Communication Skills on Pitara Kids Network

Silence is Golden

Wed, 23 May 2001 15:06:07 +0000

Once upon a time, a Chinese student once went to his teacher.

He asked his teacher a question: “Sir, is there any good in talking a lot?”

The teacher replied: “Toads and frogs croak night and day, but no one pays any attention to them. But the cock crows at a certain time of night and wakes up everyone.”

Silence is Golden [Illustration by Sudheer Nath]

The teacher smiled at his student and said, “This proves that no good is achieved by talking a lot. What is important is to say the right thing at the right time.”

Dad and the Dog

Thu, 06 Jan 2005 21:49:55 +0000

If you happen to come across a man talking to a large, brown dog, carrying on a realtime, honest-to-god, heart-to-heart conversation, although the dog doesn’t appear to be saying very much, what would you think? Is the guy a candidate for the nut factory, has he lost what little was left of his mind, or is he just another dog owner?

If he is called Mr Joshi, and his mate on the leash is called Pluto, there goes my Pop and his most precious companion.

Can You Speak Dolphin Language?

Wed, 24 Jan 2001 18:35:01 +0000

Mastering a language is not an easy task. Different countries have different languages, and each language in turn has different dialects. For instance, the Hindi usage, in Uttar Pradesh, is drastically different from the Hindi spoken by the Koli fisherfolk of Maharashtra. In fact, in smaller towns, there is a subtle shift in the spoken language, every few kilometers!

Can You Speak Dolphin Language? [Illustration by Shiju George]

Recent studies show that dolphins are no different from us. Believe it or not, these friendly mammals have languages of their own that are area-specific. It has long been known the dolphins emit clicking sounds (or whistles). Both the clicks and whistles serve a definite purpose – the clicking noises help in echo-location while the whistles are their method of communicating their emotions.