Keep it simple, silly. But HOW?

I still laugh uncontrollably when I hear Amir Khan’s definition of books in the evergreen Bollywood movie, 3 idiots.

“Instrument that record, analyse, summarise, organise, debate and explain information that are illustrative, non illustrative, hard bound paper bag jacketed, non jacketed, with forward introduction table of contents, index that are intended for the enlightenment, understanding, enrichment, enhancment and education of the human brain through sensory route of vision… some times touched”

Ranchod das chanchad

Phewww!!!

Thank god, that he said ‘books,’ summarizing the painful, 52-word sentence to one word. Ain’t that simple? How bad it would be if you had to Google the whole sentence? Trust me, you would consider the search a waste of time, looking at the result – books.

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Where would we be without ‘simple’ languages in our lives? Probably, that’s the reason for Chetan Bhagat becoming the Android of Indian English Novelists (No Offence). His books are stories in the simplest and most conversational form of English.

Allow me to tell the story where ‘simple’ saved me my job. Ultimately it also taught me that keeping things simple is necessary because you are not the only one living in this world. There are others too and they should understand what you speak or write.

My Interview with Gramener

It has been more than 9 months that I am working with Gramener. But my interview here still haunts me sometimes. I entered the Da-vinci cabin on the third floor and saw the grumpiest face of Ravi Y, my interviewer and the former Marketing Manager. The initial few minutes of our conversation were enough to understand that I was about to get ragged. But, there was a moment which was exciting and thoughtful on the interviewer’s side.

He said, “considering me a 5th standard kid, explain relative velocity to me.”

That’s a piece of cake, I thought. I fed him the exact, word-by-word, bookish definition on relative velocity. His bland expressions were enough to tell me that I lost my shot on this job. But, what Ravi spoke next was god’s word to me.

“Try again”, he said, “and remember I am a 5th standard student.”

Ok buddy, here’s your only chance.

I said, “Hey kid! Ever travelled in a train? Isn’t it exciting, watching those trees and mountains running? Now assume another train running beside your train. Slowly its speed increases and beats your train in the race. Now, the difference between the speed of both the trains with respect to your train is called relative velocity”

I wish I could’ve simplified it further but Ravi seemed satisfied. I thanked my 9th-grade physics teacher for explaining this simple example to me. A huge thanks to the one who invented this example.

Moral – Keep it simple so that people can understand and remember it for long.

Simple, eh? But HOW?

There are tried, tested, and proven methods to make things simple and consumable.

I. Drive a story: Stories are something that people are ought to remember. It has characters, scenes, and a message in the end. A story slowly unfolds the toughest of situations into simple, meaningful endings. Happy endings.

II. Use conversational language: Try speaking or writing like you are talking to the reader. Always think of any question your reader might come up with. Answer it in advance.

III. Keep it short: Short is good. Short attract many eyeballs. Short is something that people would want to read. Oh, wait! I meant, short is functional, pleasing, and consumable.

IV. Always ask a question: The question is, “Do I get it?” Once you completely understand what you write, others will consume it too. Writing text-heavy content is not bad (as far as it is not weary). Stuffing indecipherable (difficult to read and understand) vocabulary is definitely bad.

This article has a language that can be understood by a 6th grader. Try and maintain that streak.

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With this piece, I would like to thank every elementary school teacher for keeping calm and answering the silliest doubts. Silly questions hold the most fundamental and important answers.

Would you like to share any such instance from your life. Do share it in the comment section below.