Of careers, blogs, articles and summaries

Just the other day, my niece, an eleven-year old, asked me what I did at office. Without batting an eyelid, I told her I wrote summaries. She stared at me as if I was some lunatic. I stared back at her fumbling for a more plausible explanation. After a while, she walked away, offended. I sensed that she never believed me; she probably thought I was joking with her.

Not that I blame her, though! Had my English teacher ever conceived that one could make a career out of writing summaries, she could have saved herself from a lot of heart wrenching moments when she found the classroom to be mysteriously spacious on most occasions! In our times, attending language classes was not in vogue! The few of us, who did attend those classes because we loved to do so, were treated as nerds. There were a few others who graced these classes on certain occasions out of a genuine lack of find anything better. They were the ones who rolled off integers and calculus formulae as if they were reciting Wordsworth! They looked down on anything remotely to do with literature as a complete waste of time and energy. They could not be blamed because at that time, few would have had any inkling that some day, writing summaries, articles and blogs could make a career. To most, literature was for the dreamers.
For the go-getters, the choice was the more obvious monotony of derivations, theories and calculations!

Thanks to the advent of blogs, writing talent has got a new boost. The internet has now taken over the ubiquitous diary which once held a cherished possession in many lockers. Young, upcoming writers now have the satisfaction of getting their work read, a huge morale booster! The fact that posting such articles on the blog can even fetch money only makes the option a lot more lucrative!

I can almost visualize a “full circle” taking shape. There was a time when the language tools helped build the “scientific knowledge sector “we have today. The omnipresent language helped crypt and encrypt countless codes for the science wizards and today the scientific community is paying back by helping us utilize its tools for promoting “language and talent writing”. At last, the scientific community has acknowledged the scope of language in taking it forward and is giving “language” its true recognition.

It is of little surprise then, that in this present scenario, blogs, articles and summaries are making headways for a great career path for many like me. To me it appears as a classic example of “when business mixes with pleasure” and I can assure you that the conglomeration of these two is nothing short of “utopia”!

By Shyamalima Sen Gupta

Grains Gone Wild

The era of inexpensive food is over. Food prices have hit record highs worldwide and the signs are that they will go on rising. It is time for us to reflect on some pertinent questions.

In the last few years, we have seen amazing advances in technology and productivity. There has been an all round economic progress. Despite this, the price rise is a glaring reality - why? Shouldn’t the improved productivity ensure that we get more for less money? How come it is the other way around? How have things come to this?

I feel the answer could be a combination of changing trends, bad luck and bad policy. I list below my two cents:
Trends – Rise in population and the change in lifestyle.
Bad luck – Unpredictable rainfall and climate changes, natural calamities like floods, drought, etc.
Bad policy – Conversion of crops into fuel, converting agricultural land into residential areas, growing bio fuel feedstock on land that is meant for food grains.

What can be done to overcome this situation?
This could be answered in many ways. But my simple answer is the need to provide more aid to people who are in distress or who are getting affected. Many food aid organizations are working to tackle the situation. But, no one is clear how much can be done. I feel that inexpensive food may be a thing of the past. What says?

By Prashanthi