2bOR02b – That is the question?

To be or not to be … the well known soliloquy (monologue) from Shakespeare’s Hamlet has been fodder for thought ever since I read it in the book prescribed in my school curriculum. I bet everyone on this earth must have been victim to a particular cul-de-sac in their lives. It's a deadlock- either die to break the lock or persist in the situation. How often have people been brave enough to take the plunge rather than succumb!

Be it a school going child or an octogenarian-doting-great-grandpa, be it the king or the subject, a vagabond or a destination traveler, a cat or a lion, potato or onion- all have encountered it- To be or not to be ? It has been quite a question!

There could be an instance in which you have eaten loads, satiated your appetite and have not a centimeter room left in your tummy to accommodate another morsel. Your friend reads out the dessert menu aloud, and your taste buds reach out to your brain to accept the offer. The tongue wants it, but the brain says no! If there is a little more taken, there could be morning havoc :o) If you do not take it, you will regret the royal relish that your palette would miss. A question to reckon! 2bOR02b?

Another simple example would be engineering exams.

It is a general trait of engineering students to shirk studies until the night before the exam. Excuses are handy for any accountability to be taken for the anticipation of poor scores. The very prospect of flunking would send chills down the spine. I have had such experiences too.

No amount of studying helps as the time is too less when measured against the humongous syllabus. That is sure no consolation neither motivation. It only leaves with the guilt of insincerity and a feeling of helplessness. Few students with lambent wit and good humor often lighten the situation by cagey remarks “ Ab tak nahin kiya, toh raat bhar mein kya padh lenge” which are good enough to help recline and think on similar lines. This again devours some of the precious hours which could have been otherwise used to study.

The posing question would be – Should I be appearing for the exams or not? 2bOR02b? If I answered yes, I was sure to flunk. The humiliation of failing for once a topper would be poisoning. Similar debate over if I do not appear for the exam, I would flunk anyway, but with grace. If I took the exams and somehow cleared it, I could save one year. Would such unhealthy report be good for my career? How will I tell my family that I have passed and achieved only 50%? How will I tell them that I have failed? All such questions do stem in that sensitive hour.

How I wish it were a perfect world and such situations never haunted us! There would be no dilemma, hence less mental stress, and of course a healthy life.

Don't Ask, Why?

Don't Ask, Why?

Dogged and undaunted,
The eddies swirl high
Rising from the dungeon,
To ask the reason why?


Why is it on the top
The fear of tumbling?
Why is it at the ankles
The fear of stumbling?

Swept is the sand
Leaving it all-bare,
The heart understands it
But mind differs to care!

Why on land
The dales of honesty,
Now reigned by coup-
Of the brazen dynasty?

Why does the wanton wind
Play on the sea-bed,
Only to tear apart-
The imperturbable red.

Cast all whys
Exhorts the zephyr,
Questioning is but
Viling the fervour.

The withered optimism
Yet to fade away,
Strung rigid to the pole
Causing fears to allay.


Sketch the figure-
Of unabated determination ,
Splash the hue
Of honesty's culmination

Sweep all filth
From every nook,
Let the senses breathe
An unadulterated look!


The eddies will calm,
Time will bestow its balm,
Stretch your determined palm,
To clasp every helpless arm !

English Rigmarole!

I have been suffering from what is called the Obsessive Pronunciation Syndrome. Mostly, when I articulate in English, I tend to fumble for the fear of wrongly pronouncing whatever follows. I have been practicing this since childhood and deserve a pat on my back. I am improving. Improved but at the same time I have espoused an inexplicable habit of rectifying people on their pronunciation. As I believe in the truth of the adage “Old habits die hard!” it blissfully accompanies my conversations with sometimes quite unknown people. Either the audience is left in awe or the orator herself suffers from the guilt of insolence.

This has altogether become an involuntary act. I do not realize until the person I try to correct becomes quiet suddenly, or chases to bang my head. It would be fun to share some of those instances.

Now I hail from a geography where people are too good with their Pro-noun-ciations. That is how they would render it saying “Boss your pro-noun-ciation is wrong”.

Even funnier is when you travel to eastern India and you would come across people who would be in a serious attempt to vandalize the language – “Babu, the baash wheel leebh!” Please move your ass sorts! Well to decode- it would read as “Babu, the bus will leave”.

There are these western Indians who would say “Jigness’s wife laa-oo-s(loves) me a lot and she has flow-less (flawless) skin” :)

Northern India has peculiar articulations as they love to ‘tamper the temperature’. They would say ‘Delhi has very high tamp-rature and they swat(sweat) like pigs!’

The South has some royal distortions of consonants itself. The man himself is flip-flopped…. YEM YAY YEN! (MAN).

Thankfully, the Central India has spared English and they seek refuge in Hindi.

All of the citations above are my own experiences and I have tried to correct the speaker but to minimal avail as I said- Old habits die hard.

Then come the urban educated who think they speak correct English but are oscillating between the American and British English. I fell prey to this too. Watching English movies has totally ruined my understanding of the English that I learnt in my school days. I am unsure most of the times when I pronounce a word . Let’s say for example the word ‘leisure’. You can either call it lee-zhur(American) or ley-zhur(British). Recently my friend corrected me on the pronunciation of the word ‘Nazi’ which should be correctly pronounced as ‘Naatzi’. Similarly you have the Peetza (Pizza). The British ruled India for two centuries and left us their language. My primary school English teacher had aptly described this as a ‘Horse Language’.

There are certain other words which great orators would use with utter poise like
‘Epi-toam(epitome) of kindness’. Folks I cannot control any further and I have to correct you here. It’s pronounced Epi-tuh-me. Another word which has been ringing in my mind is Duplex. Just to sound chic people call it “Dew-play” which is 200 % wrong. It is to be pronounced ‘Dew-plex’ .Phew! what a perplex! Heard of penchant? You can pronounce it pen-chunt or po(nasal)-shaw(nasal)… How on earth can a person remember so many variants of a word? Well that’s what the English seers are for.

I think if I do not stop here, I will go on and on. If you think I mispronounced any word above ;) do stop by and help me learn.