A note from the author: “The world is getting smaller as the footprint of the internet and telecommunication gets bigger. Increasingly, we need a common set of languages as we seek to converse with new people from different places. Let us learn English so that we can write and speak English in ways unique yet common. Spoken English that is understood by all, English grammar that is the standard globally and yet a language that truly belongs to the reality of each culture – that should be our goal…”

The Power of Conversation

I am deeply immersed in the business of language learning; English to be specific. It’s an amazing journey of discovery by the day!

I started walking this road to enable people build choice. Literacy (in any language but arguably most powerful when English) opens doors to opportunity – higher studies, job and vocation. Importantly, literacy builds confidence. My mission was clear or so I believed.

Over the last couple of years, my appetite for validation has been sufficiently whetted; boys and girls, young men and women, sparkling with the celebration of freedom. English is an elixir in this society; an empowerment even before the possibilities of education and employment.

But a new dawn is awakening. Choice, an absolute must, comes first but is just one half of the equation. Democracy and liberty are not tickets to a free lunch. Every citizen is a leader and leadership implies responsibilities. It is clear, even as we fight to unshackle our young millions, we must enable them to find their voice, as they lead us into a new tomorrow.

Borrowing from a cliché, the practice of dialogue begins at home. The habit of sharing and listening can be an ally, as we build bridges for every path we take.

Many years ago, occupying a corporate position of reasonable relevance, I decided to dislike a colleague. As expected, he reciprocated wholeheartedly. For a while, we enjoyed this relationship of hate and the company machinations we helped fuel. Then, one day, my peer came to me and proceeded to describe his feelings. We began a conversation that helped thaw an icy relationship and, amazingly, transition us towards long-lasting friendship.

As I write this, I am proximate to a business merger; two companies coming together with a common purpose. The vision and strategy cannot be faulted but the new venture is at a ‘make or break’ point. Camps of insular isolation have sprung up, each with their heads proudly in the sand, risking all they have worked so hard to achieve.

The wise of yore taught us about conversation through the message of Total Quality. “Get away from multiple vendors, you think you are buying insurance but you are simply increasing cost and risk.” Incredulous queries were answered with ease, “Try and have a real conversation with someone you don’t fully trust. Try and get someone to do what you would like them to do without appreciating their reality. Try and substitute a best friend with a hundred acquaintances.”

Apparently, some weeks ago, Voyager I, a spacecraft launched in 1977 became the first human-made object to leave our solar system. This ship carries a message from the (then) President of USA, Jimmy Carter, “We are trying to survive our time so we may live into yours. We hope someday, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of Galactic Civilizations.” Almost four decades later, with the Earth home to nearly double the population, the sentiments encapsulated in President Carter’s message are consistent with the need of our time.

Every day, we are shrinking the world, as the marvel of new technology gets us connected and closer. The good news is we are crashing and trashing boundaries of time and distance, going beyond race and culture, as we speak and share at the speed of the messenger electrons.

Just as the message travelling the Milky Way hopes, powered by conversation we must solve the problems we face and join hands to form a truly global community.

The original article has been published by The Economic Times