When Grammar Met Clarity

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Writing has always fascinated me. It’s such an interesting aspect of communication; you can pretty much convey anything you want, in any way you want. Even a grammatically incorrect sentence can carry its full meaning. Yet, somewhere along the way, we began mistaking good communication for intelligence. “Oh, he writes and speaks so well.  He must be smart.” Good communication can create a false sense of technical pride. I grew up believing that grammatical precision was the measure of knowledge. But in hindsight, that wasn’t entirely me; it was my teachers. They were absolutely particular that every sentence not only conveyed meaning, but also respected the sanctity of grammar. A misplaced article or preposition could invite the harshest of corrections. Yesterday, my wife and I were talking about writing and as all conversations these days eventually do, it veered toward our kids’ writing. We were laughing over Sahana’s recent schoolwork: a delightful mix of humor, dialogue, and im...
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ISC Day...

Any international event here is never complete without the Indian community taking part. India is a part and parcel of the Rolla life.

I guess that's what is happening even at the international level. We are going miles ahead! Last week we celebrated the ISC day. ISC by the way stands for International Students Council. This is one of the important events held every year showcasing the cultural aspect of many countries. The work leading to the event was hectic.

We had to collect the traditional and Indian items from many people here in Rolla. The whole point is everyone had to be convinced that their items would be returned in exactly the same way as we have borrowed it. That's a tough promise and the problem is even the lenders know it! That doesn't mean we did not return the items back. It was given back to them on time.

We also prepared a collage on India. This required a lot of efforts, collecting pictures on everything associated with India. It involved two nights of hard labour to stick the pictures in the right place and get it to shape.

There were a lot of exhibits that we displayed. Others were really dumbstruck at the amount of stuffs we had gathered. Even the cultural show was truly amazing in the end.

It was a great opportunity to interact with people from other countries and view their exhibits. It was a great learning experience and truly fun-filled.

The Indian food as usual went down well with the masses. The menu from India was Jeera Rice and Malai Kofta! Slurp! Slurp! The Indian stall was awarded the first prize for the exhibits. The Malai Kofta ranked second in terms of the popularity. The first rank was missed by 10 votes out of 600 votes. Totally it was a great day with a lot of fun!

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