EVOLUTION?

Introduction

I don’t know whether I should caption this blog as Evolution or Devolution. Over a period of time things evolve. No argument about that. But with the post-millennials ruling the roost I am no more sure that everything is actually evolving.

Cases in Point

a)       English

b)      Dress codes

Persona Grata

a)       Adi

b)      Appoos

English and Adi

Adi is the son of one of my cousins. He is presently doing his law after graduating in English Literature. The particular encounter with him happened almost a decade and half ago when he was still in school.

Without going into how English came to be from the beginnings till the millennial and post-millennial kids came along, I was taught English in a certain way, which may be called conventional. Learning Shakespeare was imperative. You might think that is old English, meaning archaic. No Sir. There were different types of English before him. Then there were all the literary figures that people of my generation studied and loved.   Although it is conceded that English as we know came from a blend of many languages. She evolved.

And so I was quite miffed when this downright ridiculous, short messaging system (SMS) came up. I found it difficult to make head or tail out of the messages that I received. I never used it when I messaged. I took the original long route. As an aside I must tell you, when I worked for a couple of companies after retiring from Army, I used to receive applications, including for jobs, in SMS language! What cheek!

Well, to come back to the point, at the dining table, where I generally prefer to sit and discuss the maladies affecting our earth and world, I happened to lament about how English was being murdered. Adi took up the cudgels. He said, “once upon a time there was this thou, thee, thine and all being used normally. Is anyone using such archaic words now? So maybe the unwanted usages and spellings and words and all will undergo changes to make life easier". And why not, he asked imperiously.

Yes, we did use abbreviations while taking notes in college. That was basically private and exclusive. Each one had his own unique creations.

Also, in the Defence Forces we have our own short forms which are forceful and more interestingly, sounded romantic! Try “wilco” for example. Those are meant to be used in wartime as there is no time for longwinded sentences when shells are flying around! We practiced the short form both while writing and speaking.

There was also this 'short hand' developed for a specific purpose, but you had to formally learn it! That I believe is now dead and buried! Sad.

All the same, he seemed to have a point about evolution, so I zipped my mouth up! But what about literary works as such? Aren’t those in a different league? I have come across poetry in SMS language! Yuck! You can’t screw up orthography for sure!

Later a pre-millinneal friend and a girl to boot, told me “Lol is passé old man, use smileys instead”. That is the next evolution. From ridiculous short forms to even more downright silly, shorter emoticons, now called 'emojis'! I dread a Tennyson or an Eliot or a Shakespearean tragedy in emoticons! 

Dress Code and Appoos.

From that flashback of a decade and half years, let’s cut to the present, to Appoos as he is called, obviously affectionately, by his grandfather, who is a friend of mine from some five decades ago. This guy (I used to say ‘fellow’ in my days and not ‘guy’) has just completed the first year at IIT, Madras, who as a three year old could identify any vehicle, not only cars, on the road by it’s make!

I happened to call on his parents recently. One thing lead to another and he happened to declare that they attend classes in IIT in tracks/bermudas and tees and chappals/flipflops. I was shocked, as by now you can imagine having learnt my bend of mind. As far as I remember, I think I have seen students of IIT Madras in the 60s, properly dressed. I mean in proper shirts tucked in and in polished shoes. Formally dressed, that is. But I believe IIT never had a dress code anyhow. In any case those days there were no such riff-raff dresses to flaunt. Dress meant, decent. Dresses had not evolved, perhaps! On asking the reason behind such blasphemy, I was told the operative word is “comfort”. The only condition or regulation, don’t smell bad. Now that is subjective, isn’t it?

I didn’t get to tell him that ‘you dress for others and eat for self’.

There is no need to give importance to dress when you are working with your brain, he argued. When you are in the business of imbibing knowledge and later when you would be dishing it out to solve the world’s problems, “how does dress matter?” Look at Marc Zuckerberg, he said. But when this ‘icon’ to youngsters had to face the court, he was “properly” attired in suit and tie! I am sure Appoos missed that! I tried to define proper dress to Appoos. But it didn’t gel.

Both his parents are medical doctors and they vouched for the ‘properly dressed’ in the class rooms of medical colleges!

Then I thought of steering the ‘discussion’ towards another angle. Like how a class room is like a temple and all that. Hallowed precincts, as it were, to be revered. So as a prelude to that I asked him “do you believe in God”? He said: “No”. I am sure he said it just to pre-empt my approach and to block it! I am not a dud really!

He also proclaimed that he completed his first year without owning a text book. Well, nobody owned all text books in college. You used the library books alright. For him, everything was through the smart phone! He also had a proposal that answer sheets in exams are redundant. Everything should be on the smart phone and on the net! Preposterous. What about the aroma of a book, new or old? What smells good, tastes good.

I wondered aloud whether some time in the future, humans would be one big blob of brain with other limbs going into disuse. Evolution!

And then I zipped up once more. It appears that this zipping up is very necessary when confronting the young and depending on the point in contention, even the very young!

The Challenge

While conceding the argument to the now wet behind the ears know-alls and to the theory of blind belief in the evolution for the good, I would challenge any one to translate the following stanza in to the likely new language of SMS or Smileys or Emoticons.

“I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats high o’er vales and hills

When all at once I saw a crowd

A host of golden daffodils”.

Maybe, the argument would be: what’s the use of poetry? How does it help technology? I sincerely hope that, that renowned poet who wrote the above, does not turn in his grave!

Now try this. This is a poem in the texting language, a technological evolution! Notice that there is not even an underline to the heading. Even that is a waste, perhaps!

a txt msg pom.
his is r bunsn brnr bl%,
his hair lyk fe filings
W/ac/dc going thru.
I sit by him in kemistry,
it splits my @oms 

wen he :-)s @ me. 

Translation (for the ignorant):

a text message poem.
his eyes are bunsen burner blue,
his hair like iron filings
with ac/dc going through.
I sit by him in chemistry,
it splits my atoms
when he smiles at me.

And when a well groomed persona is irrelevant, and the “fashion” springs from the ghettos of the US of A to invade the respected institutions, how do you distinguish a street criminal from an educated, cultured, person? Both seem to dress in the same fashion! Modern day office goers seem to have just got up from bed to walk straight in to the office. Have you seen the latest haircuts or I must say hairstyles?

Conclusion

On that note it is time for me to conclude. Every previous generation must have felt sad that the next generation is not up to the mark and is heading towards ruination. I can understand that towards the earth and its resources. What some generations built up, the later ones demolished. But when it comes to killing the beauty of language, when technology makes humans grotesque and when children become parents of the parents, I am afraid! Grammar of Language and Grammar of Living cannot be given a go-by.

I should be writing this sitting in ripped jeans, a worn out tee and bathroom chappals, thumbing on my smart phone, flopping on my unmade bed and say, “lots of HAK to you all”! (HAK=hugs and kisses) 😁.