The Knowledge Society

Abdul Kalam - Former President of India

The Knowledge Society

A Brief Summary

Bharat Ratna, Dr A.P.J.Abdul Kalam is the former president of India.”The Knowledge Society” is taken from his book “Ignited Minds”. Kalam says that poverty can be wiped out only by mixing our past heritage and present-day knowledge.

According to Kalam, India is a land of knowledge and it must rediscover itself its past legacy. The foreign invasions and the colonial rule weakened India considerably. Knowledge has many forms and it is available at several places. It is in academic institutions, at workplaces, in learning skills from people such as artists, craftsmen, hakims, philosophers and saints. It is available from our heritage, history and epics.

Kalam says that Knowledge is important for prosperity and power. In India, we had the tradition of passing knowledge from guru to shishya. Foreign travelers wrote about our Ancient Indian Universities like Nalanda. Agriculture society changed as an Industrial society during the last century. Technology played a key role in the development of the society. In the 21st century, knowledge has become the primary production resource instead of capital and labour. Education, health-care and agriculture are taken ahead in the knowledge society. It promotes high productivity and prosperity creating new sources of employment.

Multiple technologies and suitable management methods must work together to create a knowledge society. India has left its impression in Information Technology and it will be much more developed in future. As a second component, young and dynamic leaders are required for establishing knowledge society. The most important mission for the knowledge society is India should become a superpower by 2010.

If societal transformation and wealth generation are the two important factors to make India as a knowledge society, a third dimension is to transform India into a superpower. Our communication network and information centers must be protected from electronic attacks. It is a great responsibility. Our cultural heritage should also help us in making India a superpower. (315 Words)

Communication Skills

Communication Skills

Questions and Answers

Q. What is communication?

A. Communication is to transfer or share knowledge, important ideas and attitudes. It is an exchange of meaningful information in an effective way.

Q. In what ways do humans communicate?

A. Humans use verbal and non-verbal forms of communication. They use spoken and written forms of communication.

Q. What is a two-way communication? Give a few examples from your experience.

A. In two-way communication, the sender and the receiver interact mutually. Day to day conversations and interviews are examples of two-way communication. When we talk with our friends and speak with our lecturers, that is two-way communication.

Q. How do cultural factors affect communication?

A. Cultural factors affect communication as body language differs from culture to culture. Non-verbal communication cues such as eye contact, posture, gesture and others vary from culture to culture affecting communication.

Q. What is the role of feedback in communication?

Feedback is important to complete communication. This process allows the receiver to inform the reactions to the message received. Unless the sender knows that the message is properly received, communication cycle is not complete. So, it is very important.

Q. Give one example each of formal and informal communication.

A. These are the examples of formal and informal communication.

Formal: I solicit your esteemed presence on the occasion of my sister’s marriage.

Informal: Please attend my sister’s marriage.

B. Answer the following questions in about 100 words each.

1. Define communication.

Communication is to transfer or share knowledge, important ideas and attitudes. It is an exchange of meaningful information in an effective way. There are seven components in communication. They are a. sender, b. receiver, c. message, d. context, e. channel, f. culture and social/business space, and g. feedback. Communication is a two-way process. It involves at least two people, the sender and the receiver. It is purposeful and involves thoughts, feelings and emotions. It is goal oriented and it should have a shared code between the sender and the receiver. The receiver provides feedback about the message received. Misunderstandings and misinterpretations may occur during the process of communication.

2. Describe the process of communication.

There are five important steps in the process of communication. They are Ideation, Encoding, Channel, Decoding and Feedback. Ideation is the first step. In this step, the sender forms an idea of what to communicate. The second step is converting the idea into a transmittable message. This is called as Encoding. The third step, Channel is the selection of media such as spoken, written, electrical and digital or any other. Decoding is the fourth step, which is the understanding of the message by the receiver. The fifth step, Feedback also involves the receiver, where a response is given. With these five steps, the cycle of communication is complete.

3. How is non-verbal communication different from verbal communication?

Non-verbal communication does not use words like verbal communication. This kind of communication has five important components. They are Kinesics, Proxemics, Chronemics, Paralanguage and appearance. Kinesics involves gestures, postures, facial expressions, body language etc. Feelings such as anger, agreement can be expressed by Kinesics. Proxemics is the distance we keep from others during communication. It shows the relationship between the sender and receiver. Chronemics deals with time. It clarifies the interest of the sender and the receiver of the message communicated. Paralanguage is about the vocal qualities such as volume, pitch, rate, pronunciation, stress and intonation patterns. A successful communicator uses these qualities effectively. Appearance is very important to denote the personality of the communicator. Appearance plays a vital role in giving an impression.

4. How can barriers impede communication?

The following factors can impede communication.

Poor use of language can cause a breakdown in communication as the receiver may not understand the message clearly. Distraction leading to inadequate attention can cause a failure in communication. Improper feedback can lead to misunderstanding as the sender may not know whether the message is understood or not. Physical barriers as such noise, distance and others and mechanical barriers such as typographical errors can disturb communication. Medical problems like loss of hearing and communication apprehension are also communication barriers. Lack of interest or clash of interest can cause communication problems.

5. In what situations would you use formal communication? What factors have to be kept in mind in formal communication?

We have to use different kinds of language depending upon the context of our communication. There are two kinds of communication. One is formal communication and the other is informal communication. When we communicate with our seniors, elderly persons, officers and other respectable persons we use formal communication. We should keep in mind that we have to indicate our respect as well as our personal, social or cultural distance from our listeners by using formal language. We should remember to choose an appropriate style of language when communicating with others. We should avoid being too formal or too informal in our communication.

C. Answer the following questions in about 200 words.

1. Discuss the various types of communication, including verbal and non-verbal communication.

Communication is to transfer or share knowledge, important ideas and attitudes. It is an exchange of meaningful information in an effective way. There are different kinds of communication such as verbal, non-verbal, formal, informal, and one-way and two-way communication.

Verbal Communication: There are two types of communication in verbal communication. They are 1. Formal and Informal Communication, and2. One-way and two-way communication.

Formal and Informal Communication:  

We use formal language when we need to show respect towards the person we are speaking to. We use informal language when we speak with our friends, classmates and colleagues.

These are the examples of formal and informal communication.

Formal: I solicit your esteemed presence on the occasion of my sister’s marriage.

Informal: Please attend my sister’s marriage.

2. One-way and two-way communication:

One-way communication is a way of communication in which communication proceeds in one-way only. Reading a book and listening to radio are examples of this type of communication.

Two-way communication is a way of communication in which communication proceeds in two-way. Day-to-day conversations are best examples of this kind of communication.

Non-verbal Communication:

Non-verbal communication does not use words like verbal communication. This kind of communication has five important components. They are Kinesics, Proxemics, Chronemics, Paralanguage and appearance. Kinesics involves gestures, postures, facial expressions, body language etc. Feelings such as anger, agreement can be expressed by Kinesics. Proxemics is the distance we keep from others during communication. It shows the relationship between the sender and receiver. Chronemics deals with time. It clarifies the interest of the sender and the receiver on the message communicated. Paralanguage is about the vocal qualities such as volume, pitch, rate, pronunciation, stress and intonation patterns. A successful communicator uses these qualities effectively. Appearance is very important to denote the personality of the communicator. Appearance plays vital role in giving impression. 

2. Write a note on the barriers of communication. Describe any four in detail, adding examples from your experience.

There are several factors that can impede communication.

1. Poor use of language: Unless we use correct and understandable language, we cannot communicate properly. Poor standard in language leads to misunderstanding of the message being communicated.

Example: A speaker wrongly says that, “We should preserve petrol”. He actually means to say, “We should conserve petrol.”

2. Distraction: When we are communicating, we have to make sure that there are no distractions. Distractions such as loud music lead to poor apprehension of the communication.

Example: When a marriage procession passes by the college with loud film music, students are unable to listen to their lecturers.

3. Communication apprehension:

This is about fear and anxiety associated with communication. Students often fail to communicate with peers and seniors because of fear and anxiety.

Example: Students feel this kind of barrier when they are asked to speak at a meeting or seminar.

4. Lack of interest:

Lack of interest is a major hurdle of communication. Unless there is interest in the topic we are communicating, we cannot be forceful in our communication. 

Example: People only do lip-service when they do not have interest in what they are saying.

Improper feedback and clarification, Physical barriers, Mechanical barriers, and Medical Problems are other important barriers in communication.

D. Read the following sentences and say whether each of them is an example of formal or informal communication.

1. We hope that the new décor will appeal to our esteemed customers. [Formal]

2. You may not agree with her views, but all said and done, she is the expert. [Formal]

3. It goes without saying that a good name is more valuable than riches. [Formal]

4. You must adhere to the rules of the college. [Formal]

5. As a matter of fact, we shall be in Delhi on a business assignment next week. [Formal]

6. She is fed up with their excuses. [Informal]

7. We trust that this new product meets with your approval. [Formal]

8. We hope you like this new product. [Informal]                   

La Belle Dame sans Merci

John Keats

La Belle Dame sans Merci

John Keats is among the greatest romantic poets in English literature. In his poem La Belle Dame sans Merci, he tells us about an enthralled knight and mysterious maiden in a ballad form.

The poet meets a warrior in a field. The warrior is wandering lonely and appears to be nearing death. The poet asks him the reason for the sorrowful situation. The answer of the knight makes the rest of the poem.

The knight says that he met a fairy lady in the meadows. The lady is graceful and has long hair and wild eyes. He is attracted to her and spends time with the beautiful lady. He adorns her with flowers and lets her ride his horse. Though he doesn’t understand her strange language, he thinks that she has fallen in love with him. She sings fairy songs and feeds him tasty roots, wild honey, and manna. As he makes romantic advances, she takes him to her fairy cave. After some passionate time together, she lulls him to sleep.

The knight falls asleep. In his sleep. he dreams of all the long gone warriors, kings, and princes who were seduced by the fairy lady. They are all pale, hungry looking and their mouths are starved. In the nightmare, all the dead cried describing her ‘la belle dame sans merci’. These French words mean that ‘the beautiful woman without mercy’. The knight wakes up alone on the side of a hill. He concludes his story by saying that he has been wandering alone since then.

Gods – Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman-Poet

Gods – Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman is an American poet. He is a transcendentalist. He advocated free verse. He is among the greatest poets of America.

In his poem, ‘the Gods’, Whitman glorifies Creation as whole and perfect. He talks about wonderful things that inspire him and invokes them to be his Gods. He commands these things to be Godlike to him.

Whitman asks all thoughts of infinity to be his God. He addresses God as the divine lover and perfect comrade. Though God is invisible, He is surely waiting contentedly. Whitman describes God as fair, able, beautiful, satisfied and loving. God is physically complete and spiritually present everywhere.

Whitman calls death as God because it is the gateway to heaven. According to the poet, God is the best and the mightiest of all the known things. God frees us from all bonds. Whitman says that God exists in trusted traditions, progressive ideas, mankind’s hopes and heroic deeds of passionate people. God manifests in the divine earth, Sun and everything including the poet himself.

The Bird Sanctuary – Sarojini Naidu

Sarojini Naidu-Poetess

The Bird Sanctuary – Sarojini Naidu

Sarojini Naidu is a well-known freedom fighter. She advocated women’s liberation. She is called as ‘the Nightingale of India' for her poetry’s musical quality and rhythm.

In her poem, the Bird Sanctuary, she describes a garden full of several kinds of birds. The birds welcome dawn making different types of sounds. Birds having various colors such as amber and ebony, birds like bulbul, oriel, honey bird and shama are moving on the trees. The trees are full of nectar and dew.

Silver colored gulls are flying in the sky. Kingfisher and hoopoe birds are in sapphire blue and bronze colors.  Grey pigeons are building homes on tree tops with banyan twigs. The jade green gypsy parrots are enjoying red ripe fig fruits.

The poet says that God’s wonderful garden has space for every bird. She prays God to provide safe resting place for distressed or wounded homing birds. She symbolizes birds to all living creatures and bird sanctuary to earth wonderfully.

Why People Really Love Technology: An Interview with Genevieve Bell

Image: forbes.com

Why People Really Love Technology: An Interview with Genevieve Bell

Mrs. Genevieve Bell is an Australian anthropologist and social scientist. She talks in an interview about how people understand upcoming technologies and how they use gadgets. People of all age groups adapt to technology quickly. Some countries are fearful of technology driven machines like robots whereas some countries welcome them. 

Though the internet is everywhere, it is not seamless because different places in the world have different regulations. Physical objects will come back with the development of 3-D printing. World Wide Web has paved way to free flow of information, transparency, and global access. Social networking, matrimony cum dating services, banking and e-commerce are few of the fruits of computing. People use technology and gadgets as per their requirements and fancies.

The Beloved Charioteer – Shashi Deshpande

Image: indianexpress.com

The Beloved Charioteer – Shashi Deshpande

Shashi Deshpande’s short story, ‘The Beloved Charioteer’ describes the sad existence of two widowed women. They are mother and daughter. The story is told in the first person by the mother. She gives birth to two sons and one daughter, Arati. The two sons do not survive and the daughter loves her father very much. Arati is married and her husband dies even before the birth of their daughter, Priti. Arati becomes a recluse and hates the world. The grandmother adores Priti. She remembers the bitter memories of her suppressed life as a housewife. She has to bear the burden of her daughter’s aloofness. She lives for her granddaughter, Priti.