Education in india has many shortcomings. One limitation that is often glossed over is that students, at the undergraduate as well as the postgrad levels, are not taught how to develop and improve their communication skills. It is not uncommon to come across individuals who are supposed to have studied literature for five years but cannot write two paragraphs without grammatical errors or speak for two minutes without stumbling. Colleges and universities should emphasise the development of effective communication skills, both written and verbal, as part of their curricula. It is easy to write or talk about how a person can become an effective communicator. It‚s far more difficult to actually become one. From time immemorial, women and men have communicated with each other with considerable difficulty. Seals found at Mohenjodaro and Harappa depict animals that are easily recognisable; but the same seals have words written in a script that is yet to be fully deciphered. Cave paintings of the Stone Age, writings on papyrus (the precursor to paper) found in ancient Egypt and some of the priceless treasures that were once stored in Baghdad‚s (now destroyed) museum ‚ all represent evidence of the earliest attempts of human beings to communicate. We have been communicating with each other from birth. But the process of transmitting infor-mation from one individual to another or from one group to another is fraught with numerous potential sources of error. Effective communication determines the success not only of an individual but also of the organisation that she or he represents. This is because communication can be inter-personal, inter-group, organisational or external. The true meaning of what is being communicated often gets lost, especially in cross-cultural interaction.The importance of effective communication in a cross-cultural world should be evident to all in this country in particular. That‚s because India is not just the second most populous country in the world, it‚s the only nation with words in 20 official languages printed on its currency notes, the world‚s most populous democracy and so on. It is also arguably the most deeply divided nation in the world, a country that divides itself along the lines of economic class, religion, region, language and race. Juxtaposed with all these divisions is a caste system which is unique to India. In such a deeply divided society, the importance of effective communication should become self evident.Communication is not merely verbal. Body and sign language and other forms of non-verbal communication are also important. There is a visual aspect to communication, a tactile and vocal aspect, besides the use of time, space and images. On the vocal aspect of communication, how many of us have reflected upon the numerous ways one can utter the simple word ‚Ëœno‚? This single word can express mild doubt, amazement, anger or terror or could convey a wide range of emotions in between these extremes. A verbal message is more than a mere string of words put together. The tone of voice, enunciation, tenor, timing and context ‚ all matter significantly. Psychologists point out that half or more than half of what is communicated can get lost in the transmis-sion of messages from sender to receiver. Miscommunication can occur even between persons who have known each other for a long period of time, such as husband and wife. Language is the symbolic representation of a particular phenomenon but a message can be easily distorted or misinterpreted. One can harbour assumptions of a self-fulfilling nature that can distort a message. To become an effective communicator, one must make a conscious and conscientious effort to prevent misinterpretation and distortion of messages. As a line from an old song by Simon and Garfunkel goes: “All lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.”Yet to be a good communicator, it‚s not enough to be a good speaker. It‚s equally important to be a good listener, to hear others with empathy and understanding and to clarify doubts. Empathising is not the same as agreeing. We need not agree with one another all the time. Voltaire said anyone had the right to disagree with him and he would defend till his last breath, the right to disagree. This is indeed the hallmark of a true democrat. This is what we cannot have more of in today‚s world. We need to be more tolerant towards those who don‚t agree with us. Imagine how boring life would be if all looked the same, dressed similarly and always agreed with each other. Disagreement can be creative and is not necessarily destructive of inter-personal relationships.After one has learnt to be articulate, enunciate well and intone properly, what else is there left to effective communication? A lot more. The content matters above all else. One must say what one means and mean what one says. Appearances can be deceptive. A Sanskrit couplet, when translated into English, reads something like this: “My best respects to poverty, the master who has set me free. For I can look at all the world and no one looks at me.” Beautiful words indeed! But I for one do not agree with the sentiments expressed in such ‚Ëœbeautiful‚ phrases. Should a poor person be meek, submissive and not protest against injustice and exploitation? I don‚t think so. There are no short cuts to becoming an effective communicator. As the old saying goes, it is 99 percent perspiration and one percent inspiration. The more you read, the more you realise how little you know. The more people you talk to, the more humble you should become.
(Paranjoy Guha-Thakurta is the director, School of Convergence, International Management Institute, Delhi)
