Language And Connection
We are taught sounds like a toddler, sound lead to letters, letters lead to words, words to sentences, sentences to language and then the eternal cycle of language to connect. However, we update our language through the vocabulary - either active or passive through interaction, reading, social media, blogs, and our interests. As the social setting changes, the language continues to change as we move from kindergarten to high school, from high school to university, university to a workplace environment and so forth. The language acts as an avenue for interaction, for expressing ideas and friendships.
As an Indian International student in Melbourne, Australia, I realized that with different cultures brought about a different language and then that language brought about a different persona and ultimately the connections with people from different languages were different. When I sit down for a project with my Australian friends, there exists a different "Jyot" who connects uniquely with them. When "Jyot" speaks Hindi with people who know the language, he connects with them differently. Furthermore, when he speaks Punjabi he unlocks a different persona. When I speak in my beginner level "Spanish" with my co-workers they're amazed to see a brown guy speaking Spanish and hence a different connection is formed.
It's relishing to witness that different cultures howsoever varied they are in their traditions; the language remains the same. It's how an individual expresses themselves in a certain language is way different from what they do in their native language. Having been immersed in a multi-cultural city such as Melbourne, having worked on and off-campus with multi-linguistic individuals has made me realize that human connection knows no bounds. The tool of language forms the path for connection. I'm more carefree when I interact in English, a bit vocal when I interact in Hindi, more humorous in Punjabi and more poetic in Urdu.
The human capacity to interact in multiple languages, with precise vocabulary, finding the right words for expressions all this in real-time is an interesting algorithm that gives a sparse insight into the human brain. The human being aka "Social animal" has attuned thyself to build connections with fellow humans who know this language.
Fair to say the language jargon has opened many cross-cultural friendships for me- Indian, Australian, New-Zealand, Turkish, Asian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Italian and Spanish. This puts into perspective that human beings though comprised of a single skeleton exist differently in different languages.