.
Myriad
cultural changes have taken place in India within a decade and plus. With the
advent of technology, life all over the world has changed drastically in every
aspect. Everyone, young and old, has become techno savvy and is enthusiastic to
adapt to new changes that the time demands. No doubt, it is a very positive
sign to change oneself to the contemporary situation as life is governed by the
technology these days. An awareness of cultural , social, political shifts along with the pros and cons of
technology enable one to deal with daily affairs with maturity and dignity.
Social networking sites have brought people nearer across the world, and yet, at
the same time they have distanced the immediate neighbors. These radical changes
are really disturbing and need a sincere and honest thought. As a result, the
charm of communication, human relations, and human values -- where physical presence
matters, physical touch matters, eye contact matters, hearty smile matters—all
are missing. Many times, to my utter surprise, I find young boys and girls sitting indifferently
engrossed in surfing their smart phones even at birthday parties and religious functions--
communications is on the decline. Language,
the essence of communication, too has been changing with the passage of time. Nostalgically speaking, friends used to gather
at somebody’s place or at
a restaurant in the evenings to chat and
share their ideas, and to discuss. Now people have suddenly become busy and professional
– No time to engage into a hearty communication – all these changes have been
taking a toll on the usage of languages. In the present situation, visual
language is taking precedence over verbal and written language. Visual language
through visual images like photos, posters, hoardings is governing the whole
cultural scenario. Social networking sites like FaceBook, Instagram, WhatsApp –
all bombard with visual images. If some FaceBook friends try to engage friends
with written message—without a visual -- these written messages are surely going to be brushed aside. Leave alone simple communications or
discussions, my heartbeats
become uneven suddenly when I read in the newspapers about closing down of the
famous book stalls. Treasure houses of knowledge, books stalls, and
the famous ones in cosmopolitan cities too, have been disappearing one by one.
It really makes me sad! Earlier, books
were the main source of gaining knowledge and to feel the diverse cultures of
the world. By reading the book of different authors of different countries, one
would get the perfect feel of those
diverse cultures. The authors would make us journey into those countries with
such vivid descriptions that we never ever felt an alien while traversing those
countries in to those pages. The writer’s elaborate description fused with
reader’s fancy created a wonderful journey and a wonderful world for every
growing child and an adult. Those mental
journeys in to abyss kept us busy, happy and well informed.
Recently, when I visited printing press in a neighbouring small town, I
saw a small poster pinned to the display board. The small poster was conveying
a huge message, directly and indirectly. Take care of apostrophes and commas --
language is changing ! Since the technology has entered into our life, the
usage of language has changed considerably. Specially,the language of messages
in social sites has taken a new shape—it is conveniently shortened and without
any punctuation marks. We have already
lost several languages and some are on the vanishing verge. It is time to think
seriously about usage and saving of languages.
