“Bengali is the world’s sweetest language” and “Bengali the world’s Sweetest Language” are the two headlines you must have come across over the last two days of your web surfing and you could not stop thinking, really? Well, I am not here to tell you once again that Bengali is the world’s sweetest language. Though, I am amazed at the way information spreads over the Internet even though it possibly has zero credibility.
This latest news of Bengali being voted as the worlds sweetest language started as a massive campaign through social networks and SMS services and has reached the majority of the Indian population. The campaign is using big brands like UNESCO to enter the hearts and minds of people. But, all those who received this news are overlooking the fact that there is no such official report from UNESCO on this.
There is something important I learnt from this. Social networks and the latest tech-services can be an easy method to start a viral campaign. The way in which people use it vary and it has been publicly exploited and mocked earlier.
In this case though, it is appealing to countries where a larger section of the netizen have a serious lack of awareness. This is taking a toll on people who are rejoicing on this development which might as well not be true. Social networks are being used as tools for misinformation.
Technically, the factor determining the sweetness of a language, as in how sweet it is when spoken can be determined from the number of syllables in words of that language. In that case, I guess languages like Arabic have a far better chance than Bengali. Though once again, I this is true, I am proud to be a Bengali.
Though looking at the brighter side, this might as well be premature information. Being a Bengali myself, I hope it is true.
Chinmoy Kanjilal is the geek behind Techarraz. This is where he rants about his adventures with technology. Get to know him better, and connect with him on social networks.
Recent reactions