Crossing ‘”T’s and Dotting ‘I’s- By – Dr. Shruti Jha Bahukhandi

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Just select any word(s) having “t” and “i” other than the beginning and culminating letters, for e.g. adventure and biography.Now pen down/scribble these words on a piece of paper.I am sure most of you would have crossed the “t” and dotted the “I” after completing the words.Don’t you believe? Try again.I hope now you are convinced about my observation.

I have not discovered something new to start shouting ‘Eureka’. It is a well known literary jargon.The literary meaning of the phrase is to pay adequate attention to even the minutest of the details. It has been emphasized since at times we tend to ignore such minute details inadvertently.When we are writing,there is a flow that we follow. We do not want that flow to get interrupted.

The cross and dots are impediments to that flow..They are like the speed breakers on the road which nobody likes. We believe in moving full throttle. All of us see vehicles coming to noisy screeching halts at the speed-breakers or at times jumping over it with riders getting airborne momentarily.

What thereafter follows is the curse and explicit abuse to the authorities concerned for creating them at the most inappropriate place according to us. There are a few who do not believe in the

concept of speed breakers as they do not want to get referred to as ‘Mr. or Mrs. or Miss Late.At times they end up getting referred to as “Late Mr. or Mrs. or Miss.Even if it doesn’t make a difference as to when you cross and dot your ‘T’s” and ‘I’s while writing but it does in real life scenario.

Philosophically life may get referred to as poem,but it never follows the literary rules of crossing and dotting as per our whims and fancies. The annual day function of the school where your child is expecting you to see him receive the prize or performing in the cultural event, requires your priority over all other business/professional commitments.

Even the costliest of the gifts/presents to the child post-event can not compensate for your absence.Attending to the ailing aged parents or celebrating,their anniversary and birth day is worth missing an important business opportunity since you never know you will get another opportunity.A child hood friend when comes to the city on a small vacation and calls you up,deserves a few moments of togetherness’ rather than getting to know how busy you are that evening. Giving a” Diwali” break to to your household staff so that they can also enjoy the festival with their kith and kin rather than taxing them with additional burden of your festivity, merits consideration..Calling the municipal sweeper by name and requesting him to pick up the garbage rather than shouting and ordering an unknown entity very much falls in the realm of basic civic sense.

It is worth taking initiative and timely evacuating the injured victim on the road to the hospital rather than just briefly halting or honking past the crowded site..There is no dearth of scope and opportunities for us to stop momentarily and cross the ‘T’s or dot the ‘I’s in our day to day life,.certain things may appear very mundane but they aren’t. The significance of writing just a single word can be clearly seen on the face of the illiterate asking for the ink to put the thumb impression instead of signature.

We speak so much in routine and at times hurt others without ever realizing the writhing the pain of a dumb who can not utter even a word.We zip past enjoying the music in full volume from the speakers of ‘Blapunkt’ without feeling the agony of deaf who crave even for a whisper.I sincerely hope next time when you come across such ‘T’s and ‘I’s of life,you will stop to cross and dot them if you have not been doing so till now.