By Samata, P.
To begin with, I would like to relate an amusing story - Once, two mice were being chased by a cat. The two mice were - a mother mouse and a child mouse. After, quite an exhaustive chase, mother mouse in a bid to scare the cat away, started to shout like a Dog, "Bow, Bow". Immediately the cat had to give up the chase thinking some dog is chasing her. Then in a very philosophical tone the mother mouse started explaining the child mouse that sometimes learning a second language comes in handy. Though English has come to us as a foreign language in the pre-independence period, in the post-independent India it has emerged as a powerful medium of communication. Today, it stands as an indispensable language.
Communication as a Skill
Throughout history, people always reflected on the origins of communication. "Emperor Frederick -the 13th century ruler of the Holy Roman Empire -wanted to know what language had been spoken at the birth of mankind in the Garden of Eden. Was it Hebrew, Greek or Latin? He ordered an experiment in which the original circumstances would be recreated as closely as possible. A group of infants were to be isolated from hearing human speech from the moment of birth until they spoke their language. The babies were to be raised by nurses who were strictly charged to maintain complete silence when with the babies. The result? Every one of the babies died. The lack of communication can be lethal." -Robert Bolton, People Skills. (Handbook on communication Skills)
Consider these instances as well: Let us remember the biblical story of the Tower of Babel. It shows that the people of the world come together to build a tower that would reach heaven. In a single stroke, their efforts came to naught because they were besieged by befuddled communication, resulting in breakdown of coordination. Intended message was frequently miscommunicated, misunderstood, mis-quoted or even missed altogether because