To market, to market

From being the privileged language of the white-collared elite, English, as the preferred mode of communication, has now trickled down to the lowest common denominator — it is these days a vital factor in deciding your employability quotient
When Lord Macaulay, through his famous 'Minute on Education', imposed English on Indians way back in 1835, he had little clue how deeply entrenched its roots would become in a country that prided itself on Sanskrit, the language of the gods. The Queen's language has come a long way in India.
Today, in this nation of a billion plus people — with a literate population of 66 per cent as of 2007 — knowledge of English guarantees a job across sectors. Be it a chauffeur, a hairdresser, a bell boy or a waiter, salutations and courtesies in English are considered so essential that often a minimum skill in the language is non-negotiable with recruiters.
A majority of F&B (food and beverage) outlets, a sector that employ large numbers of young people, insist that employees speak to customers in fluent and correct English. Manpreet Gulri, development agent for Subway, a popular fast food chain, says, "If an employee speaks good English he/she can communicate far better with our customers. We are an international brand, and our customers come from cross-sections of society. Communicating in English becomes necessary."
Karishma Dhawan, human resource manager, Oxford Bookstore, agrees with Gulri. She says that it is important for the staff to be well-versed in English because that's the language of the books they stock. "The staff should understand the buyer's needs and should be familiar with the content of the books," she says. "We get a huge number of applications and many of them are rejected because candidates are unable to speak in English. Certain job profiles like that of sales executives, store managers and public relations executives require candidates to talk confidently to customers in English. It is a musthave skill."

Grand tour around arizona

NOOR QOMARIYAH

It is really an awesome experience when I was in Arizona State University, USA. It’s started from 18 March till 14 May when I was gathering, living and studying with students from all over Indonesia and the world which then left many impressive memories in my deepest heart. It is still clear how beautiful Grand Canyon is, how fresh the air is, how heat the weather is, how beautiful the yellow blossom is, how the clean everywhere is, how the beautiful my last night looking at the moon is, how respectful everybody is, how obedient they are and many others how... .

Looking around in the musical instrument museum gives me another experience. There, I could find many musical instruments almost from each country in the globe. From the story, that museum was established personally by musical instruments fan. He collected all of them in order to realize his interest and keep the cultural heritage. Now, it opens to public even though it’s just annual exhibition. At that time, I was so lucky since I can get a chance to see and try some bizarre instruments. We, Indonesian students, even tried to play gamelan, which is provided completely, with ridiculous rhythm which we own selves didn’t know what song it was. Luckily, the others visitors and the staff of the museum were so excited hearing our game. It’s funny story, moreover it’s embarrassing story if the real gamelan players listen our song. Anyways, we’re really proud of showing to the visitors as the junior Indonesia ambassador.