Vacancies for writers

On a Sunday afternoon, as soon as I put on the TV, my mom felt I could utilize my time in a better way and gave me some flour to knead. Hence, it made sense to stick only to the local movie channel and avoid channel surfing. While watching the movie, my eyes fell on the ad running below, which showed “Vacancies for writers”.

Being a writer, I thought this was an opportunity I should explore. My hands full of wet flour I found myself so helpless, I had no clue how to take down the number. I rushed and washed my hands got hold of a pen, only to find out there was no ink in it. Managed to get another one but before I could write, the ad was off the screen.

I cursed my luck “Why does it always has to be me?” and got back to what I was doing…. kneading flour. Just as I am about to, get hold of something good, I am not ready for it… so I thought.

But some times you do get a second chance in life and so did I. Same evening, again the ad was displayed and this time neither were my hands occupied nor my pen without ink. So, I wrote the phone number and decided to call up the next day.

Long before the call I had thought about what I was going to ask and if they asked me to come for an interview, I would go the same day. After all, the employer should feel important (Dad said so…). Monday early afternoon, I called the given number, after about 50 tries, finally got through.

This was the most crucial part of the whole adventure, because this is when I discovered the ad was not about “Vacancies for Writers” but it was “Vacancies for Waiters” and for all I know, I was not remotely qualified or trained for the job.

In my excitement, I didn’t notice this huge difference even after seeing the ad twice. So as they say, all for the best, first time when I couldn’t write down the number was probably a sign that this was not meant for me. Also, this incident made me realize, the importance of paying attention to minutest details.

The sacred language - Sanskrit

Sanskrit, a forgotten Indian language, is derived from the word samskrta which means ‘perfectly formed’. Long ago, it was the language used by civilized India. There are innumerable languages that have used Sanskrit, for its formation.

Besides being a beautiful language, it represents the ancient culture of India, which was more spiritual and wholesome. The most powerful source of knowledge, VEDAS is said to be written in Sanskrit. Controversy surrounds its origin; some historians support its Indo-European link, while others vouch it to be the language of the divine interpreted by the Rishis (Sages).

Sanskrit being developed in an age when there were very few human civilization devices and so Sanskrit doubled up as a language and tool for memory improvement. In the modern times, strong similarity is found between the working of Object oriented Programming (OOP) and Sanskrit.

While it may not be a common language today, many people especially Indians have this hidden desire to learn it. Harish Shetty, top management personnel with one of Indian MNCs, says, “I am a firm believer that, if you learn Sanskrit, your ucharan (speech) becomes perfect”. Prakriti Sharma, a self employed lady says “Since Sanskrit is not very easy to learn, its best to start early. I will make sure to send my kid for Sanskrit classes by next year.”

While many people I know are learning French, German, Japanese and so on… my first priority would be Sanskrit. Nothing wrong learning these languages too but as they say charity begins at home, on the same line, learning begins at home. I might as well start learning, what my country has got to teach me, first.