Spoken Word: Jugalbandi of Words and Art

Love of poetry and storytelling made me stop flipping radio stations and listen to “The deck of cards” by Tex Williams;

Experiencing a Haruki Murakami moment “Whatever it is you are seeking won’t come in the form you are expecting.” I  discovered a form of art, Spoken Word.

An estuary of narrative and music for the soul.

A confluence of words and performing art, dance and theatre.

All this, over a banal trip, ridden with gnarling Delhi traffic, browsing through FM channels indifferently, driving back across 3 states from work.

I was in the throes of a scripturient urge to celebrate my finding. The drive seemed longer than usual, there was so much to do; quench my curiosity by reading more, attend to a deluge of examples, listen to new finds and compile a playlist. Most of this though, was curtailed to the luxury of late evenings that afforded time for myself.

Political motivations, social causes, religious discourses, leadership speak, life experiences, stories, folklore and many more expressions have found themselves in this experimental art form. Examples of which will follow.

Sunscreen,  Are you lonesome tonight, Yeh kahan aa gaye hum, have been all time favorites, only today I  know better, I can flaunt the genre of music they belong to and discover more such gems.

Here is a playlist

1. Baz Luhrmann: Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
2. Johnny Cash: What Is Truth
3. James Brown: King Heroin
4. The Shangri-Las: Past, Present and Future
5. Tex Ritter: A Deck of Cards
6. Elvis Presley: Are you Lonesome Tonight
7. William S. Burroughs and Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: Words of Advice
8. National Lampoon – Deteriorata
9. Kenny Rogers: Coward of the County
10. Dolly Parton & Kelly Rogers: We got tonight
11. Gil Scott-Heron: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
12. John Cooper Clarke – Evidently Chickentown
13. Jim Morrison: A Feast Of Friends
14. Material: Seven Souls
15. Jim Backus & Friend: Delicious
16. Laurie Anderson: O Superman
17. Jimmy Dean: Big Bad John
18. Paul Hardcastle: 19
19. Maya Angelou: Ain’t I a woman
20. A Life Story: Look at yourself after watching
21. John Cooper Clarke: Beasley Street
22. Slint: Good Morning
23. Prince Buster: Judge Dread
24. Talking Heads: Seen and Not Seen
25. Ballboy: A Day in Space
26. Ballboy: I hate Scotland
27. Ivor Cutler: Life in a Scotch Sitting Room- Check out the entire series
28. The Velvet Underground: The Murder Mystery
29. Abba: I have a Dream
30. Loudon Wainwright III: History
31. Buddy Starcher: History Repeats Itself
32. Jimmy Dean: Big Bad John
33. Byron MacGregor: The Americans
34. Victor Lundberg:  An Open Letter to My Teenage Son
35. Obama: Yes We Can

There are several songs with parts in spoken word. Explore the musicians in the list. Drop in a comment if you like any of these or have suggestions.

Coming up: A playlist for Hindi spoken word songs. Stay Tuned!

Office Vocab: For the Meeting Magnate

A never ending slew of meetings, hopping from one discussion to another, rooster calls, tap on the shoulder-conversations, arbitrary one-minuters,  trainings, beeping reminders, conflicting calendars, overflowing schedules and endless brainstorming sessions. If this sounds familiar, snatch a minute, read and humor yourself with these 30 Meeting Jargons, most which will be familiar territory.

1. Air it out: Discuss it openly and sort it out.
2. Arrows to fire: all the ‘pointed’ arguments that make your quiver and your case.
3. Babylonian orgy: They port you to an exotic destination, trap you in a conference room and inundate you with presentations until you drop dead bored in bed.
4. Birdtable: Yes it is yet another meeting, one called to meet and discuss an issue before assigning tasks. Pre-meeting!
5. Blamestorming: Meeting to find a scapegoat for the failure.
6. Boot camp: A company training program.
7. Brain dump: brain storming!
8. Brown Bag: A seminar or training scheduled during lunch break.
9. Burn grass: To sit down as a group and discuss. Yes you sometimes wonder what they are smoking, too!
10. Charm school: A derogatory term for new manager training.
11. Chinese fire drill: A project or meeting that is characterized by frantic confusion and chaos.
12. Commonplate: To present a topic for consideration, so that all members of a group have the same information.
13. Cone of Silence: Indicates a private, confidential conversation.
14. Counterposing: When ground-level staff outwit management by using more jargon, more pointless questions, and more vague commitments than their superiors.
15. Delegut: That conference delegate whose sole contribution seems to be that of demolishing the lunch buffet and gulping liquor.
16. Diagonal slice meeting: A large meeting involving staff from several teams.
17. Dog and pony show: An overly staged presentation that has more style than substance.
18. Facipulate: A mix of ‘facilitate’ and ‘manipulate’, it refers to influencing the course of a discussion by indirectly promoting certain lines of thought.
19. Goat rodeo: an embarrassing/chaotic meeting
20. Grip and grin: Obligatory hand shaking and fake smiles before a meeting. exchanging pleasantries.
21. Hammer out: To reach a consensus after a long debate.
22. Meeting assassin: Someone who hijacks a meeting with excessive questions or endless follow-on observations. You need to be a ninja.
23. Prethink: Discussing an idea or proposal with a smaller group before broader delivery.
24. Robust dialog: A productive conversation between co-workers involving open, honest discussion.
25. Rooster call: Those unearthly early morning meetings.
26. Sidebar: A whispered conversation between co-workers during a meeting or presentation.
27. The Potpourri Round: the set of short topics at the end of a meeting that do not necessarily fit with a meeting’s purpose or objectives.
28. Three-martini lunch: A business meal with multiple alcoholic drinks.
29. Wallpaper a meeting: To fill a conference room with people that agree with your position.
30. White smoke meeting: Marks the point when a client approves a big contract.

Time to attend to the calendar tickler! Gotta go 🙂

Word Play

English is amongst the wordiest languages. Perhaps the wordiest. It boasts of a million plus words. 80% of which are borrowed from other languages. Contrast it with French, which has some 10,000 words. An average educated english-speaking person has a basket of 20,000 words! Although we use about 2000 words a week. Words fall into categories and patterns. I have attempted to put together a list of word classification which, in practice, are easy to identify with and often used, but their nomenclature is not necessarily so.

What I learnt from Stephen King ‘On Writing’

Your life experiences shape what you write. Gather more. Reach out, within. Then expand the experience to imagination.     Find your nook; your go to place, for reading and writing. Nothing ostentatious. Nothing distracting. A place which allows your mind to travel to a state of hypnosis.     Reading is a non-negotiable.     Write each day, every day.     “It ain’t how much you’ve got, honey, it’s how you use it!” Use words that come naturally.   Keep your sentences simple. Put your reader, first.  Be understood. Back to basics. Go back to your school books on grammar. Use active voice over passive voice. The meeting will be held at 1900 hrs: Passive. The meeting is at 1900 hrs:Active The road to hell is paved with adverbs. “You’ve got a good butt” she said cheekily. Swifties. They are such fun. Noun + verb = sentence. Example Dilpreeta writes. – Plums deify! “Your job isn’t to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up.” Ideas and stories are everywhere. There is no method to the madness and there isn’t a training that suffices. Substance abuse DOES NOT make you any more creative than you already are.

Each writer has idiosyncrasies. Find your style.

 

When browsing a book, check for; style of writing, use of paragraphs, sentence construction, spacing and you will know what you are setting yourself up for.

 

What you read is the style of writing you imbibe. You will begin writing what you love to read.

 

Honesty is indispensable. Don’t write to please.

“If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered.”

 

“Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s”

 Good descriptions begin with clear seeing and end with clear writing. Writing that employs fresh images and simple vocabulary.

 

Get the description right. Not too long, not too short. Not prescriptive, not ambiguous. It should aid the imagination of the reader in his or her own unique way.

“Symbolism exists to adorn and enrich, not to create an artificial sense of profundity”

Dialogues is a skill set best learned by people who enjoy talking and listening to others-particularly listening, picking -up the accents, dialects, rhythm, and slangs of various groups.

 Every character you create, when writing, is partly you. 

  Best stories are character-driven. They are about people and not events. 

 

Don’t work with an end in mind, let the characters evolve, the story will flow. Enjoy the journey.

 

Boredom can be a very good thing for someone in a creative jam.

 

Research enough to tell a back story not build a manual. Complement facts with imagination.

 

Share your writing only when it is reasonably reader-friendly

 

“You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you”

You can’t please all of the readers all of the time; you can’t please even some of the readers all of the time, but you really ought to try to please at least some of the readers some of the times.

Writings are like letters aimed at one person. That one person, is the writer’s ideal reader, the one for whom she writes.

 

Track those rejections. Acceptances will follow.

“Optimism is a perfectly legitimate response to failure”

“Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open”

 

Learn from all the critiques and comments you get. 

When revising for pacing, just leave out the boring parts

 

 

“Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings”

After writing the first draft, let it rest for a while, quite a while, until it feels like reading the work of someone else, a soul-twin, perhaps. It is always easier to kill someone else’s darling than it is to kill your own. Now reduce the second draft by 10%.

 

 

…and these weird people are needy!

 

On Motivation- write because its fulfilling. “The act of writing has been a little act of faith, a spit in the eye of despair.” “Writing is not life, but I think that sometimes it can be a way back to life.”

 

Finally, the scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can only get better.

 

Birthday’s are always special. They bring you treats and treasures. Thank you, Shabani, for “On Writing” and for the note in it.

A list of 100 “what’s the word?”

Ironically, vocabulary can make a person of few words a person of fewer words. Especially when you stop fumbling for “that one word” that best describes a nuanced feeling, situation or a thing? I have felt tongue-tied and on other occasions plain curious if there was a word for it setting me up for some random browsing. What I found, was a bunch of words that were fairly descriptive and interesting. I began categorizing 100 words; from being prohibitive & amusing, almost like a secret language, on one hand to conversational & slang on another.  From a usability perspective, I am inclined to remember words that are both easier to use and easily understood; there is no pride in not being understood.The rest are at best trivia, to complicate your world!

 

Warming-up with the simpler words:

 

1.      Aglet: that little plastic bit on the end of your shoelace or drawstrings.

2.      Aphthong: alphabets used in spelling a word but not in pronouncing it, essentially silent alphabets in a word: Example: Knife | Knew | Knight | Wednesday; Yes, people ‘d’ is silent J

3.      Akimbo: love standing with your ‘hands on your hips and elbows outwards’? The position is called Akimbo.

4.      Barm: the foam on your beer is barm. Cheers!

5.      Beblubber: the swollen eyes and face due to crying. She looked beblubbered-for crying out loud!

6.      Box-tent: That plastic tripod that comes in your pizza box is a box tent. Not only does it have a name it has a patent too.  

7.      Brannock Device: Useless trivia but did you know that the instrument used to measure your feet at the shoe store had a name?

8.      Claptrap: pretentious empty language or writing. Use of big words which mean nothing, are insincere. If you do end up familiarizing yourself with these words you will surely fall into this trap.

9.      Clinophile: a person who loves beds. Need I say more? Need to go back to my reclining, clinophile position.

10.  Contranym: a word that can be its own antonym. Stumped? So was I. Let me come to your rescue with some examples

a.      Cleave: to sever | to cling

b.      Off: Activated (alarm went off)| Deactivated (turn it off)

c.       Weather: to withstand (she can weather any situation)| to be worn away ( she looked weathered)

11.  Cut a finger: Now this one is a favorite and oh so helpful. Should you have been exposed to farting and body odor, in set ups you can barely do much about but make a graceful exit, I have just the phrase for you-Cut a finger meaning “to cause a disagreeable odor.”

12.  Diacritics: extra marks added to a letter that changes the sound of the letter, or add an additional sound or meaning to the word. Examples: accent marks, tildes, and umlauts.

13.  Digamist: someone who marries for the second time – easy one

14.  Dringle: does not exist in any dictionary. It is the water mark left behind by condensation, from a glass, on your furniture. 

15.  Dysania: difficulty in getting out of bed in the morning. Mondays and everyday.

16.  Ergophile: Don’t call them workaholics, near mad people who are itching to be productive, all the time, are ‘ergophiles’.

17.  Feat: a dangling piece of curly hair. I would call it sexy! Exception being the 1950’s plastered feat.

18.  Fudgel “Pretending to work when you’re not actually doing anything at all.” 

19.  Furfur: flakes of dandruff.

20.  Glabella: The space on your forehead between your eyebrows.

21.  Googleganger: a person with your name on google search results. Go, ego search.

22.  Grawlix: The string of typographical symbols used to indicate profanity (“$%@!”) is called a grawlix.

23.  Griffonage: illegible handwriting. A dedication to kids growing up on touchscreens and keyboards.

24.  Groke: Hungry or greedy, admit it, you have been guilty of ‘looking at somebody while they’re eating in the hope that they’ll give you some of their food.’

25.  Jayus: a joke that is so unfunny and told so poorly that one cannot help but laugh

26.  Intestate: ‘One who dies without a will’ and causes a havoc may I add.

27.  Kummerspeck (German): Excess weight gained from emotional overeating. All emotions count. Ask me.

28.  Lethonomia: the inability to recall someone’s name. These descriptions are why I love this list.

29.  Lirp: snapping your fingers.

30.  Jamais vu: Opposite of Déjà vu. Been there, seen it but seems like it’s totally new

31.  Mondegreen: misheard lyrics. Happens to me all the time!

32.  Monepic: a one-word sentence. Next time when someone replies with ‘great’, ‘cool’, ‘thanks’, ‘welcome’ they are replying in monepics not monsyllables.

33.  Mopsicle: Having a dopey, blank expression on one’s face.

34.  Morton’s Toe: When your second toe is bigger than your big toe.

35.  Palindromes: words that read the same forward and backwards: Examples: Mom, Dad

36.  Paraph: a little squiggle at the end of someone’s signature.

37.  Paresthesia: is that tingling sensation when your foot falls asleep.

38.  Montivagant: Wandering over hills and mountains.

39.  Phosphene: The lights or stars you see when you close your eyes and press your hands to them.

40.  Philistine: one who does not care about art, literature and the works.

41.  Psephology: study of election trends. A word you can flaunt in the current scenario of Indian general elections.

42.  Polyglot: Someone who knows many languages.

43.  Postscript: PS: the note you write after signing off, it is a postscript.

44.  Punt: indent under the wine bottle

45.  Rasher: A single slice of bacon.

46.  Recto: right hand page of a book

47.  Regicide: murder of a king.

48.  Riposte: a quick clever reply to an insult or criticism. Is there a word when you inevitably think of a smart come-back later?

49.  Sapiosexual: I know most of us would like to believe we are sapiosexual; find intelligence sexually attractive, when we are being plain ol’ school sexual.

50.  Scripturient: Possessing a violent desire to write. I am so totally conversant with that feeling.

51.  Scroop: swooshing sound made by ball gowns and dresses, essentially silk

52.  Seigneur-terraces (French): Coffee shop dwellers who sit at tables a long time but spend little money.

53.  Semantic Satiation: Ever look at a familiar word for so long that it starts to look and sound completely strange? That feeling is called Semantic Satiation.

54.  Sinecure: well-paid but no work! Some of us want to be there, not me. Want to be well-paid and with lots of work!

55.  Tarantism: A disorder characterized by an uncontrollable urge to dance. The number of times am overwhelmed with this feeling! Car, office, bedroom. Only I don’t think it is a disorder. It brings order to my life.

56.  Tartle (Scots): that panicky hesitation just before you have to introduce someone whose name you can’t quite remember.

57.  Tittle: The dot over an ‘i’ or ‘j.’

58.  Wamble: the sound of a stomach growling.

59.  Wheeple: a poor attempt to whistle loudly. Joke of a whistle.

60.  Wings: Those back flaps on a bra are called wings.

61.  Zarf: cardboard sleeve wrapped around your take-away coffee cup.

       Use these at your ow peril.

62.  Acersecomic: Did you know Rapunzel was potentially an “acersecomic”!  ‘A person whose hair has never been cut.’ So much for her tresses! Only it is used more often to refer to an unkempt look.

63.  Anandipsia ‘an incredible desire to drink any liquid’. Use this word and you can hope in hell you’d get a drop to drink!

64.  Bakku-shan (Japanese): We all have checked out a woman cross us only to be thoroughly disappointed when she turned around. Here is a slang for the woman- Bakku (back)-Shan (beautiful).

65.  Biblioclasm: The practice of destroying, often ceremoniously, books or other written material and media. Now I can think of all those aching hearts ceremoniously destroying pictures of their ex. Does the Jab we met scene fit the bill here?

66.  Caruncula: The small, triangular pink bump on the inside corner of each eye is called the caruncula. Eww am not using this word for sure.

67.  Crurophilous: Liking for legs. Really, it sounds terrible. More like someone was possessed, but then that’s what it’s meant to convey- possessed by legs.

68.  Deipnophobia: a long day at work followed by a social life can sometimes cause you to suffer from Deipnophobia- “a morbid fear of dinner parties.”

69.  Discalceate: take off one’s shoes or barefeet.

70.  Eschatology: The part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind.

71.  Ferrule: The metal part on a pencil.

72.  Finifugal: If you’re finifugal you’re afraid of finishing anything and… Oh God… I can’t… I can’t.

73.  Frenulum: the stringy little muscle under your tongue. Show it off – Cluck! Cluck!!

74.  Hamartia: The character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall. Achilles heels.

75.  Hirci: Under arm hair. Who wants a word for it?

76.  Hypermimia: waving the hands about excessively while talking. Guilty.

77.  Icker: corn still on the cob. 

78.  Infandous: Unspeakable or too odious to be expressed or mentioned.

79.  Karoshi (Japanese): Death from being overworked. I know there are many takers for this sentiment. They should not be so proud is all I can say.

80.  Leptosome: A person with a slender, thin, or frail body.

81.  Lethologica: mental block for certain words

82.  Lunule: The white, crescent shaped part at the top of a nail.

83.  Noegenesis: Production of knowledge.

84.  Nudiustertian: The day before yesterday. Can we just stick to day before yesterday?

85.  Pelinti (Buli, Ghana): ‘to move hot food around in your mouth.’ Patience!

86.  Pentheraphobia: fear of mother-in-law!

87.  Perlicue: the skin between the thumb and index finger.

88.  Petrichor: the smell after rain

89.  Philtrum: the bit between your nose and your mouth.

90.  Pogonotrophy: The act of cultivating, or growing and grooming, a mustache, beard, sideburns or other facial hair. Men, experiment.

91.  Recumbentibus: A knockout punch, either verbal or physical.

92.  Sesquipedalian: Given to using long words, words with a lot of syllables. Ironical, we would have such a long sinuous word.

93.  Shemomedjamo (Georgian): Gluttony and greed making you relentless chomp into more than what you can stomach. That’s the feeling that the Georgians are helping you describe, “I accidentally ate the whole thing.”

94.  Skeuomorph: “A design feature copied from a similar artifact in another material, even when not functionally necessary.” For example, rivets on jeans, copper color on pennies and the shutter sound on a digital camera.

95.  Tragus: the hard bump between face and ear

96.  Ultracrepidarian: A person who gives opinions and advice on matters outside of one’s knowledge. Stop counting the names and rolling your eyes.

97.  Welter: A confused mass; a jumble; turmoil or confusion.

98.  Xenization: The act of traveling as a stranger. A dream!

99.  Yonderly: Mentally or emotionally distant; absent-minded.

100. Zugzwang: A position in which any decision or move will result in problems.

Wonder ‘what’s that one word for…’ moment called. Hmmm. Until then suggestions, feedback, comments?

Word Trap

Word traps are ever so inviting, swallowing us into gaffes and indiscretion. Some borne of sheer ignorance others of confusion.  The pedagogue instinct in me prompts me to  question, why should I learn alone? Then again, nothing is selfless. Driven by selfish motivation, to have you walk into fewer word traps and in the bargain check me when I do, a list of word traps follows:

1. 100s ≠ hundreds. It is one hundreds.
2. 360 degrees = back to square one. Diametrically opposite is 180 degrees
3. A.D. ≠ After Death. A.D. = Anno Domini – Latin for “in the year of the Lord.”
4. B.C.E = Before the Common Era and C.E = Common Era is the new, less sectarian A.D. and B.C.
5. A.M. = Ante Meridiem Latin for “before noon”. P.M. = Post Meridiem -“after noon.” Hence 12 A.M. L. It is noon. Period.
6. Able to: People are “able to”. Things are not “able to”.
1. You will be able to read through this document.
2. Crawler will be able to read through this document. Incorrect.
7. Accurate ≠ Precise
1. Accurate measurements reflect true values.
2. Precise: The degree to which an instrument or process will repeat the same value.
8. Actionable  ≠ Doable
1. It is a legal term for something that provides ground for legal action or lawsuit. So please watch text of your next email and MOMs.
9.  Ad nauseam  ≠ ad nauseum and definitely not ad nausea.
1. Ad nauseam is  misspelled to quite a “sickening degree”!
10. Administer not administrate. The latter is just an unnecessary substitute.
11. Admission works across contexts but admittance is physical entry to a place. Hence signs say “No Admittance”
12. Advice vs Advise
1. Advice is a noun- I want to seek advice on this matter.
2. Advise is a verb- She makes a living by advising people on self-development.  
13. Agnostic ≠ Atheist
1. Agnostic: do not believe that existence of god can be proven.
2. Atheist: do not believe in god.
14. All in all not All and all.
1. Meaning: All things considered, after all, nevertheless.
15. Allude vs Refer
1. Allude = indirect reference or suggestion
2. Refer = direct reference
16. Almost & Only
1. Modify the word or phrase that follows immediately after
2. Almost: She almost donated twenty grands to the NGO. She donated almost twenty grands to the NGO. There is a big difference!!
17. Alternate vs Alternative
1. When you mean ” every other” it is alternate.
2. Her spa appointments are on alternate Sundays.
18. Amoral vs Immoral
1. Amoral is unrelated to morality
2. Immoral is when you denounce someone’s behavior.
19. Ancestor vs Descendant
1. Your grand-parents are your ancestors, you are their descendant. (Famous Harry Potter verbal bumble)
20. Antihero vs Villain
1. Antihero is a central hero who is not very admirable. Not a villain.
21. As Best vs As best as
1. Eliminate the second as. Example: I will do as best I can.
22. A Piece vs Apiece
1. Apiece = each | A piece = part of something
2. Example: the shoes are just 500 bucks apiece. Serve me a piece of the pie.
23. Attain vs Obtain
1. Attain = reach, often with difficulty and effort | Obtain = get
24. Augur vs Auger
1. Augur = foretell | Auger = tool for boring holes
25. Avenge  ≠ Revenge
1. You avenge a wrong not revenge it.
26. Avocation vs Vocation
1. Avocation = hobby | Vocation = Job
27. Awhile vs a while
1. Awhile (adverb) = for a time. Example stay awhile
2. A while = object of preposition. Example stay for a while.
28. Asocial vs Antisocial
1. It is in the intensity. Indifference to society is asocial, hostility is antisocial.
29. Asterisk *
1. Pronounce it with the “isk”. Not as Astericks / Asterix/Asterik!
30. Back seat vs Back-seat
1. Back seat as a noun: sit in the back seat.
2. Back-seat as an adjective: back-seat driver. Back-seat area
31. Back up vs Back-up
1. Back up: as an activity. Back up the car.
2. Back-up: as a thing. Back-up files.
32. Backward vs Backwards
1. As an adjective it is always, Backward. Example: backward approach, backward glance. When in doubt use backward.
33. Based around vs Based off vs Based on
1. Based on it is. Plot is based around/ off is incorrect. Plot is based on…
34. Beg Belief vs Beggar belief
1. Beggar: implies to make one’s abilities seem poor or inadequate. Hence beggar belief/description.
35. Beg the question
1. An argument that improperly assumes as true the very point the speaker is trying to argue for is said in formal logic to “beg the question.”
2. Example: This car is expensive because it evidently cost a lot.
36. Belief vs Believe
1. Acid test: You have a belief; you do believe.
37. Benefactor vs Beneficiary
1. Benefactors give benefits; beneficiaries receive them
38. Beside vs Besides
1. Beside = next to. She was sitting beside me.
2. Besides = other than/ in addition to. What are our options besides the ones I stated?
39. Better
1. I better get dinner, before the kitchen shuts: is incorrect. It is I ‘had better’ shortened to ‘I’d better’.
40. Between
1. Between X and Y, X to Y. Visit me between 3 and 4 not 3 to 4.
2. Between you and me, not you and I
41. Bi and Semi
1. Bimonthly/weekly  = every 2 months/weeks
2. Semimonthly/weekly = twice every month/week
42. Blatant
1. Means brazen not obvious. Hence use it with discretion. It is definitely not flattering.
43. Blindsided vs Blindsighted
1. When you are struck by surprise from an unexpected direction, you are blindsided, as if from your blind side.
44. Bloc vs Block
1. A group of people or nation are referred to as a bloc. Hence, bloc of right winged leaders, united nations bloc.
45. Bon appetit
1. pronounced “bone ah-puh-TEE”. All other versions are bon a rien (good for nothing)
46. Bored of vs Bored with
1. when you get tired of something you are bored with it (not of it).
47. Born of vs Born out of
1. It is born of and borne out.
48. Brainchild
1. A person is not a brainchild, a product or thing is of one’s creative mind.
49. Bring vs Take
1. Bring = Arrival | Take = Departure
2. Bring me chocolates from Switzerland. Take her presents from India, when you travel next.
50. British vs English
1. Britain = England + Scotland + Wales and are called Britons
2. English = England only.
51. Bumrush vs Bum’s rush
1. Bumrush: to crash into a show hoping to see it, for free. A police raid.
2. Bum’s rush: To be thrown out unceremoniously.
52. Buck naked vs butt naked
1. It is actually buck naked!
53. Celibate vs Chaste
1. Celibate = unmarried. Could be having wild sex hence not chaste!
2. Chaste = someone not having illicit sex. Could be having wild sex with spouse!!
54. Censor | Censure | Sensor | Censer
1. Censor: think movie censor board
2. Censure: is to official denounce as offender
3. Sensor: your electronics are equipped with sensors!
4. Censer: Church incense burner
55. Centre on and revolve around.
1. Centre around! No.
56. Chicano | Hispanic | Latino
1. Chicano = Mexican American
2. Hispanic = Spanish + Latin Americans
3. Latino = includes Portuguese speaking Brazilians
57. Coat Tails vs Apron Strings
1. Coat Tails: to hold on to coat tails is to be a free loader, get unearned benefits
2. Apron Strings: dependency. Mama’s boy
3. No such thing as coat strings!
58. Coiffeur | Coiffure
1. Coiffeur- Hairdresser | Coiffure- Hairdo
59. Colon vs Semicolon
1. Colon : connects. The grocery list is as follows: Tea, sugar, coffee, milk
2. Semicolon: separates. I have been working on this post for 2 hours; I can’t get enough of it.
60. Compare to /with
1. When drawing similarities use ‘to’
2. When comparing similarities and dissimilarities use ‘with’
61. Concerted effort
1. Is always of a team, not of an individual.
62. Conflicting vs Conflicted
1. Conflicting feelings not conflicted feeling.
2. One does not feel conflicted.
63. Continual vs Continuous
1. Continuous = uninterrupted.
2. Continual = happening periodically /repeated
64. Connote vs Denote
1. Denote = literal meaning | Connote = how it is understood
2. Example determined and pig-headed denote stubbornness. The former has a wise connotation the later a foolish one.
65. Cope with not Cope up
66. Couldn’t care less not could care less
67. Council | Counsel
1. Council: official group that deliberates
2. Counsel: get advice
3. Consul: local rep of a foreign government. Foreign consulate
68. Crepe is pronounced as rhyming with step.
69. Craft
1. When used for vehicles like aircraft/watercraft it is both singular and plural. Hence two aircraft
2. When used for hobbies add the ‘s’. Handicrafts
70. Criterion-Singular | Criteria – Plural
71. Crucifix | Cross
1. Crucifix: Cross with Christ -Catholics
2. Cross- Just the cross- Protestants
72. Ethnicity
1. Afghan = citizens of Afghanistan, Afghan food/clothes/women. Currency is Afghani.
2. Arab = person from Arabian peninsula. Arabic = their language. Hence Arab food/clothes/women/customs/countries/group
73. Hybrid
1. “in the same vein” = “along the same line” but their hybrid “along the same vein” = No go.
74. One Word
1. Nowhere | Somewhere | Anywhere
75. Two words
1. “After all”
2. When Anyone means anybody then 1 word. When it means any single one then 2 words any one.
1. Example: Anyone can dance. Any one can qualify to the next round.
3. Any time is 2 words, traditionally.
4. Anyway over Anyways. Any way wins over anyway.
5. A cappella ≠ Acapela or any other version. Two words, two Ps, two Ls.
76. Gender and Numbers
1. Alumnus -male singular | Alumni – male plural
2. Alumna- female singular | Alumnae- female plural
3. When in doubt use the abbreviation alum!
77. Quantity matters:
1. Amount vs Number-Acid test: If you can’t count to measure, use number not amount.
2. Few = count, Less ≠ count. Example: I drink less coffee. I drink a few cups of coffee.
3. Likewise Many = count, Much ≠ Count. Example: Many people showed up at launch. Not much crowd showed by the launch.
4. Between 2 people but amongst 3 of us. Amongst is used for 3 or more.
5. It is As follows, always. Never as follow. Irrespective of the number that follows. My request is as follows.
6. Plural of basis = bases
7. Behavior is always singular.
78. UK vs US
1. Centre vs Center | UK = re,  US = er. That’s all!
2. In US: Anymore = Nowdays | Any more = all other uses. In U.K. there is just one version – any more.
1. I don’t party anymore.
2. You won’t make mistakes any more.
79. Redundancies
1. This year we got an additional bonus for the company announcing its IPO.
2. It was a memorable experience and plus we got some unique souvenirs. Same rule applies for ‘and also’ = and or also.
3. Advocate for- just advocate. I advocate for right to gender orientation.
4. All: In negative statements, one does not need all. All the guests were dressed in formals.
5. ATM not ATM machine. ATM = Automated Teller Machine.
6. As per | In accordance with: PFA the note as per /in accordance with your requirement . How about- PFA the note as required.
7. As yet / as of yet can be replaced with yet. I have yet not received the communication.
8. Close proximity
9. Compare and Contrast
10. Considered as | Regarded as | Deemed as. Do away with the as.
80. Be positive
1. ‘At all’ is used in negative contexts. Good: Can you not help me at all? Bad: Can I help you with anything at all?
2. Thank you- Good: You are welcome. Bad: No Problem. Unless you really would not like another such ask coming your way, be gracious and positive.

A lot more to come! WIP. Stay tuned

Marketing the brand, to you.

The  previous post on “Marketing the Brand – You” dwelled on the art of persuasion. The exploits of which, are aplenty, in the field of advertising and politics. A natural progression would be to identify these tactics at play and set your grey cells ticking, recalling brands and campaigns. Interestingly, as you begin to recall campaigns, it may strike you, that a majority of marketing campaigns lead with a primary tactic, but have an interplay of the others woven-in seamlessly into, stories of persuasion, they tell.

• Associations: forge a connect, arouse an emotion. Example Coke-Open Happiness. Nike- victory. The arsenal is well equipped with:
• Beautiful People: Before and after, a la fitness / fairness cream ad- the I could be like that feeling. A word of caution this can translate into an Oh I am so ugly moment too. Which is why read beauty magazine’s sparingly- they only make you feel ugly- Baz Luhrman
• Transfer to a warm and fuzzy place : the aww moment, use of children, puppies, friendship, elderly, vacations and good times (Kingfisher)
• Symbolism: Broom :: cleaning corruption for Aam Admi Party, Cars to sexy women being wooed.
• Nostalgia: simplicity which = higher quality; evoke memories of childhood, India’s partition- Google-Reunion Ad. Think Pilsbury Chakki fresh atta.
• Status- Snob value: discerning people drink Bailey’s. Usually associated with Luxury marketing.
• Patriotism: Buy American, Dress Indian, Drive German. Example: nationalized banks, Incredible India
• Brand name: Umbrella branding- P&G, Unilever, HUL. Endorsed brands- Polo by Ralph Lauren.
• Bandwagon: Join us: everyone is doing it! Don’t get left out. Example Blackberry boys and every social networking platform-Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram.
• Bribery: promise to give something: discount, specials, gifts, packages. 70% discount***, Mahindra club holidays, Saloons and Spas.
• Testimonials and Advocacy:
• Celebrities: Dime a dozen.
• Experts: Doctors for Skin, Health and Dental care or Mothers for baby care.
• Plain Folks: build authenticity. This one has become very popular. Example: Dove
• Customers: A great B2B card.  Example Accenture. The election campaign has several happy supporters show their vote of confidence through PDA and canvas.
• Scientific Evidence: Engines, Water Purifiers, well sometime it just sounds a lot of jargon and pseudo-intellectual.
• Explicit Claims: Come clean, through credibility and setting expectations. Transparency on product specification, what to expect, price, delivery, manufacturing, ingredients. Quantifiable metrics, effectiveness, reliability, guarantees. Example: E-commerce portals
• Fear: of rejection, non-conformity,  of not being able to achieve, of being differentiated. Example fairness creams will get you that job, marriage, do your parents proud and more; Is bad breath or body odor keeping you away from getting a date? Have you secured your family’s future? Get that insurance cover.  
• Humor: Likeability and recollection. This one is especially, tricky. You could boost or go bust. Example A “cheeky” one by Aston Martin, how about one closer home  Center Fresh- Yeh wala.
• Intensity: Load your ad with intensifiers- Superlatives (Best, greatest, fastest, latest), Comparatives (Fewer calories, better, improved, more), Hyperbole (incredible, amazing). Copy writers at work.
• Maybe: Now that intensity has led to tall claims, they must be neutralized with a * Terms and Conditions apply. Even if it means a 20 secs radio spot – mutual funds are subject to market risk. Put the onus on the consumer. Often used qualifiers are may, might, could, often, virtually, up to. Think Insurance, Discounts.
• Personalization: Use of second person. The message is addressed to “you”. Because “you” are worth it!- L’Oreal
• Neologisms: Flashes of brilliance by copywriters to coin terms to describe and convince: Chewy, longer-lasting, smoother-handling, mirror finish, meaty, nutty, crackly.
• Repetition: frequency of showing the ads, jingles. They will not relent! Airtel-Har Ek friend, “rings a bell”?
• The Big lie: is easier to pull off than a small lie. Be confident. Tell it with aplomb. Make a claim. Own the space.
• Charisma: Leadership position, strong, bold, confident. Brand image play a pivotal role here.
• Euphemism: garnish the ugly truth. Soften the expression. Layoff = Downsizing, Torture = intensive interrogation techniques. Remember the pre-owned cars by Aston Martin?
• Extrapolation: Small facts leading to huge conclusions. Ignores complexity. Over- simplification. Insurance seems to be a favorite.
• Flattery- cause you are worth it! “You deserve it,” The consumer is the smarty pants- can judge a good deal from bad: You, with that taste; oh the niche hobby, the talent, eye for spotting a deal. People who know their cars choose Thuderbolt.
• Glittering Generalities: generous garnishing of “virtue words” which give no details New improved, Safe, Caring, qualified,  Patriotism, democracy, civilization, financial freedom, beauty, love, science, health. Where these concepts can be evoked without evidence or delving into their meaning- All time fav- “NEW” where new = better/innovation, latest = best. Mobile, Gadgets, Automobiles
• Name calling- building negative associations and sentiments. Typical of at your throat technique. Pepsi vs Coke. McDonald vs Burger King.
• Rhetorical Questions: Ask questions audience will agree with you on. Builds buy in. Audience can relate. Example: Do you want to get rid of a headache? Do you want to secure your child’s future?
• Simple Solution to a complex problem: Axe deodorant can make women swoon over you. Fair and Lovely can bag you a job, beauty and appreciation
• Slippery Slope: An action (small) will cause an unwanted reaction (magnified). Example: Direct TV
• Ad hominem: Latin for “against the man”. Shoot the messenger tactic. If there messenger is objectionable, the message must be wrong too. Example: when brand ambassador receives negative publicity.  Tiger Woods affair cost corporate sponsors $12Bn in lost stock value. Companies such as Gatorade, Nike and Electronic Arts stock prices fell 2.3%, costing shareholders $12 billion or how about this  Dish Network ad.
• Card stacking. The half- truth No one can tell the whole story; we all tell part of the story. Here we “stack the deck,” selecting only favorable evidence to lead the audience to the desired conclusion. Example: high calories & sugar laden products boasting of low fat. 
• Causes vs Correlation: Misleading and confusing portrayal of cause and effect. It is like saying  Facebook active users are driving Greek crisis
• Analogy: Drawing parallels. Mac on Intel , Clear and internet access company.
• Denial: Think when a brand smartly uses negative occurrence in a compete situation to “not bring it up” in press. Celebrities: We are just friends!, No comment! They are actually tricking you into persuading them to ask for more.
• Diversion or Red herring: to divert attention to a lesser problem where convincing will be easier
• Majority Believes: Use of surveys and polls. Example: 4 out of 5 dentists recommend ABC.
• Scapegoating: Get the monkey off your back. Offshoring to India is the reason for high rate of unemployment in USA.
• False Dichotomy: You have only 2 options, nothing in between: either filthy, disgusting cloth towel OR you can use “Kleenex Hand Towels – a clean, fresh towel every time!”
• Straw Man: Come clean by building an illogical or deliberately damaged idea of an opponent , knock it off and presenting your own as easier. Less tedious to get a loan, fewer calories.
• Timing: Contextual and relevant: Cricket, Budget, Diwali, Valentine’s Day, Elections

Armed to disarm? Now don’t skip those ads. Makes for a fun game. Alright, tad bit geeky, but fun, nonetheless.

Marketing the Brand – "You"

Anecdotes, make for valuable lessons. People who share their life stories mentor us fortuitously. It is over one such conversation I was told that, in personal and professional life you always get what you negotiate for, not what you deserve. Well, the original thought was Chester L Karrass’  “In business as in life, you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.” However, what made it meaningful, was the narrative that followed. Needless to say, I had been subject to deft demonstration of negotiating capabilities.

On my drive back, I thought to myself that great negotiators would be rather capable in the craft of persuasion. A skill, I assume, we all would love to bargain in favor of.

Persuade means:

to prevail on (a person) to do something, as by advising or urging:

to induce to believe by appealing to reason or understanding; convince:

Thesaurus, can be quite a tool for learning. I don’t mean it from a “replace with a tougher word” perspective, alone. Look up, persuasive. Dwell on and internalize each of these synonyms.

Influential | Effective | Alluring | Cogent | Compelling | Conclusive | Convincing | Credible | Eloquent | Energetic | Forceful | Impressive | Inspiring | Logical | Plausible | Potent | Powerful | Valid | Seductive | Smooth| Actuating | Convective | Effectual | Efficacious | Forcible | Impelling | Stimulating | Moving | Inducing | Strong | Winning

Three thought bubbles popped in my head. First, how the often cited mechanisms of being persuasiveness were really not tactics, but aspects. Second, how advertising and politics had thrived on this expertise. Lastly, individuals are brands that need marketing.

Juxtapose the exploits of marketing and the aspects above, and the result is how  the brand “You”, can get people to do things that are in their own best interest, that also benefits you.

Be Purposeful:

• Self-Awareness: Understand your power and use it sparingly and knowingly. Refrain from brand dilution.
• Argue and advocate less often. If you don’t stand up for something you will fall for everything.
• See the larger picture, win the war: be willing to sacrifice

Listen, actively

• Articulating your stance is just the half way mark. Know the other side of the argument. Dialogue over monologue
• Assess how receptive people are to your idea. Build audience insights.
• What are and potentially can be their objections. Know your customer. Know your competition.
• What could be their moments of agreement. Know their BATNA (Best Alternate to negotiated agreement). Why would they switch?

Connect, Localize & Personalize

• Establish a common ground- an emotional bond. Uncover similarities
• Be likeable | Influence the subconscious | Empathize 
• Have a sense of humor
• Compliment- genuinely: Charm and disarm- “Because you are worth it”
• Example: by body language, mirroring, interests, life events, political views, social beliefs. This is used very well in the direct selling model like Tupperware

Acknowledge Credibility:

• Don’t argue facts. Don’t live in your world- get out there.
• Everyone is entitled to an opinion, make peace with it. Run research but remember it’s not sacrosanct.
• World is grey. Don’t be dismissive. Competition is everywhere. Create an opportunity. Create a need.

Shut up

• Don’t constantly berate people with verbal barrage. You are never big enough
• Step back. Look within. Look without.
• Whenever you ask a closing question, shut up. The first person who speaks, loses.”
• Give space and time for your idea to be absorbed and take root. Don’t give up.

Persuade the persuadable

• Identify the low hanging fruit. People that at a given time are persuadable to your point of view and focus your energy and attention on them.  Fine tune the Target Audience. Example: Identifying vote bank during elections
• Everyone can be persuaded, given the right timing and context, but not necessarily in the short term. Diffusion of innovation-Early adopter>early majority> late majority>laggards

Lend a context

• It creates a standard for what is acceptable. 
• Lend it a situation.
• Stanford prisoner experiment demonstrates the power of authority and situational attribution of behavior over dis-positional behavior

Time it

• Wishes and wants are a function of time. Example you want a hatchback when riding a bike and then a sedan when driving a hatchback
• Be an opportunist: Thank then ask. Example: Upgrades, Cross Sell.
• Spot the mood: Examples Festivals, Cricket, Budget

Inculcate the interest

• Keep the channels of communication open. You can’t persuade someone who is not willing to be persuaded. Find the window.
• Seduce | Bewitch | Charm | Serenade

Reciprocate:

• Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
• Invest. Create leverage

Be Logical

• Use rationale, facts and figures. 
• Power of asking questions
• “You cannot reason people out of a position that they did not reason themselves into.

Be Consistent

• Build predictability. Build Credibility

Be persistent:

• Winners don’t quit. Quitters don’t win. Example: Abraham Lincoln.

Set expectations:

• Don’t over-commit. Example Warranty, Guarantee, SLA

Don’t assume:

• Don’t judge. Don’t be biased. Example: Leapfrogging
• Give yourself and them a fair chance and choice

Create scarcity:

• It’s in the mind.
• Take back approach: your offering and yourself.
• Say no, to get a yes.
• Lost opportunity
• Example: Value based pricing. By invitation only, Exclusivity

Create Urgency:

• Not desperation.
• Establish value of time, opportunity cost.
• Motivation to act in present

Lend a visual:

• Choose the location
• Tell a story. Make it vivid with emotions. Pain or pleasure.
• Seed imagination
• Example: Movies. Bollywood!

Show the mirror

• Tell them the truth.
• Call a spade a spade.
• Example: Satyamev Jayate, Jaago Re, Before and After (Weight loss)

Be Flexible

• Flexibility not power lends control
• Example: Children. Pester power. They are willing to do anything to persuade- howl, charm, bargain, plead!

Bring good energy

• Motivate & Invigorate
• Heightened appeal to senses: touch, sight, emotion, speech

Observe:

• The practicing artists & scientists of persuasions: Competitions. Learns from the successful and those who failed.

Be Prepared

• Know your subject ( pun intended)

Conflict management

• Be calm, detached and unemotional
• Evoke trust
• Example: Feedback, Customer Satisfaction

Transparency

• Build the trust and faith
• Accept limitations

Use anger purposefully

• Sparingly.
• Not emotionally or due to lack of self-control
• Put your foot down

Believe

• Be confident. Be certain.

Start:

• Begin a job and seek help. Its leading by example.
• Example: Very handy for chores at home. Get your partner to help.

Over ask to compromise

• It’s difficult to refuse, consistently. What more, there is a sense of relief in giving in to a lesser ask/evil.
• Children do this rather well. Can we at least go play?

Be Inclusive:

• Use we. Have skin in the game.

Find Testimonials

• Showcase adoption by others. Their point of view.
• Seek recommendation. LinkedIn
• Example: News- quotes , Research: Paper citation

From “Marketing the Brand- You” to “Brands Marketing to You” The story telling will continue…

Unboxing Indian languages

My tryst with languages has been that of, love-hate. Education, across a string of schools and cities throws at you challenges, of what some might recall, as 2nd and 3rd languages. Compulsory languages, that you had to cross the mark on, to make it to the next grade. I had my encounters with Hindi, Bengali, Gurmukhi, Sanskrit and acquainted myself with French and Urdu. Thankfully, English was the marathon friend.

When it came to taking a second language, for boards, the hoity-toity had, French. As much as, the bourgeois bug appealed to me, I had to resign to Hindi “A”. Then, I had kicked myself for not having scored lesser, so that I could have been assigned to the batch of Hindi “B”. The scholarly subscribed to Sanskrit- oh boy, for that cramming! I have a fundamental disconnect with the whole, memorizing without understanding, school of education, but addressing that would merit an entire post. Honestly, I would have opted for neither French, nor Sanskrit, or the long tail German, Russian, and more. It’s the lack of choices, which sets you off on the “what if” mode. Sometimes, no option is not such a bad option, after all. It makes life simple.

In my brushes with Bengali and Gurmukhi, I learnt to read and write them. Speaking was another league, a preposterous one. Cat got my tongue, voice box would collapse, heart beat and swimming head competed to win the dash, eyes shied away from contact. It remains, a different league.

The task at hand, then, was to prepare sufficiently enough to decode the examination. Put a bunch of symbols together to, string essays, long answers, stories, letters to score 40 or 44/100. Modus operandi – out of the examination hall, out of mind. Admittedly, it was an art. An art of, shallow learning. On the brighter side, your formative years expose you to endless abilities, most of which you are not aware of and look back at, with bewilderment. As we mature we give in to self-doubt. Self-doubt, that stems from a constant monologue in our head telling us “now we know better- we were kids then-boundless” Interestingly, that ability to do unthinkable things is easy to replicate. Look at what one was a couple of years back, and the same feeling takes over-how did I do it then?

Little flair for languages has been a challenge, but am not willing to throw away presents from my past. Rekindling the literature which seems blurred and far.

Despite, English acing the list, there is always room for improvement. Improvement, which translates not into a bigger better basket of words, but a creative use of it. Romancing the language.

India is a land of abundant knowledge. The diversity we read about in our civics textbooks manifests in each family teaching children English, Hindi and a native language. Well, the idea is to neither generalize the first two nor their order but to state that on an average an educated Indian is conversant with three languages. Impressive.

In my case, am not too pleased that despite being of Sikh origin my first rendezvous with Gurmukhi was not until 8th grade, for a brief 4 months. Clearly, I could do away with it being so foggy. Read and understand the vaakh at gurudwara sahib without squirming. Shed the inhibition to speak, get the inflections, intonation and pronunciation right.

Hindi, is a different story all together. Somewhere the colonial hangover left Hindi with drooping shoulders, robbing us of pride in our own literature. Sound education, intelligence, sophistication were and if I may add, are the reserves of the English speaking. Hypocritical and biased. Hindi to me is hypnotic. Casual conversation with locals outside of the metro cities, profound deliveries by theater actors, riveting expressions of orators, storytelling by poets and writers has enticed me into rediscovering Hindi. Rediscovering Hindi is like rediscovering yourself, re-connecting, grounding, dusting off the bells and whistles. Speaking more of Hindi makes me feel warmer and connect better. Some expressions just cannot be translated, they are priceless as originals. True for all languages. Often we think in one language, translate that thought into writing or speech of another. I want to learn to think in the language.

Bengali’s are easy to spot. Perhaps a function of their accent, cliquishness, love for travel, cultural nuances, amongst many others. Revival of my dexterity in Bengali can go a long way in deciphering conversations my friends and colleagues indulge in – my field of marketing and advertising is besieged with the fraternity. More importantly, bond with the domestic help. Most importantly, it is a low hanging fruit when it comes to a language I have learnt to read and write in the past.

Sanksrit, is highbrow. It is a root language and to be able to do justice one must not be of fleeting interest, lend depth. Admittedly, I don’t fit the bill.

Indian languages are too inviting and have caught my fancy. The relationship began with the inescapable syllabus but has mushroomed into a promising canvass of understanding and connecting better with people. High on my wish list is Gujarati, Urdu and finally one international language, Spanish

While I get more conversant with English and Hindi, renew my familiarity with Gurmukhi and Bengali, explore Gujarati, Urdu and Spanish am cognizant that there are only so many languages I can unbox. The truest and most compelling are, unspoken languages- that of dance, music, emotions, art, sports and more. They germinate from our mind, body and soul! Universal.

Summarizing with Quotes

A tribute to my 3rd languages across schools:

“Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.”

“Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can; there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.”‒Sarah Caldwell

Thinking in a language: being a purist

“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.”- George Orwell

As food for thought

“Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.” ‒Oliver Wendell Holmes

“The limits of my language means the limits of my world.” – Ludwig Wittgenstein

On native language

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” – Nelson Mandela

On Hindi losing appeal

“Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.”‒Rita Mae Brown

On my inhibition to speak another language

“Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English. It means they know another language.”–H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

“…the only normal way to begin speaking in a new language is to begin speaking badly!!”

On learning multiple languages

“Those who know many languages live as many lives as the languages they know.” – Czech proverb

“To have another language is to possess a second soul.” – Charlemagne

Universal languages

“I’m bilingual, speaking English and body language. I prefer the latter, because I can speak it silently and without listening and while my back is turned.”

“Touch comes before sight, before speech. It is the first language and the last, and it always tells the truth”-Margaret Atwood

“silence is the language of god, all else is poor translation.”Rumi

Story of India- The Amul way

2014

History as we write it each day…

2013

Flashback of the year that was…

1978

India’s timeline-1978: The Amul way from Dilpreeta Vasudeva

1976