As a unique mode of communication during our struggle for Independence in 1857, people used simple chapatis and red lotus. Although chapatis had no tongue, Britishers were terrorized. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar wrote that British intelligence officers had sleepless nights trying to decipher the messages, but failed. They even cut these chapatis to small crumbs and powdered them to know what was being hidden.

The world has changed now. Despite sophisticated war-weapons, it seems the age of world-wars is over, but word-wars shall continue.  Margaret Atwood said, “War is what happens when language fails.”  Therefore, we need more skillful wordsmiths like Gandhi. While going to meet the British   King, their press grilled him for his dress. Gandhi responded with magical words, “Your King was wearing enough for both of us”, conveying both: subtle hints of revolt and simplicity.

Today, we are witnessing a competition between writing (Graphosphere) and reading on one side and seeing (Videosphere) on the other. The power of images has grown because we basically think in pictures. Our inner eye sees the scenes that words evoke. Confucius said that a picture speaks a thousand words. Mostly seeing is believing. Many believe today that visuality may be our future. This may be the main reason why the length of a sentence is reduced over the centuries. In the 16^th Century, usually, a sentence had an average of 63 words, while it has now come down to around 14 words. Shorter sentences are more snackable.

The invention of the Internet in 1983 revolutionized the modes of communication. Dan Millman called it ‘The nervous system of Mother Earth’. It became a tool of the people, built by the people and for the people. It lowered both the cost of communication and the barriers to creative expression. The beauty of the highway was that it was flexible, open, borderless, and standardized with no gatekeepers. It rapidly became the platform by everyone for everyone.

The Economist said that like the Sun newspaper circulation rises in the East and falls in the West. William Dietrich even said that it stressed those of us who remembered the good old days of the monopoly of newspapers. However, the alert print media has been reinventing their position with more expertise in eye-ball catching of targeted audience, increased range of coverage, an added sense of history and perspective, eloquence, wit, analysis, trends, and even lasting ripple effect by deft blending words with a picture.  As a memorable example, when Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984, Thakerey sketched a lamp snuffed out with the curling smoke forming the contours of her face.

By: Prof Bhoomittra Dev
[email protected]

Prof. Dev has had a long and throughout First-Class career as a student and as an academician. In the course of his education, he was the Chancellor’s Gold medalist and as an academician, he has served as the Vice-Chancellor of Gorakhpur University, Rohilkhand University Bareilly, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University Agra, and Mangalayatan University Aligarh. He is the author of several books, including “Happiness in the Knowledge Century”. He is credited to having solved an international controversy Between the U.S.A. and Germany pertaining to the functioning of the Kidney. He presently lives in  Lucknow and travels across the country for academic seminars.

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