misunderstanding!... or miscommunication? (part 1)
People around the world have to get along with people unless they want to become an anti-social person (one who does not want to socialise). One of the most important things one has to master in order to successfully get along with people is communication. People all around the world have invented many many forms and means of communication called languages. And languages have some sort of grammar associated with them that are mostly ambiguous. However, being able to convey one's thoughts in an unambiguous manner is the key behind mastering the art of communication. Unambiguously! that's the key.
Sanskrit is one of the languages (if not the only) that has an unambiguous grammar. I'm not a linguist but I've read experts say that it could be the human-spoken language best understood by computers, due to its unambiguity. Now, if only we used it more often than it is being used today... if societies existed that relied mostly/completely on the sanskrit language, we could realise its true potential.
Many times I've desperately felt the need for such an unambiguous means of communication. I still remember (and always will) the earliest incident in my life when I realised the importance of good communication.
I was in my 10th standard and was one of the bold, outspoken students of my class. While most students would be scared to ask questions or doubts in class, for fear of failure in communicating properly, for fear of uttering something that may turn out to be the stupidest thing ever said in class, I would care the least and boldly ask whatever came in my mind. Of course, I too will sound really stupid sometimes, but for me, it didn't matter. Every once in a while, I will be the mouthpiece of our class when it came to talking to a teacher or some person of authority. So this once I was to ask a senior teacher Ms. Rama, permission to give her class up to another teacher Ms. Uma, since what she was about to teach in her class had been already taught before and the students felt that there was a lot more that need to be covered in the other class for the exams. As far as I remember, and as far as my classmates who stood beside me when I asked her for permission, I was polite and she was quite calm. She replied quite normally that she would have to think about it.
Later that day, Ms. Uma came into class disturbed and angry. She called my name and asked my why I had to do that. She told us that there was an argument among the two. Apparently, Ms.Rama thought that it was Ms.Uma who wanted us to approach her. Luckily for me, one of my classmates supported me and told Ms.Uma that we did not use her name. So, it turned out to be all good with Ms.Uma as she understood the whole situation. But, my reputation of being a smart student in Ms.Rama's class was scarred forever.
Now, was this misunderstanding? Did Ms. Rama misunderstand my thoughts due to some reason. Or was this miscommunication? Did I fail to communicate my thoughts in the most articulate manner possible. Since we both never had a chance to talk about this in our lives, we will never know...
Whenever similar incidences happen in my life, I remember the first... No matter how many times such incidences have happened, I still do not know the answer to the question:
Is it misunderstanding? or is it miscommunication?
Sanskrit is one of the languages (if not the only) that has an unambiguous grammar. I'm not a linguist but I've read experts say that it could be the human-spoken language best understood by computers, due to its unambiguity. Now, if only we used it more often than it is being used today... if societies existed that relied mostly/completely on the sanskrit language, we could realise its true potential.
Many times I've desperately felt the need for such an unambiguous means of communication. I still remember (and always will) the earliest incident in my life when I realised the importance of good communication.
I was in my 10th standard and was one of the bold, outspoken students of my class. While most students would be scared to ask questions or doubts in class, for fear of failure in communicating properly, for fear of uttering something that may turn out to be the stupidest thing ever said in class, I would care the least and boldly ask whatever came in my mind. Of course, I too will sound really stupid sometimes, but for me, it didn't matter. Every once in a while, I will be the mouthpiece of our class when it came to talking to a teacher or some person of authority. So this once I was to ask a senior teacher Ms. Rama, permission to give her class up to another teacher Ms. Uma, since what she was about to teach in her class had been already taught before and the students felt that there was a lot more that need to be covered in the other class for the exams. As far as I remember, and as far as my classmates who stood beside me when I asked her for permission, I was polite and she was quite calm. She replied quite normally that she would have to think about it.
Later that day, Ms. Uma came into class disturbed and angry. She called my name and asked my why I had to do that. She told us that there was an argument among the two. Apparently, Ms.Rama thought that it was Ms.Uma who wanted us to approach her. Luckily for me, one of my classmates supported me and told Ms.Uma that we did not use her name. So, it turned out to be all good with Ms.Uma as she understood the whole situation. But, my reputation of being a smart student in Ms.Rama's class was scarred forever.
Now, was this misunderstanding? Did Ms. Rama misunderstand my thoughts due to some reason. Or was this miscommunication? Did I fail to communicate my thoughts in the most articulate manner possible. Since we both never had a chance to talk about this in our lives, we will never know...
Whenever similar incidences happen in my life, I remember the first... No matter how many times such incidences have happened, I still do not know the answer to the question:
Is it misunderstanding? or is it miscommunication?
posted by Swami at
11:21 PM
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