They come from all parts of India, speak different languages, practice different religions, have dissimilar cultural imprint, distinctive eating habits and with lots of baggage of influence of their environment! And yet, when they become a part of Indian Army, they all become ‘just soldiers!’ Training changes their orientation – makes them focussed to accomplish missions, being unselfish, generous, conscious of their fellow beings and above all proud of their Units and Regiments! A new culture is imbibed that transforms their thinking to, “One for all and all for one!”
It’s often said in the Armed Forces, “If you are not in communication, you are not in command.” A lot of emphasis is laid on communication. Communication is not just string of words and little punctuation….it is about making connections…being human, making the recipient absolutely clear of the intent and purpose! For common understanding, a common vocabulary has been developed. Words have precise meaning and everyone understands what they mean. This makes communication easy in uncertain, stressful and volatile situations.
A peep into the world of Millenniums presents a completely different perspective! GenM’s world is more ‘virtual’ than ‘real.’ GenM lives comfortably in a maze of internet, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, virtual reality, cloud computing, analytics, crypto currencies and is moving rapidly towards artificial intelligence and machine learning driven world! They feel secure, socially connected, gratified living autonomously in this digital labyrinth! This living relegates human interaction to some back space! This back space is ‘virtual’ too and one wonders if it exists at all!!
The environment is pushing all to become high achievers! Individual accomplishment is celebrated! Education system is all about grades and ranks achieved ‘individually’! No team work at all, except a few projects which too are assessed for individual performance rather than that of the team. Exams are written from Class 1 to Masters. The only viva one has to appear is either for admission into nursery or for presenting desertions and thesis for MPhil or PhD. Lo and behold! It changes the moment one steps into world to earn bread, wealth and fame! It’s all about team work and winning together! Communication there is mostly verbal though lots of it is digital also now!
Old school to which one belongs believes, communicating with humans, working in teams and winning together’ is as much applicable in today’s’ world as it exists as of this moment. Verbal communication made of words and phrases still creates effect beyond imagination! A suave master of this art contextualises words to generate great power, stirs emotions and brings to fore sincerity in communication! Wonder if the language of the GenM is effective enough to connect the way the old school did!!??!! If it is, would be great to learn!
There is much talk about machines communicating with each other and learning from experiences. Often wonder if humans still learn through communicating on social media or are, they getting stymied!!?? Artificial intelligence is making humans interact with BoTs. Chances of speaking to a human to resolve issues or to even get information are diminishing through geometrical progression!!
New world! New vocabularies! New way of expressing emotions and exchanging greetings fascinates me as much as it depresses! Humans even use borrowed expressions to say how they feel! In the new language, emojis and GiFs are now more prominent than words in any message! Add to that messages and wishes composed professionally for a fee are sent around to convey something special!!??!! Must confess, the people who compose messages and create images, capture the real spirit of the occasion. Yet for me, it seems odd to outsource ‘expressing one’s feelings!’
Often wonder God makes each human unique but digital world makes them similar even in thoughts and expressions!! Life’s like that!! One stopped judging people and things quite some time ago! Now one just sits by and enjoys things around!
A Fistful of Logic........ 
Good morning Sir.The blog connects rather so very well. So, Going Forward, The learners and society at large would look up to solutions for a better living. All of them must be attractive enough to be immediately implementable. Physical communication is the key for people of all generations…
LikeLiked by 1 person