English Medium Hindi Medium 

1. “भारतवर्ष में सभी विद्याएँ सम्मिलित परिवार के समान पारस्परिक सद्भाव लेकर रहती आई हैं।”
2. PUNJABI: ਸਰੋਂ ਦਾ ਸਾਗ ਤੇ ਮੱਕੀ ਦੀ ਰੋਟੀ
3. GUJARATI: દાંડિયા રાણી
4. MARATHI: “हे बॉम्बे नाही, ती आता मुंबई आहे”
5. MALAYALAM: നിങ്ങൾക്ക് കൂടുതൽ കറി വേണോ?
6. BANGLA: নোটুন গুরের রাশোগোল্লা
7. TAMIL: பழமையான மொழிகளில் ஒன்று தமிழ்
8. URDU: اردو زبان براہ راست ہندستانی زبان سے نکلتی ہے ، حالانکہ یہ اصل میں دہلی کی خارابولی بولی پر مبنی ہے۔
9. The English language is a work in progress. Have fun with it

I am glad that my experience of working in culturally diverse workplaces taught me to respect my colleagues for what they were/are and not disrespect for what they were/are not. I used to work hand in hand with foreign nationals (designers) as well as Bangladeshi weavers who barely managed to speak Hindi. In my team, few in-house designers were convent educated. In another team, few had somehow finished high/senior school and started working as executives (for clerical work like typing, documentation, etc.).

I still remember we were taught that if we do not speak English fluently we will not get jobs and will not be respected in society. My father used to make us watch English movies. Many people reading, will agree and must be murmuring, “That’s why you are able to write this post, you knucklehead”. I know. I agree.

But this does not mean we should look down upon those who cannot speak fluent English. Why do we have to make them realize that they are “not cool”…people, with whom we cannot be seen hanging out! They are called out by names like – behnji, bhaiyya, desi. [But] they are not in any way cheap, thieves, or deserve to be treated as aliens. They are from respectful families. They may be working as a junior executive and having a very good upbringing too. Their parents taught them how to respect people and how to share and care. Though, post this pandemic we can forget about sharing lunchboxes for some time! Lunchbox…lovely movie of Irrfan! Loved it!

I have always received love and affection from my subordinates, I am truly lucky that way. Many a time when my colleague (s) made fun of people just because she/he was not like them, I felt bad…because…I did not ask them to stop. These so-called Hindi-speaking team members mixed up with everyone so easily. They shared their lunches (happily) and were fun to be around. Once, one Manager went to the extent of saying, “I cannot eat from their lunchbox, their kitchen would be unhygienic”. That was cruel I thought but didn’t say anything! 

However, thankfully over time, I have changed myself and now stop people from making fun of people who cannot speak fluent English.

Why do we only have to pay attention to what qualities a person lacks? There could be many other qualities in a person which we may not have. I learned so many things from my team members. They never laughed when I asked them, “How did you do so and so in this excel sheet?” They taught me and made sure I picked up. I am thankful to my current team and all the previous teams…for they made me what I am today. They taught me how to be a good team leader. A team leader is what the team makes him.

Not all fingers are the same, though. Thankfully, because of them I am still working and studying too! I am blessed and feel…English is important and can be learned. Likewise, kindness is also important. It can also be learned and practiced. You can begin to change yourself and see miracles happening. You can see the difference when you see more happy faces around you.

“Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom.” Theodore Isaac Rubin

Those who want to give people another chance can perhaps try these tips:

• I once hired (for my team) a person whose spoken English was not so good. My boss was eager to hire so we hired her. We had deadlines to meet. My boss later told me the other reason she hired her for. “This girl wants to do something with her life. She will perform as she is not being appreciated at her home. Let’s hire her.” To our surprise, she turned out to be the star performer in the next 3 months. We groomed her and got a chance to be proud of her apart from earning 5 times her salary.

• In interviews, if you take out a little more time to know the candidate you may be able to see beyond one’s resume/qualification.

• Not judging someone with the way they dress. Their earlier job was perhaps not at an MNC. There were no dress codes.

• If you are interviewing a Content Writer instead of judging him on his fluency in spoken English, you may test him with a writing assignment. Perhaps, YOU are the missing mentor in his life. Who knows!

• He was not a tech-savvy guy but he was a people person. His boss learned this in the first meeting. Psst!…He went on to become the Go-To Man of his company.

• Ask the candidate how would his previous boss rate him out of 10 (10 being the highest). Tell him that you will be verifying this rating from his boss too! See what happens. I got hired!! My answer was 9.

Those who want to develop their spoken English can perhaps try these tips:

 

• Start writing…about what you know or what you are learning. I have started. This is my 6th or 7th post!

• Start reading simple storybooks and newspapers, loudly.

• Use a dictionary and increase your vocabulary every day. Baby steps will help.

• You can start with one word. Write their different meaning. Use them in sentences and try to incorporate them into your language.

• Norman Lewis’s Word Power Made Easy is also a good book you would want to buy.

• Watch English movies without the subtitles. Enjoy it. We learn easily when we are having fun. 

I found one blog, you may like…seems interesting. 

Happy Learning – Both, Kindness and English

Love ~ Sneha