Season's Greetings. And Happy Social Communication.

Every year, it is Dussehra and Diwali that bring in the mood of Festivity. The marriage season also sets in around this time. And in the same delirious mood  Id, Christmas and New Year complete the happiness. Suddenly, the air smells different. The newspapers with advertisements splashed all over give a nice feeling early in the morning. And what if the days are small! The shopping and  the decorations make the day stretch on! Even in my small Housing Complex, I see lighting in several flats. Of course, the sky high prices of onions is a matter of concern this time. Hope the rates come down well and proper this week. Celebration without delicious food would be such a S-P-O-I-L.

All said and done, it is the time to meet and greet. It's the time for social communication. A few months ago, I was teaching Social Communication to a bunch of MBA students. I told them that Social Communication is an interaction of various groups. And such a communication is always fruitful. Business deals take place, marriages get fixed, new friendships are made, a job proposition comes your way and what not.

And just when I was saying all this, I blurted, "Imagine life without festivals and celebrations..." The immediate retort was "Oh, Ma'am, Life would be such a bore." Really, very boring. Wake up in the morning, get ready, go to work, return home, eat dinner and sleep. Festivals and events are such a respite. Our forefathers were truly intelligent to devise ways of entertainment and rejoice. God bless them! 

But then, like other Types of Communications & Celebrations, Social Communication also has certain factors and variables. The factors are interaction, warmth, verbal, non-verbal behavior and self-disclosures. The variables being individual nature, hesitation, etc. Unfortunately violence has also crept in the natures of  men & women, which brings happiness to nobody. Hope, reason descends on all of us. Hope, Social Communication becomes a matter of delight once again. 

            Season's Greetings and a Very Happy & Prosperous New Year to all my Readers   

College Students and Job Seekers.

It's not easy teaching students of professional colleges, particularly the students of media. And, I say this every time I check the Test Papers.

Barring a handful who do exceptionally well, I find the rest confused, over-confident and lost in the maze of uncertainty. These are students who after a massive struggle of getting into the college feel that classes are no good. And, that theory classes are a big humbug. Thus, even if I and the rest of the faculty tell them that there must be a genuine reason for starting these courses by the university, it makes little difference. These students believe that teachers are mere degree holders with little or no sense and that the best knowledge can only be gained by men in the field. Well, right and wrong! For knowledge gained from an authentic person can certainly be helpful and there is no doubt about it. Conversely, knowledge gained from an unsystematic, slimy and unreliable person( particularly in the initial stages), can destroy a career graph altogether. Mainly because it is not easy to unlearn what you have learnt. But then, that's that!

No amount of forceful argument helps. These willful students spend the next few years of their college life in canteen, parking stand, etc. and in short doing nothing to improve knowledge or skills. Yes, they do go about meeting the media people but not with the genuine intention of learning but with all desire to show the teachers and friends down.

Thus, they never do the assignments, never work on Grammar and Spellings so very essential in the field. They never understand the difference between 'Its and It's' nor between 'lets and let's. Yes, they pick up a few heavy words like 'Positioning' and 'U.S.P.' without understanding them truly. Naturally, they are unable to apply them in their Resume or Bio-Data which therefore remain as vague as ever!

But that's not all. Even if by dint of luck, these students get a chance to work at a good place, they show their egos. They scorn every small job, little realizing that it is these small jobs which take you to big projects and eventually have you accepted by seniors in their team. It has to be remembered that a perpetual reluctant person gets sidetracked and sidelined. Such a person is just left with false egos and nothing else. For soon, he realizes that the very friends who praised him have left him far behind in the promotion ladder.

But then, it all depends on one's luck I guess! Anyway for all my complaints about paper checking, I wish my students all the very best with a lot of prudence in life. God Bless.

I wish all my Readers

A Very Happy and a Joyous Holi

Sans Feeling or Inhuman! We Indians?

My son,who studies at a leading law college, was upset the other day. It seems, an established criminal lawyer was invited to their esteemed institute to deliver a guest lecture. And so some forty odd students, comprising both boys and girls and two lady professors sat listening with rapt attention.

In the course of his lecture, he discussed the various cases he had fought and won. All was well till he came to the part when he said how he had saved a client who had been charged with murder. The advocate mentioned in passing that the man had committed seven-eight murders before that. My son could take no more. "But what about the Professional Ethics, Sir " He asked. The advocate, who was presumably in his thirties replied a trifle annoyed that it was his profession to defend his client. My son couldn't contain himself and so this time addressed the lady professors. But, he was instead asked to sit down.

The Defence Advocate probably felt challenged. And this time he rattled something that was even more obnoxious than before. He said that he had once saved a man charged with raping a minor girl. The man had before that raped seven more minor girls. Surprisingly, in a hall packed with as many girls as boys (not to forget the two lady teachers), there was just one girl who stood up to protest.

Later when my son recounted the horrible tale, I exclaimed with disgust at the rape. It was at that, that my son checked me, "Aai(Mom)! Rape or murder both are bad. In fact any crime is bad. A Defence Lawyer's job is not to save the skin of a criminal but to place a clear picture before the judge. That is what is being done in Kasab's case."

While I felt proud of my son, I don't really know what to say about the rest of the audience particularly the girls and the teachers who allowed the lecture to take place in that manner. I really wonder if our leading Supreme Court lawyers and political leaders such as Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Singhvi, Arun Jaitley, Ravishankar Prasad would also support the lecture? It really makes me think, "Are we as a nation, sans any feeling or just plain and simple inhuman!"