Refractive Thoughts

Proverbial knowledge via proverbs like ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ holds the test of times in almost all walks of life and around the globe, unless of course you are an Indian!  The phrase essentially means an extensive knowledge or close continuous association with someone or something can slowly trigger a loss of respect for them or it.  We Indians dare to be different and in our context this phrase has a unique connotation.  Let me explain a few scenarios… At noon on a weekday, my friend wanted to venture into his friend’s office.  ‘You should meet this character at his office’ - he told me.  I immediately countered ‘wait at work we mustn’t disturb him.’  My friend had cast a magic spell around his friend’s life or so it seemed - ‘don’t you worry; if he is in a meeting he better step out.  After all I’m his childhood friend.’  In essence, my friend felt an adrenaline rush to capitalize on his familiarity!  While my friend’s friend probab...

World today is more digital than ever before, a ‘x-times’ factor exaggerated by the pandemic.  The universe of typos and auto-corrects and the ensuing embarrassment must be borne with our heads held high, but then with our tails between our legs!  Political gaffes are dime a dozen, and the media feasts on them.   English for many of the non-English speaking countries is an official language, including here in India.   “Engleesh is a punny language; I can talk engleesh, I can walk engleesh” is AB’s famous dialogue from the movie Namak Halaal delivered in his own inimitable style, sums up the scenario. IT companies have invested heavily in training their employees.   Soft skills training is perched at the top of the corporate training list as a much sought-after initiative.   The emphasis in this area was the consequence of a rude awakening that jolted this industry which predominantly had focused on technical coding skills.   Many a new entity mushr...