Anniversary Contest

TEEGA is 11 years old.

A happy moment!  Could I be happier? Yes, I would have gone 'posts' ahead, had I been a bit more consistent.

For long, a website to showcase my interest in reading and writing was a dream. When it happened, I had to name the domain after someone who used to share my dreams. A few years of hesitation..., and eventually I became a blogger.

The frequency of my updates may be low. That is because I am neither a prolific nor a spontaneous writer. My eagerness to be accurate, brief and clear is another factor that slows me down. In spite of this, some of my posts have been well received, and generously appreciated  by you.

The Anniversary Contest, a gesture of gratitude, gives you an opportunity to win three bestseller books. Click here to go on to the Contest page.

I hope you will like my efforts, and continue to inspire and support me.

Thank you

The Other Side Of A Language

The author's profile in an all-time best-seller novel reads, 'He married his wife in 1951...." Marrying X, Y or Z, or even someone else's wife is possible, but how does anyone marry his 'own' wife? An error in reasoning? Well, let us gloss over this as acne on the face of a beautiful language!

Years ago, defending the 'Act of Union' in the House of Commons, Joseph Addison spoke: 'Mr. Speaker, I conceive...' An uproar cut him short. Addison started again, 'Mr. Speaker, I conceive...' For some reason he repeated, 'Mr. Speaker, I conceive...' A member in the opposition interjected: 'Mr Speaker, the honourable member conceived thrice, but brought forth nothing!' Well, thoughts are more viscous than words...!

In a play by William Shakespeare, Desdemona tells Othello: 'I understand the fury in your words, but not the words.' 

Reminding us of this quote, are some of the English speaking anchors on India's TV channels. We 'see' them talking at smoking speeds, seldom 'hear' them! Their eagerness to impress, pains us! We struggle to catch up with them as if on a 'pothole-filled road'!

They believe it is style that matters, not clarity or accuracy. They greet us with 'Very good morning,' never 'Very goodnight'! Comparisons sound profound when they say 'More better' and 'Much more better'! They make us believe that 'At this point of time' is more precise than 'Now', 'Put an end to' has a finality that doesn't come with 'End', and 'Return back' guarantees a reassuring 'Return'!  They seldom 'take a break' for commercials, but surreptitiously 'slip into a break'!  'Anyways'...

'Anyways'? Yes, because to most of them, the good old 'Anyway' sounds boringly stiff and staid! Who said only nouns can be plural? Trash the grammar! And stop drawing parallels with 'Anyone', 'Anybody', 'Anything', 'Anyhow' or 'Anywhere'.

Isn't changing a language 'much more easier' than spending years learning it?

   'When the English language gets in my way,

I walk over it.' 

                                                   — Billy Sunday