like an assembly line sequence, passing from one class to next. Those students who don’t make it as finished products are called “drop outs.” Still skeptical about these radical views, I wanted to know if there were people in the 21st century who agreed with what I had read.
To my surprise, one of the well known names in the field of management (also education), Clayton Christensen, has reinforced the same point in his book ‘Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns.’ Daniel H. Pink in his book ‘A Whole New Mind’ describes the crises in education. Others have directly or indirectly hinted at the same underlying factory model. I was not prepared to digest all this, after all, I have grown up believing that good school education means a good job which means a good life, and if you are lucky enough, it could also mean a good wife.
Remembering my school days, spending 6-7 hours in the classroom, listening most of the time, writing important notes that could help me get an ‘A’ in the exam and in turn, earn respect among fellow students and praise from teachers. A single letter at the end of the year framed the perception of me in the eyes of my parents, friends, teachers and all those people who knew me. Things are not different here. After all, there is something wrong at the core. Though it sounds radical, it is not inaccurate.
During the career fair, everyone is busy researching the companies, practicing their interview skills, reviewing resumes. Even I had been waiting for this day. While working on my resume, one thing made me ponder for a while – the year of graduation. Does it represent a batch year or a batch number?
My Article in the Michigan Tech Lode
Link:http://www.mtulode.com/feature/2010/10/07/culture-shock-6-2/
In India, it is a very popular notion that the U.S. institutions are the best in the world, and that a degree from a good U.S. university means plenty of opportunities ahead. No doubt about it; even I have found it to be quite true. But there are some very disappointing facts about the American education system which no one told me before. I had been very interested in knowing the history of education especially about the US education. Fortunately or unfortunately, I was introduced indirectly by a professor of mine to the work of Ivan Illich, John Holt, John Taylor Ghatto and few others names in American education reform movement.
The first disturbing thing I found was the fact that the present school model had been taken from the factory model of the industrial revolution in the 20th century, eliminating the earlier school house model where children learned from peers of different ages and where the teacher could cater material to individual needs. In a factory model, a teacher is seen as a worker and a student is seen as a product to be manufactured. Each year is like an assembly line sequence, passing from one class to next. Those students who don’t make it as finished products are called “drop outs.” Still skeptical about these radical views, I wanted to know if there were people in the 21st century who agreed with what I had read.
To my surprise, one of the well known names in the field of management (also education), Clayton Christensen, has reinforced the same point in his book ‘Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns.’ Daniel H. Pink in his book ‘A Whole New Mind’ describes the crises in education. Others have directly or indirectly hinted at the same underlying factory model. I was not prepared to digest all this, after all, I have grown up believing that good school education means a good job which means a good life, and if you are lucky enough, it could also mean a good wife.
Remembering my school days, spending 6-7 hours in the classroom, listening most of the time, writing important notes that could help me get an ‘A’ in the exam and in turn, earn respect among fellow students and praise from teachers. A single letter at the end of the year framed the perception of me in the eyes of my parents, friends, teachers and all those people who knew me. Things are not different here. After all, there is something wrong at the core. Though it sounds radical, it is not inaccurate.
During the career fair, everyone is busy researching the companies, practicing their interview skills, reviewing resumes. Even I had been waiting for this day. While working on my resume, one thing made me ponder for a while – the year of graduation. Does it represent a batch year or a batch number?
My Article in the Michigan Tech Lode
Link:http://www.mtulode.com/feature/2010/10/07/culture-shock-6-2/
Friday, July 23, 2010
Thank You
I met him on a train to Delhi from Amritsar. It was a long 9 hours journey. Being brought up in military family, I can quickly identify a person if he is from Army or not. He was a Madrasi in Amritsar, so this guess was like a toffee. I saw my watch and thought about ways to kill next 8 hours. The very thought compelled me to start a conversation with him, sitting beside me. We were traveling in a general sitting compartment so it was quite obvious that he belonged to a lower rank. "What is your battalion?" I asked. Surprised but comfortable he answered," 47."
I was looking more like 'chikna'(cleaned-shaved) Delhi guy with good education. My neat Hindi even made him believe that I was from Delhi. He described, like any other constable's story,his part of story how he got into the Indian Army. Feeling of nationalism and doing something for the country fooled him for this day. An army where no one cares about his opinions, his family problems, and his emotions. "But they say one has to sacrifice somethings for doing such a great job for the nation," I said to make him feel good. "If it is the case, then why do those officers are not making any such sacrifices, why no one sees their corruption, why we have to responsible for any wrong doing of them" he backfired. I had no answer, I nodded in yes by keeping my mouth shut, may be because I didn't want to add any more petrol. I took a glance over my wrist watch and was happy to see only 3 hours left. I thought about changing the topic and wisely took it to the current education system that he said his children were victim of. He had saved 1 Lakh over last 2 year and saving each year for the higher education of his two children. Worried over the thought that how these small saving will pay for the education of his children in long run, I advised him to look into the option of education insurance. Now I had gained a lot of his confidence and sympathy, he looked convinced that I was a wise person.
I could see the filthy slums and smell foul smell from drains. There was no need to ask anyone- Bhaisaab Dilhi aa gaya?(Have we arrived at Delhi?). Well, I could not get any moral message from my 9 hrs of journey to tell you , so won't you, I believe, after wasting your time to read 300 words. But one thing did really made my journey special, it was the 'Thank You' from his side at the station.
I was looking more like 'chikna'(cleaned-shaved) Delhi guy with good education. My neat Hindi even made him believe that I was from Delhi. He described, like any other constable's story,his part of story how he got into the Indian Army. Feeling of nationalism and doing something for the country fooled him for this day. An army where no one cares about his opinions, his family problems, and his emotions. "But they say one has to sacrifice somethings for doing such a great job for the nation," I said to make him feel good. "If it is the case, then why do those officers are not making any such sacrifices, why no one sees their corruption, why we have to responsible for any wrong doing of them" he backfired. I had no answer, I nodded in yes by keeping my mouth shut, may be because I didn't want to add any more petrol. I took a glance over my wrist watch and was happy to see only 3 hours left. I thought about changing the topic and wisely took it to the current education system that he said his children were victim of. He had saved 1 Lakh over last 2 year and saving each year for the higher education of his two children. Worried over the thought that how these small saving will pay for the education of his children in long run, I advised him to look into the option of education insurance. Now I had gained a lot of his confidence and sympathy, he looked convinced that I was a wise person.
I could see the filthy slums and smell foul smell from drains. There was no need to ask anyone- Bhaisaab Dilhi aa gaya?(Have we arrived at Delhi?). Well, I could not get any moral message from my 9 hrs of journey to tell you , so won't you, I believe, after wasting your time to read 300 words. But one thing did really made my journey special, it was the 'Thank You' from his side at the station.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
When AuntJi Shakes Hand!!
She was confused, being suddenly introduced to a lady of her age, in forties. Thinking, if she should take the initiative and give a loose hug to her, like most autiji’s do in India, or say Namaste, with folded hands like tradition Indian way of greeting. Both of them smiled at each other and there was a small pause. I was looking, curiously, to see how these upper-middle class ladies would greet each other. I was sure; they won’t do it like the way my grandma does. She hugs you until you concede. To my surprise, they both shook their hands. Now, I took a small pause to digest things. I had never seen before an AuntiJi shaking hand with another lady in India. An important thing to note here was that they were both dressed in simple suit-salwar, a tradition dress of woman in India. One thing is sure: Namaste is out.
May be the year 2009: The Year of Women Empowerment in India, worked out. I still remember my discussion with my dad few years ago about why women sit one-sided on the back of bikes with their husbands. My dad, who is really good at making theories on the spot , gave me some explanation about the discomfort a women would have with legs on both sides of a bike. In the last 1 month in India, I have been observing how women sit on bikes. Interestingly, they have proved my dad’s theory wrong. Leave aside the college girls, who are into the IPod world. I saw many mid-20s,30s women who were sitting behind their husband’s bike, holding them with both hands, with their legs on each side of the bike, surprisingly, all of it being in a suit-salwar.
Many may call is westernization. But, there is another factor to it-recognition. Indian women are recognizing their potential. They understand very well their contribution to the GDP. Many of the women are working, independent but still in culture. It will be interesting to see in the next 5-10 years when these empowered women would be driving bikes on roads. At least, some eyes will be rolled.
May be the year 2009: The Year of Women Empowerment in India, worked out. I still remember my discussion with my dad few years ago about why women sit one-sided on the back of bikes with their husbands. My dad, who is really good at making theories on the spot , gave me some explanation about the discomfort a women would have with legs on both sides of a bike. In the last 1 month in India, I have been observing how women sit on bikes. Interestingly, they have proved my dad’s theory wrong. Leave aside the college girls, who are into the IPod world. I saw many mid-20s,30s women who were sitting behind their husband’s bike, holding them with both hands, with their legs on each side of the bike, surprisingly, all of it being in a suit-salwar.
Many may call is westernization. But, there is another factor to it-recognition. Indian women are recognizing their potential. They understand very well their contribution to the GDP. Many of the women are working, independent but still in culture. It will be interesting to see in the next 5-10 years when these empowered women would be driving bikes on roads. At least, some eyes will be rolled.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Static Shock
AAh!, What the heck! Every time I enter my office or home I say these words. Reason: Static Shock. Those of you who live near equator may not have had any such shocking experience because it is mostly a cold place's phenomenon. It is a light electric shock that you get when your body accumulates more charge with respect to a neutral conducting object. So, when you touch a metal object,like when I touch my office door nob,you get excited. At that moment you wish to punch or kick hard the door nob so that even it feels the same what you feel about it. But, believe me it is not a good idea; I learnt it from my experience.
After being victimized everyday, I tried to find the ways if static shock could be avoided. To my surprise, I found an electronic device for avoiding the static shock on the web which you would need to carry all the time;it was more than $10. After thinking more, I challenged myself, being an electronics engineer, to find some electronic law which can help me save my money and my life(though no one ever died of static shock but why take risk). I researched my undergrad book from freshman year when you are first told that electricity line to your home doesn't come from nowhere. Through Wikipedia I found out that if I touch a high resistance material then all the charge accumulated on my body would discharge slowly,thus I won't experience any shock. But the problem was that I would have to know before touching such a thing that I am charged. Unfortunately, I get to know this the moment I get discharged.
With no help from electronics/Wikipedia/Google/friends , I thought about a very different aspect of dealing with my enemies,static shock and my office door nob. As someone said,'If you can't win join them.' So, next morning, Knowingly that I am charged, I went to my roommates' office, who had not cleaned his dishes this morning, and I just poked him. Next morning, to my surprise,kitchen was clean. I started using my uncommon sense, and every morning I would meet new people to make friends with them and break away our infant friendship with just one hand shake. It is really fun to see people's expressions and what they say. I love when someone says,AAh!,What the heck!
After being victimized everyday, I tried to find the ways if static shock could be avoided. To my surprise, I found an electronic device for avoiding the static shock on the web which you would need to carry all the time;it was more than $10. After thinking more, I challenged myself, being an electronics engineer, to find some electronic law which can help me save my money and my life(though no one ever died of static shock but why take risk). I researched my undergrad book from freshman year when you are first told that electricity line to your home doesn't come from nowhere. Through Wikipedia I found out that if I touch a high resistance material then all the charge accumulated on my body would discharge slowly,thus I won't experience any shock. But the problem was that I would have to know before touching such a thing that I am charged. Unfortunately, I get to know this the moment I get discharged.
With no help from electronics/Wikipedia/Google/friends , I thought about a very different aspect of dealing with my enemies,static shock and my office door nob. As someone said,'If you can't win join them.' So, next morning, Knowingly that I am charged, I went to my roommates' office, who had not cleaned his dishes this morning, and I just poked him. Next morning, to my surprise,kitchen was clean. I started using my uncommon sense, and every morning I would meet new people to make friends with them and break away our infant friendship with just one hand shake. It is really fun to see people's expressions and what they say. I love when someone says,AAh!,What the heck!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Censorship?
In the last month,there was much hullabaloo about Google's pullout from China to protest against the Chinese government's censorship over the internet. Even the US government and various human right's groups supported Google, but Google didn't get much support from its corporate friends. According to Global Times, an online sister newspaper of a Chinese official newspaper, the Chinese government censors internet content for the betterment of its citizens and Google must abide by its laws in order to function in China.After all this debate, Google pulled out its search business from China.
Even I supported Google on its unprecedented move. After all, it is an era of FREE SPEECH. The US is the paramount example of free speech;here you can search anything you want from terrorist organization working against the US to free porn.Well, this is what is said at the international arena. However, recently, I observed that developed societies tend to change their rules when things seem against them.Here is what I observed:
I am the president of an organization which works for a particular group of residents living on campus. There was an email to the entire resident's email list from a lady expressing her concern over the cars not stopping at stop signs. Surprisingly, the matter went out of proportion;instead of replying to the sender, everyone was expressing his or her own views to the entire email list. From speeding cars, it went to educating kids abut crossing roads, taking all of the stop signs off the road,refraining from sending an email to the resident's list to celebrate 'Earth Day', and finally begging to stop all of this S#*@. It got much worse. For some, it was entertaining, waiting to see who sent what. For others, it was annoying, yelling, "WTF WTF." Overall, it was a serious issue.
I was waiting until the morning to see if people would calm down. I was planning to take the matter to the Facebook group. However, to my surprise, an email I sent to the resident's email list regarding some other matter didn't show up in my inbox,instead it went to a moderator. "A moderator" I asked myself,shocked. We never had any moderator before to censor our content. I pinched myself to make sure I was in the US.
After contacting someone in the office, I came to know that now every email to residents will go through a moderator, who will make sure the content is appropriate for the residents. After thinking for some time,I went back to the comments section of an article in Global Times about Google's unwise decision to pull out of china, and deleted my comment in which I had mentioned US, India, Europe as examples of countries for free speech.
I remember,I had faced the similar moral dilemma of finding out who is right or wrong when the US government had released the Human Rights report concerning china and other places in the world.I was torn,because at the same time it had given the permission under the Bush administration for some serious torture techniques to be used in the Guantanamo prison.
I believe that the scale of development is not a correct scale of any country's or civilization's human rights record. The real test of any country's human rights record is how it treats others when it is at the receiving end,all without bending the rules.
Even I supported Google on its unprecedented move. After all, it is an era of FREE SPEECH. The US is the paramount example of free speech;here you can search anything you want from terrorist organization working against the US to free porn.Well, this is what is said at the international arena. However, recently, I observed that developed societies tend to change their rules when things seem against them.Here is what I observed:
I am the president of an organization which works for a particular group of residents living on campus. There was an email to the entire resident's email list from a lady expressing her concern over the cars not stopping at stop signs. Surprisingly, the matter went out of proportion;instead of replying to the sender, everyone was expressing his or her own views to the entire email list. From speeding cars, it went to educating kids abut crossing roads, taking all of the stop signs off the road,refraining from sending an email to the resident's list to celebrate 'Earth Day', and finally begging to stop all of this S#*@. It got much worse. For some, it was entertaining, waiting to see who sent what. For others, it was annoying, yelling, "WTF WTF." Overall, it was a serious issue.
I was waiting until the morning to see if people would calm down. I was planning to take the matter to the Facebook group. However, to my surprise, an email I sent to the resident's email list regarding some other matter didn't show up in my inbox,instead it went to a moderator. "A moderator" I asked myself,shocked. We never had any moderator before to censor our content. I pinched myself to make sure I was in the US.
After contacting someone in the office, I came to know that now every email to residents will go through a moderator, who will make sure the content is appropriate for the residents. After thinking for some time,I went back to the comments section of an article in Global Times about Google's unwise decision to pull out of china, and deleted my comment in which I had mentioned US, India, Europe as examples of countries for free speech.
I remember,I had faced the similar moral dilemma of finding out who is right or wrong when the US government had released the Human Rights report concerning china and other places in the world.I was torn,because at the same time it had given the permission under the Bush administration for some serious torture techniques to be used in the Guantanamo prison.
I believe that the scale of development is not a correct scale of any country's or civilization's human rights record. The real test of any country's human rights record is how it treats others when it is at the receiving end,all without bending the rules.
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