India is a diverse and multilingual country comprising 29 States and 7 Union Territories.  As per Wikipedia, the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution lists out 22 official languages spoken in India. However, as per the Census of India (2001), India has122 “major languages” and 1599 “other languages”. The difference is due to misinterpretation and in the understanding of terms “language and Dialect. It is said that the diversity of our country can be easily understood by the fact that language, dialect, music, food habits and choice of dressing changes every 75 to 100 kms in India. This is as far as India is concerned. However, if we were to look outside India, there are approx 6500 languages of the world. Therefore, for two distinct natives to engage in a meaningful conversation, it is imperative that language void needs to be bridged unless we are satisfied with sign language. Therefore, a bridge language or Lingua Franca makes it possible to communicate beyond the drawn up physical boundaries of communities for the purpose of trade, politics and academics etc.

The most popular language (1^st Language) of the world is Mandarin Chinese and is spoken by approximately 917 million people. The 2^nd most popular language is English and is spoken by approx 379 people worldwide. These two languages are followed by Spanish and Arabic on the popularity scale. English is the de-facto Lingua Franca which has developed naturally out of peoples need to communicate between two non-native communities. It’s popularity can be attributed to continuing global economic and cultural influence of UK and USA which makes Trade and Media the central areas of usage.

Closer home, knowledge of English symbolises better education and greater sophistication. English is also the language of Science and Technology. Therefore, to update knowledge it would be of paramount importance to have at least a working knowledge of English, if not complete mastery over the language. Every Indian today wants to go Global and have an international reach-out. If he is part of an MNC it would be mandatory to be multi-lingual and adept in more than one internationally acceptable language so that opportunities are his to grab. This will also do away with the requirement for translators. Therefore, it will not be wrong to assume that English no longer is looked upon as a language but is a median of life. Our emotional bond with our mother tongue must allow English to co-exist alongside.

It will surprise many to know that the proceedings of the Supreme Court of India can only take place in English. Even the official version of our Constitution is in English. English is the medium of instruction in professional colleges like Engineering, Medical, CA etc and so are the reference books. Further, English is the only language in the world used for development of computer software. Therefore, there has to be a medium for masses to connect and this void has been successfully bridged by the English Language. We today are witnessing entrepreneur era in our country for the markets to spread across continents to ensure profits and sales multiply. For example, if I publish a novel in Hindi, I would be able to reach a target audience of say a few lakhs. But if I were to publish a novel in English, I will be able to reach out to a billion people across the globe. Therefore, there is no language other than English which can possibly link Indians together and also Indian with the world.

Importance of English for Career Prospects including SSB Interview.

 A question often asked is whether knowledge of English is important for career prospects in India including SSB. Most answers we find in Blogs is No. However I beg to slightly differ in my views. Ground reality is different from imagination. Most job descriptions today mention good English speaking and writing skills as pre-requisites for most jobs in MNC.If you are in college and are admiring a good and corporate job or high paying job, in my perception it is a must for you to know English. Being able to communicate in English helps you to interact with your global colleagues because every business with an international client base uses English language as the prime source of communication. Knowing English does not imply that you must be fluent It implies that you must be able to converse in simple English.

Today’s youth is intelligent and ambitious. He/she does not believe in putting all eggs in one basket and only looking at a career through the prism of SSB. He/she will have multiple career options thought out and joining the Armed Forces will be just one of the many such options he/she has in mind.

 English is undoubtedly the language of the Indian Armed Forces. India being a multi-lingual country, English language has been selected as the language for use at our SSB’s. A candidate at the SSB is assessed for his thought, action and speech to ascertain if he has it in him to become an officer in our Armed Forces. Thoughts are assessed by the Psychologist, Action by the GTO and Speech by the IO. Starting from filling up the PIQ form, Group Discussion, GPE, Lecturette, Self-Description, PP&DT, WAT, TAT SRT and Interview, all require knowledge of English language. There is no doubting the fact that proficiency in English enhances confidence level and conversely, lack of knowledge of English reduces the confidence levels. While I do appreciate the fact that English is a trainable aspect and “SSB is just a test of a candidate’s personality” but in a hypothetical scenario if you have two candidates on equal footing except for their proficiency in English language, the candidate who is able to put across his view and thoughts in English would naturally be preferred. While it is agreed that “content matters” and it will be wrong to totally discount a person who converses only in Hindi or Hinglish, but given a choice, the candidate who is able to speak in English would naturally be preferred over a trainable candidate.

Youth today would certainly like to have multiple career options open to him/her and not confine himself/ herself with just SSB. God forbid, you don’t form part of the 3.6 % candidates who on an average qualify the SSB, you would obviously go in for the other career options where English carries a lot of weight. It will thus be suicidal to ignore this aspect. A lot of blogs exist which convey an impression that English is not essential for SSB but we need to look beyond the SSB boundary. English is a necessity and has become an indispensable Lingua Franca. Therefore, it makes sense to make to learn this global language and my advice to the youth would be to learn the English language to climb the ladder of success. English may have had a complicated past, but it has a bright future.

We at Flame Career Academy do not follow the beaten path. We believe in doing things differently. Our 14 days SSB Mentoring has a Personality Development capsule which includes communication skills. 

THE CHOICE IS ENTIRELY YOURS!!