BaKhabar, April 2011, Page-3

better light a candle than curse the darkness

WHAT HAS QUALITY GOT TO DO WITH THIS?

--- Sharjeel Ahmad <sharjeel.ahmad@gmail.com>

“If you don't set a baseline standard for what you'll accept in life, you'll find it's easy to slip into behaviors and attitudes or a quality of life that's far below what you deserve.”

- Anthony Robbins

I recently forwarded a press release sent by a premier student organization of the Indian Muslim Community [would be careful not to name it, though] to specific mailing groups. One of the members of one group swiftly remarked – “Why don’t they do a spell check before they send?” Candid enough, isn’t it?! This is not an exception; I could exhibit an array of OFFICIAL press releases from another prominent national-level Muslim educational institution that contain typos, spelling errors; even grammatical mistakes. So, what has spell check or quality got to do with press releases? Aren’t they simply meant to convey some happenings? Above all, they are probably doing us a favor in sending the press releases in English; because a majority of Muslim organizations are characterized by their connoted affiliation to Urdu – and non-affiliation to English, as a corollary. Another despondent and cynical observation that I have made during my professional career; almost 95% of resumes from Muslim candidates are forwarded without proper spellcheck or proofreading!!

In my present organization, I am entrusted with the job of providing the functional induction to the new hires. One module of the induction session talks about refreshing English grammar basics; since we are into writing and content management. I always make it a point to raise this question with the new hires – “Why at all do we need to emphasize on grammar, when what we want to convey can be conveyed even if we use incorrect grammar and spelling mistakes?” The session does not start till we discuss on this aspect at length, and acknowledge and agree to the fact that incorrect grammar, typos and spelling mistakes, and any such element of poor quality, is NOISE to the reader. It abjectly and intermittently interferes with the process of learning, rendering it useless at times. Therefore, the purpose of conveying an idea may still be achieved by having incorrect grammar, spelling mistakes, and shabby output. What remains to be achieved; in fact pretty far from being achieved, is the actual objective of ensuring a conducive and reckoning learning experience. Putting it squarely, with every element of noise [or poor quality] in a written piece, we FAIL to achieve the primary objective.

Coming back to the question of press releases… Press releases or any form of official statements/documents/write ups coming from a Muslim organization/association serve more than one purpose. While by their nature and characteristics, press releases serve as means to communicate some happenings officially, they manifest and conjure the representation and symbolization of these organizations of the Ummah – specifying the acute reflection of the Ummah itself. The reflection is not about English, or grammar or spelling; it is more about the quality of life and work that the Community does. It is more about the relevance and prominence that the Community attaches to the overall essence of quality. Putting it squarely, with a shabby and poor quality write up, the organizations of the Ummah FAIL to achieve the primary objective of creating a decent reflection of the Community!!!

I remember an article by Dr. Wasim Ahmad (Head of Islamic Studies deptt, Preston University, Ajman) where he talks of one section of the Ummah that appreciates whatever someone does; irrespective of how well he/she does it – at least he/she is doing something. Appreciated that someone is AT LEAST doing something; however, what is really relegating is the realization that the Ummah is so brittle when it comes to quality of work and quality of life. This doing something, irrespective of how qualitatively it has been done, leads to a vicious trap – the trap of accepting poor quality as the precipitated behavior and attitude of the Ummah… Mother Teresa had remarked that “It is not how much you do, but how much love you put into doing that matters.” How many of us actually love what we do for the Ummah? We often complain about how other communities [specifically the Christian community] are able to achieve so much and so forth. Then, we never attempt to retrospect on the reasons, for if we would have done it, we would have been able to identify the same and eradicate much haplessness amongst ourselves. Do we now realize what Mother Teresa meant by "...love you put into doing..."??!! Do we now realize why Mother Teresa achieved what many of us would covetously try to strive but never achieve??!! Do we now realize why we have SLIPPED INTO BEHAVIORS AND ATTITUDES AND A QUALITY OF LIFE THAT IS FAR BELOW WHAT WE DESERVE??!! ANYONE LISTENING???
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One of my friends commented on reading this article – “You cannot expect every Muslim to be an expert writer or an expert in English. We must look at the limitations as well. Then, the person creating such press releases might at times be over burdened with a lot of work, which may lead to skipping these issues.”
Reply – “In most of the cases, important press releases coming out of premier Muslim organizations and institutions are often drafted by people who are experts in the specific language. Some organizations such as Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia have dedicated offices for public relations, which are headed and managed by experts with immense amount of experience. It ultimately boils down to the love we attach with the quality of work. Being an editor, can you imagine leaving out spelling and grammatical mistakes in one of the manuscripts and then dare to tell your boss that these things were skipped because you were under a lot of work pressure??!! Try giving this excuse to your boss and see the result. So, why is it that we adopt an entirely different attitude when it comes to Community work??”