Let’s call it a reading challenge!

Confession time! I have been wanting to improve on my reading habit from a long time. Back in the days... (High school days I mean :P) I loved to read. All kinds of stuff – classics, fiction, non-fiction, good bad, short, long, sad, happy, inspirational and everything else. And slowly I just stopped reading. And like everyone else, I found a million things to blame it on. School, friends, family, time, newer hobbies etc. And I always promised to myself that one day – one fine day – I will get back to reading.

I guess now is the time. I have decided to start reading for pleasure again. And since I have a very short concentration span, I will have to have a plan. So let’s do this – From now on, every time I pick up the book, I will read at least twenty pages. Not too much I know, but may be a good start.

Some calculation –

I am reading The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama - Its 415 pages in total. So if I read twenty pages every time I pick up the book, I should be able to finish this book in about twenty days. But since I am on a vacation, I can read more, or may be twice. So let’s say forty pages every day. And that way I can finish reading the book in ten days. Not bad!

Wish me luck :)

P.S. Feel free to be a part of this challenge, cz it's like challenging yourself to read better stuff more often :)

War between languages!

The Republic of India, Federal republic Parliamentary democracy, with a population of 1,132,446,000, and official languages of Hindi and English. Most people in this country speak Hindi; it’s a declared official language along with English.

British brought English with them. They left the country in 1947, but I think they forgot to take their language with them. We owe them for this! Really! After all, India’s large English speaking population is what’s bringing more global business to the country. On a more personal ground, I feel that it’s easier (at least for me) to communicate my thoughts in English than in Hindi. I can say anything deep, meaningful and convoluted in English without making it sound too dramatic or tacky. Several examples exist. Imagine an evening when the guy drops his girlfriend back home after a date. While bidding good bye, he says ‘I love you sweet heart. Have a good night.’ Sounds normal right? Well let’s try this in Hindi now… Translation in simple day-to-day use Hindi would be ‘Jaanu, main tumse bahut pyar karta hu. Asha karta hu ki tumhari raat achchi beete’ Damn!! What a turn off! That was one. Now I don’t even want to go into translations of the curse words.

But I am sure it’s not the case for all. Some might feel more comfortable speaking in Hindi. Girls… How many times have you heard ‘I wanna friendship (read as phrandsip) with you’ or ‘I doesn’t goes there’. Ridiculous! But what I don’t understand is, why do these dudes even use English at all? Proposing a girl for friendship or whatever, is definitely not the best time to practice/improve your English speaking skills. Especially when you are talking to an Indian girl, who surely speaks Hindi (or at least one the regional language). Clearly, they are trying to play ‘cool dudes’.

So here is my point… Why a ‘cool dude’ talks only in English? Is speaking in Hindi that un-cool in a country called Hindustan? Strange!

It is becoming a social norm slowly. Go to any big city, and you will hear the youngsters talking, walking and mocking the language. It sure is cooler, but that still doesn’t make Hindi un-cool. In spite of being the official language, Hindi is not that well accepted by the so-called-sophisticated society. Just a few minutes ago, I was ridiculed for the reason that I studied in a school where the medium of instruction was Hindi. Hell no! All my courses (Mathematics, Science, Reading, and of course English) were taught in English. Only social studies were in Hindi. Which actually made me pretty proficient in the language. I read some famous Hindi literature also. It gave me an insight to a different perceptive. I am sure the Indian youth is missing out on this kind of literary work. But when I moved to a different school after 8th grade it was taught in English. But wait a minute, Hindi or English, how does that matter? Is that a reason to laugh at some one? Did it make a difference in what kind of person I am? Or how I talk? Or how I think? Well I don’t think it did, except it exposed me to a native world which is hidden from a lot of my fellows.

So instead of feeling low about being laughed at, I feel proud of myself. And like myself even more J By this post, all I want to convey to the readers is that don’t let English over shadow our own language, Hindi. You might feel more comfortable speaking in one or the other language, but please don’t disrespect the language, don’t type cast it. Next time when you talk to me, I might not speak a single Hindi word, but always know that I love the language!!