Anoop Verma
When you are systematic in applying your efforts, you can develop a skill for almost anything. Most people are unable to develop the skills that they need to excel because they are not efficient in deploying their mental and physical resources. You are supposed to work on something important, but you can’t stop yourself from spending few more minutes on the Internet, doing what? Posting a status update on Facebook! It is time to get rid of your email and Facebook addiction.
The great Greek philosopher, Aristotle, had got it right more than 2000 years ago, when he said, “We are what we do repeatedly.” By persistently following a set routine of specific tasks, you can dramatically improve your skills ranging from empathy, to focus, to creativity, to summoning positive emotions. You have remarkable capacity to influence the outcomes in your life, but it depends on the amount of practice that you are ready to put in.
For developing your skills the main thing that you require on your side is time. What is the biggest time waster of all? Of course, it is sleep. Everyday you have to lie down on the bed for an average of 8 hours doing nothing. Some highly motivated people sleep for only 6 hours. Can you do it without having any detrimental effect on your health? Think about it. But you can only inspire yourself to stay up for longer periods of time if you have some real passion for your work. It is passion that fuels focus, resilience, and perseverance.
It is our natural tendency that we pick up the easy work first and then move towards the difficult work, but according to experts that is a wrong strategy. However, most efficient performers, delay gratification and take on the difficult work of practice in the mornings, before they do anything else. This is because in the morning most of us have least amount of distraction and lot of energy. As the day goes on the level of distractions increase and your energy level also go down.
Alongside doing all the hard work, you also need to take regular breaks to rejuvenate yourself. A period of relaxation after intense effort serves the purpose of mending your spirits and embedding the experiences that you have already had.
Tech View
Use Viber for making free calls through your smartphone
Recently Facebook purchased Whatsapp for $19 billion. But now the dominance of Whatsapp is being challenged in the area of free calls and messaging by a start-up called Viber. Many users are relying on applications like Viber, Whatsapp or Skype to cut down their local and international calling costs. These applications use Voice Over Internet Protocol or VOIP-based communication services to provide users with messaging and voice calls services without incurring any telecom fee.
Available for iOS (iPhone), Android, and Blackberry platforms, the Viber application lets you make free phone calls and send free text messages to anyone who also has the application installed. For making a call to a landline or to a mobile number that is not on Viber, you have to pay a small fee. The system in Viber is similar to Skype except you don’t need to add contacts or ask for IDs. With Viber, you don’t even need to register. You know your phone number and so do your friends. Viber uses your phone number as your “identity” and lets you make free Viber phone calls to any of your friends who have Viber – using their phone number.
Once you have downloaded Viber, you will receive an access code via SMS or callback to activate Viber. The access code ensures that you are the real owner of the cellphone number you have registered and prevents others from obtaining your access code and placing calls with your caller ID. You can make calls and send texts via WiFi, as well as via 3G. It doesn’t matter whether you and your friends are on the same network or even in a completely different country, you can talk and text as much as you want! Just make sure your friends have Viber.
The calls on Viber are reputed to be of HD quality and as good as what you have in regular voice calls. Today more than 200 million mobile phones are using Viber. If you have recently purchased your smartphone, then it is possible that you might have Viber pre-installed in the device. The newest version of Viber has added smileys and other default images.
Anoop Verma
English Language in India
It is generally supposed that the study of English was imposed upon Indians by Lord Macaulay with the sole purpose of serving the end of the British Administration in India. From being a language rooted in colonialism, English has become the language that has given India an edge over countries where English is a foreign language. In urban India, it is very common to see young people code-mixing and code-switching between English and other Indian languages.
English literature written by Indian authors has made its mark in world literature. RKNarayan uses popular Tamil and Sanskrit words freely in his novels; for example: bonda; sadhu; rasam; samadhi; asura and so on. The flexibility and adaptability of English has fascinated him, and for this reason he has chosen it as his medium of story telling.
In India, where more than 18 different state languages co-exist, English serves as the connector between people speaking different mother tongues. So more than two hundred and fifty years later, the number of Indians who wish to learn and use English is still growing steadily. According to David Crystal, “British English is now, numerically speaking, a minority dialect, compared with American, or even Indian English.”
In fact, Indian English is a recognised dialect of English, just like British received pronunciation or Australian English, or Standard American. It has a lot of distinctive pronunciations, some distinctive syntax, and quite a bit of lexical variation.
Grammar, idioms, and usage in Indian English
For those aware of the grammar of Indian tongues, such as Bengali, Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil, the logic behind the quirks of Indian English is quite transparent, and readily explicable.
The progressive tense in stative verbs: I am understanding it. She is knowing the answer. This is an influence from traditional Hindi grammar.
Variations in noun number and determiners: He performed many charities. She loves to pull your legs. Staffs are requested to come in white dress.
Prepositions: pay attention on, discuss about, convey him my greetings. Most prepositions in English are direct mental translations of the approximate postpositions in Hindi.
The past perfect tense used in verbs where international English speakers would use the simple past: I had gone for I went.
Use of would instead of will as in “I would be going to New York this weekend”.
Use of the words but or only as intensifiers, such as in: “I was just joking but.” or “It was she only who cooked this rice.” (Influenced by Hindi syntax).
Anglicisation of Indian words especially in Chennai by adding “ify” to a local Tamil word.
Use of yaar, machaa, abey, arey in English conversation, mainly by people of native Hindi-speaking origin; da, machaa are more frequently used in the South.
Overuse of the words Generally/Actually/Obviously/Basically at the beginning of a sentence, e.g “Actually I am not feeling well.” (http://en.wikipedia.org//wiki/india.english).
Idioms and Popular Phrases
Many of these idioms and popular phrases are heavily influenced by the way Indians express these ideas in their native languages.
“Your good name please?”, meaning “What is your name?”. This is a carry over from the Hindi expression shubh-naam, literally meaning “auspicious name”. It is an indication that the questioner wants to know the person”s formal or legal name, as opposed to his or her nickname, which is commonly used among friends and family.
“Out of station” to mean “out of town”.
“Join duty” to mean “reporting to work for the first time”. “Rejoin duty” is to come back to work after a vacation.
Some Indian English words: cousin-brother (male-cousin), eve-teasing (harassment of women), godown (warehouse), opticals (eyeglasses), scheduled caste (lowest Hindu caste)
(http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/indianenglish.html)
(R. Narayanan, Dr. N. Rajasekharan Nair and Dr. S. Iyyappan)
