Ok, so you think you can spell?

.....That don't impress me much!


Ah so what is this post about?

A spell checker? Those wiggly red lines on a Microsoft document? (and my dislike for American English) , The teacher who used to mark spelling mistakes with red ink? -- Nope.

The further away we are moving from being consciously aware of our spellings as we type out more than we write? -- Partly. Didn't realise this until I began mis-spelling words and using a right click to correct them , rather than bother to re read and correct!

And contrary to the title lines of this post, mostly on how I base my judgement of people on whether they can spell or not. Of being put off by bad spelling and more so by bad grammar.

Some say that its the beauty of the English language that it is so fluid, others seem bent to give the language a runny nose!

Of late have noticed people writing their names online in all small letters. Instant put off. Some would argue its convenience. But its your name! You just don't do that to it! Ah and if someone says 'He don't' instead of 'he doesn't' then I would have instantly written him off! Okay. well not that drastic. But the good books are closed :P

Language is by no means a measure of the nature of a person. You might have a heart of gold or be a genius and still be horrible at spellings.

But language sure is the world's window to a person, one which allows us to take a peek in and form an impression. It is his presentation to the world and then some more. I daresay even a measure of how sophisticated and cultured a person is. Definitely more than the clothes he wears or the brand of his footwear - The very shallow hallmarks of judgement these days.

Had read somewhere that bad spelling is worse than body odour. Here is me vehemently nodding my head in agreement!

The wonder years

Reclaimed an old email account and an associated blog of 6 years back today. My! what kids we were and what we are now.The password I had used at that time itself was hilarious. Memories.

and the old emails. Of people I am hardly in touch with now. Just a new year wish and maybe a birthday wish. The years between us. Of how we thought the friendships would remain the same and the plans to always always stay in touch.

Of the twists and turns life has taken, for some for the better, for others for the worst.
Of the novel a friend had started on our lives. Still unfinished.
Of pacts... some silly and some still kept until date.
Of friends still cherished and as close and others lost forever.
Of pure innocence and joy.

The wonder of the bygone years and the uncertainty of the years to come. Makes for a heady cocktail on a quiet day off.

At an arm's distance please!

Remember assembly time in school? When the teacher asked you to stand at an "One - Arm Distance"? In my opinion one of the most valuable lessons ever taught at school!

Now there are so many people who somehow never caught on to this all important concept. Its sometimes a necessity to step hard on peoples toes in a line just to make them realize they are imposing on your personal space. An elbow or an umbrella comes handy too! ;) Manageable so far.

But then there are people who just don't know where to draw the line. You really don't have to come right up to my face to speak. My hearing is alright and I am sure I can hear you from 5 feet away!

If I am polite doesn't mean you get to poke your curious nose into my life. I am not your new found best friend... I have my friends , thank you and guess what, they know how to respect personal space too! It makes you cringe to tolerate their over enthusiastic friendliness, the obvious inability to decipher or just an intentional overlooking of the subtle and not so subtle 'back off' hints! Whatever happened to minding your own business? So infuriating.

Then there are the kinds who want a minute by minute live update of everything in your life. Like a twitter feed into your day. Always, always an intrusion! Master of Art, Specialization: "Getting on people's nerves"

Boundaries are important. The more you respect that, the more respect you are bound to get!

The Futility of it all!

Such are times when words fail you. The shock of the situation is mind boggling. So is the stupidity. And then there are the reactions. The buffoonery of the media and the bottom of their heart felt concern of the 'leaders'. They could well be thrown down a bottomless pit.

So what do we do? Put up status messages saying "What is happening?" and " Can India ever put an end to terrorism?" and some say "We should kill the terrorists". Great Idea. Are you going to kill them?

Our heroes go in ill-fitting bullet proof jackets and helmets and are soon declared martyrs. While the terrorists tote AK 56's and hold the nation hostage. They are 'sophisticated' terrorists...We on the otherhand like to keep stone age weaponry and technology. The tax payers money can be put to better uses... You know we the politicians have a whole generation of our families to look after , after all!

The journalist shoves the mike up a newly released hostages face and wants to know how he feels. The Dim wit politician sitting in a studio discusses the political fall out of the situation. Oh look! the UPA's image is going down a notch. Oh and those English people being held hostage.... what would happen to the England India match now? Woe be us! :| Oh they have grenades, we are using our "fair share" of grenades too... Don't you worry! All terrorists are flushed out. Oh look there is one more! Must have been playing hide and seek.

Hey what was that 'we will stomp out all terror...' statement we issued last time to the public? Was a good one...change the date and issue it again. Keep it handy. We might need it again you know!

What else do we do? Discuss it over lunch and dinner? Sit glued to the TV, Blog about it? So its just one way of expressing yourself. Nothing against it. But the futility of it all is exasperating. Express your self all you want but what do you do about it? What am I doing about it? The answer is none of us have a clue. We could all debate endlessly about what needs to be done. I for sure have my ideas and you yours. So we debate. What then? What could or would a common person do about it?

The Charade continues and then we forget. The indifference is appalling. Its scary on how far the indifference can go. Maybe the only time we would be concerned would be when the bullet would come and hit us. Too late for concern then.

Numbing.

Yap yap yap $#%@%#

How in the world can people talk so much! Yap yap yap nonstop. It’s like a verbal form of diarrhea. And it’s equally painful to the one on whose ears the nonstop jabber falls! After a while the mind wanders away while those words still keep hammering away on your ears. Worse so if the person is talking to you and you have to give that occasional nod out of politeness.

One nod and the hammering begins with renewed gusto. So much for politeness. I mean don’t they ever take a break? So much potential energy being converted into sound….When it could be put into so many better uses :D

And as I listen to the endless talk, all of it stories of how they did this and that and that too. …my mind goes into this zone. I wonder if it would come to a stop if I suddenly stood up and screamed loudly….or maybe poured cold water on top of them. Pretended to faint…. Something!

Seriously. How in the world!