A good job is not necessarily a happy job

Life Skills

Anoop Verma

So you have now started to realise that you and your job are not a great fit. There is nothing new about having such a feeling. We look at the job as an activity that will allow us to make a living for few years, after which we can go on to becoming financially independent, due to some unidentified miraculous reason, and quit job to devote ourselves to whatever we really like to do in life. But we are not quite sure what to do with such a realisation. Should you quit? Struggle a bit and try to improve your situation?

There are no easy answers to these questions and if you are constantly brooding over the pros and cons of leaving your job, you can start feeling emotionally exhausted. The problem is that at the time of finding a job, we give more emphasis to things like ranking and superficial expectations. Hence we go for those “prestigious jobs,” rather than for the ones that can be more suitable for meeting our emotional, intellectual and financial needs.

A job that makes you feel drained at the end of the day cannot be sustainable, even if it has some amount of prestige associated with it. When the job becomes too difficult for you to even show up at office, or perform at the best of your capabilities, it is time for you to start planning a move to something different and perhaps better. The problem that you might be facing can be due to unsupportive co-workers, an inattentive supervisor or a long commute that leaves you physically and psychologically drained.

Rather than getting your career stuck in a situation where you are constantly feeling miserable, you might quit the job for keeping your momentum in life going. In case, there are other options available for you to make a change, like getting yourself transferred to a new department, picking up a new project, or asking for a raise, you can give it a try. But if you have already attempted those strategies and those have not worked, then you have to do all you can to take care of your own interests.

After all, a job is not only about getting paid at the end of the month, it is also about gaining new skills, experiences, knowledge, and the training that will help you grow in life.

Tech View

The social media is a remarkable tool for establishing new levels of communication and community. It can help you develop connections with a wide group of people in real time. Today the social media has changed the nature of work, play, friendship, business, political and social campaigns, and just about everything else. Yet many people are yet to get aboard the social media bandwagon. Even if they are on the social media, they only use it for chitchatting with friends and relatives and are able to utilise only a fraction of its full potential. The good thing is that the social media is easy to master. Here are few steps that will get you going:

Avoid faking

Perhaps it is even easier to detect a fake in the social media than it is in the real life. So you should avoid creating a social media persona that is unlike you. A fake persona will, in any case, be impossible to sustain, as you won’t feel genuine in the eyes of your friends, colleagues and business associates.

Speak from the heart

No one can be all things to all people. You don’t have to create new posts to please certain audiences, you have to post according to what you like. Also too many posts on mundane activities like what you ate, what movie you saw, will devalue your social media presence. You don’t want to devalue your overarching message.

Quality is important

It is not important for you to post every hour of the day or even everyday. If you have nothing important to say, then it is ok even if you don’t post for two days. Taking a break from social media for a couple of days and then coming back with some really good posts is also a good strategy.

Focus on creating real dialogues

Your social media site should become the hub for intelligent discussion on crucial issues. You can encourage such an outcome by asking questions, and soliciting ideas and input from the community.

Think before you post

You must have in mind the kind of outcomes that you want to achieve from your social media page. Before clicking on the “Send” button you should ask yourself if your post would help you achieve that particular outcome. Anything that is poorly written, confusing or offensive should not be posted on social media site. 

Language Skills

Musing over Indian English:  Hard going or plain sailing? – Part III

As discussed in the last two parts, the impact of India’s indigenous languages can be seen on Indian English, number of words are borrowed from Hindi, Sanskrit and other indigenous languages. However, it is observed that the grammar, while used by average speaker of English, is influenced by the mother tongue. Besides, few prominent features too were discussed. In order to make Indian English more intelligible to the world at large a compilation of good dictionary is a must. It will help to enjoy the equal status with British and American English.

We must acknowledge that creative English writers in India are making important contributions to the Indian English in particular, and to the science of English language in general. They are at the forefront  in the process of nativisation and thus making positive contributions to enrich the English family of languages worldwide, particularly Indian English.

Future Indian users of English despite their respective states and mother tongues might say “I am thinking it’s going to rain” rather than the British “I think it’s going to rain”. The obvious reason for such opinion (optimism) is that in language, numbers count and it is ever increasing but with the Indian flavour. The new Standard/General English, say, possibly with Indian characteristics would signify the end of the predominance of British or American English. Further, we need to be smart enough to understand the impact of indigenous languages, culture on Indian English. Let us not forget them.

We must understand that the stylistic influence from indigenous/local languages is a particular feature of Indian literature in English. Indian writers in English have tried to illustrate Indian culture, tradition, customs,   ethnicity, etc to the world not only in terms of understanding the country better, but also by establishing that the language no longer represents the western concepts of literary creativity as its ranges have expanded.

People are quick to censure all departures from the Standard British English forms. “Imperfections” in Indian English were held up to scorn. And, this censorship demands the standardisation of Indian English. The question, here, is shall we have a ‘model’ from outside which is somehow compelled to refer or follow Indian English with Indian flavour if it is best suited and understood properly by a huge number and leads to better creativity and self-expression.

The choice is personal again. Please do post your views on ‘what do you think about Indian English/ Indlish?’

(The writer is a Assistant Prof.  in Late BRD Arts and Commerce Mahila Mahavidyalya, Nasik, Maharashtra.  Email: [email protected])