Re: [nukkad] Vadodara

["Indian Rediff" <>]

Dear Guptaji,

Ref: your response to Ravi regarding 'style'

On 5/7/06, Dr.M.C. Gupta  wrote:
> However, I believe in having my own style, not imitating
> others.


A lawyer's 'style' of writing is contrived, at best, and
holier-than-thou, at worst. A natural style of writing is something
that everyone DOES possess before being indoctrinated into the style
of their professions. I am sure you had a more pleasant and humane
style of writing before being sucked into the 'chakravyuha' otherwise
known as law.

In writing like a lawyer, you are imitating the millions that became
lawyers before you.

However, your style of writing in poetry (or should it be called
writing in rhyme?) is something that no one else has displayed with
such verve and originality. Maybe something a little less
straitjacketed than lawyers point form writing would suit you a little
better?

Sai

P.S. To digress in this a little, EVERYONE that is embraced by a
profession starts to speak, think and write in that jargon. You can
see it among the doctors - when they use Latin words to describe
diseases and ailments, or that judges and lawyers use while conversing
in session, or that parliamentarians use when debating (while in
session), or *gasp* software enginners use while speaking to others
from the same profession. This is even evident when teenagers use SMS
jargon - so that they can feel ''in' with a crowd that their parents
are not a part of. Similarly for Chartered Accountants, government
officials, scientists of various flavours and even the people that
deliver dabbas for lunch in Mumbai!

However, above and beyond all this, there is a basic language that
can/should be used when communicating with a lay person.

It is sheer genius when a person that is steeped in a certain
profession is able to rise above the profession and
write/speak/communicate in a language that is understandable to a
common man - i.e. someone NOT in that profession/clique. Witness the
beauty of Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time, or any number of
books by Isaac Asimov on science. I am currently reading a book by
Stevn Levitt called Freakonomics. I must say that it is very
entertainingly written - and his ability to think 'outside the box'
shows through very well.

In a nutshell - be yourself no matter what they say (to steal a phrase
from Sting's song 'An Englishman in New York').


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