DRIVER TRAINING Native language please!

In the field of driver training, it is noticed that the ease and expressional confidence that drivers enjoy in their native language is usually far superior to what they have in a different language, says Raghuram Sharma

- Raghuram Sharma

Austrian-British philosopher Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein once put it: “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” Language has a vital role to play. But for my own experience, I too wouldn’t have bought this premise. I was shifted from Jamshedpur to Chennai. I remember the days when I was amid the gathering of those whose mother tongue was entirely different from mine and there was no common linguistic bridge between us. That was the perfect litmus test. Blank stares and derisive smirks greeted me, making me miserable. Think of the challenge when you are on the road in a territory where your felicity with your native lingo has no relevance.

And you want to order food at the roadside eatery, whose menu card is all Greek and Latin for you, simply put, ignorance about the printed language. I can well imagine the plight of our South Indian truck drivers when they travel across the rest of the country. There must be a hapless feeling of being left in the lurch as a result of the absence of familiarity with the commonly spoken language in those parts of the nation. The challenge assumes a gigantic proportion when you must communicate with a group of truck drivers on various issues impacting their lives while they are on the move or waiting for unloading the consignment. As a trainer, I had to contend with such a scenario recently.