Building a case for the humble, lowly shorthand

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re: Building a case for the humble, lowly shorthand

Pankaj — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:48:51 GMT

I think "learning shorthand" is really a fun, not very difficult, once get mastery, it will help u out in every walk of life, everybody has to prepare notes in daily life, specially for students this language will is very helpful. It is not just about secretaries and P.As to use this language, we should try to popularize this language because is saves time.....and "time" is very important in everyone's life... A very good article!!!

re: Building a case for the humble, lowly shorthand

mg — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 07:59:57 GMT

the dictating boss would be quite an oddity in 2008 !! i mean i remember seeing dictating bosses in old hindi flicks 60's / 70's.. who instead of official matter started dictating the love letter...and lo the secy was their love interest :-)) hindi shorthand .. this is news to me..!!

re: Building a case for the humble, lowly shorthand

mahadevan — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:10:23 GMT

I passed my 150 WPM high speed exam. in 1983 and was a challenging stenographer, besides holding 120 wpm high speed certificate and 150 wpm Hindi shorthand certificate. I am 55 years of age now. There is no efficient dictating boss! That is why shorthand writers are not much in demand.

re: Building a case for the humble, lowly shorthand

mg — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:05:40 GMT

of course semaphores.. !!! though would be difficult on a rolling deck :-)))) you will be interested to know that semaphores are taught in theoritical computer science too !! used by processes to signal each other about their states !

re: Building a case for the humble, lowly shorthand

Captain Deepak — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:53:12 GMT

ok mg, I get your point, you are right. In that case, it is my duty to also inform you that the navy uses semaphore flags to send messages...again this ensures radio silence!

re: Building a case for the humble, lowly shorthand

mg — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 09:41:34 GMT

Capt Deepal.. no no .. i was not referring to the sercecy aspect.. the thing i was wanting to convey was that messaging via lights on ships will continue inspite of all modern advances in telcomm/ tech ( till we can find a way to communicate without trons in the air :-))) ) .. and that it will not wither away with time like shorthand ( which many suspect is falling prey to modern tech) ...

re: Building a case for the humble, lowly shorthand

Captain Deepal — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:28:08 GMT

MG, you are right about the radio silence and the deciphering bit. However, all such tools, be it morse code that I was referring to or shorthand - can be read (after deciphering) as long as one knows the code (or the language). In reference to this post however, what I was referring to was the medium of communication and not the secrecy /desiphering aspect of it. That probably warrants a separate discussion, and we can always have it!!

re: Building a case for the humble, lowly shorthand

mg — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 08:58:47 GMT

capt deepak... i thought flashing of light ensures radio silence ( so this mode of communication will not go away ) ... all modern techs would use some kind of radio transmission though it could be highly encrypted?? but in morse code one is able to decipher some pattern but shorthand on first glance just looks like some babies scrawl... whats the principle behind it??

re: Building a case for the humble, lowly shorthand

taru — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:59:59 GMT

thanks for your feedback and reactions. most of you do agree that shorthand does serve some merit in an era of digitization. krishna even points out its use during classroom lectures. well, it has vintage value and it did announce its presence with a "hey i am still around" that was a wee bit heartening.

re: Building a case for the humble, lowly shorthand

Ram — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 14:58:31 GMT

Taru, you might find this interesting. Manorama School of Communication, Kottayam, has a session on shorthand, at least it used to.

re: Building a case for the humble, lowly shorthand

bharat sondagar — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:20:08 GMT

I think it's all about India.

re: Building a case for the humble, lowly shorthand

Gaurav Mittal — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:23:27 GMT

The article remind of Indian telegraph dying a slow death.

re: Building a case for the humble, lowly shorthand

krishna kumar mangalam — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:48:08 GMT

india is paying a heavy price for missing out on industrial revolution and the renaissance in arts and literature, which are a bedrock of the western civilization. to this day, we are suffering the aftereffects of plunging directly into science, technology and engineering, without this first, preliminary step ~ notice that india is yet to fabricate a decent internal combustion engine for its automotive industry. notice that any industrial product, which is wholly designed and fabricated by indians in india, is woefully inadequate in ergonomics, aesthetics...or any other criterion one may choose to weigh it against (stop talking nano, please). same is the case with our artists and men of letters ~ they are busy imitating the cultural and aesthetic movements of western renaissance, and its schools of philosophy. similarly, for a journalist, the primary job is one of collecting, collating and then conveying facts, views and impressions of the wider society. for this, one must possess either an impeccable memory, which most can't claim, or some kind of recording mechanism, which is easily retrievable. we can't trust mechanical gizmos for a moment ~ in times of floods, cyclones, earthquakes, war or famine, not only will these gadgets serve little purpose, they will seem odd if not down right vulgar, when shoved under the nose of severely afflicted victims, while interacting with them ~ a pen, and a notepad are best, and shorthand can save us several blushes. personally, i know no shorthand ~ but, i have always felt the inadequacy. just as the three r(s) are sin qua non (irrespective of what the new-fangled breed of pedagogues say) to learning and education, for the young of homo sapiens, so also is shorthand for journalists (especially field reporters). uk media schools are following the right procedure ~ indian media schools must also follow suit. learning shorthand is certainly a lot easier, and will be quicker to master, than gaining those six-pack-abs over which so many of my colleagues expend such time, effort and money. And why journalists alone, even college-going students will benefit enormously from shorthand, for the ease with which they can take notes of the lectures ~ it will certainly save a lot of paper in photocopying shops, not to talk of the pocket money saved, which can be more profitably spent on a can of cool beer !!

re: Building a case for the humble, lowly shorthand

Captain Deepak — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:19:29 GMT

In the navy we use morse code, it is not only for brevity but also allows messages to be transmitted through flashing of lights. Despite modern technologies, ships often use the old and tested way of transmitting messages! Similarly, I dont see tried and tested tools like shorthand gettting obsolete so easily.