June 2 2004
Recently while browsing the Indian Government press Information Bureau web site, I came across this paragraph in an article about railway coaches:"With the fructification of stainless
EMU coaches, Indian Railways will
achieve a break through in quality and technology to improve safety of
rail services."
According to dictionary.com, fructification means:"The act of forming or producing fruit;
the act of fructifying, or rendering productive of fruit; fecundation."
What on earth does it have to do with stainless
steel railway coaches? I have no idea but I suspect that some anonymous
press release writer in the PIB has
a poetic bent! This is, incidentally, a "ripe" example of what is referred to in India as "Babu" English. Babu is a colloquial name for a clerical worker. I found an amusing article about Babu English in the Hindu (a prominent Indian newspaper). Intrigued by this find, I searched a little more through the PIB web site and came across many examples of "fructify" on the PIB web site. Here are just a few:
Example 1:
The Information Technology Act, 2000
envisages a regime of digital signatures certification. But it is yet
to fructify fully. Although
the Controller to oversee the
implementation of digital signatures certification, electronic filing
of records, annual returns and other documentation is in position, it
will take a little more time before the digital signatures begin in
India fully.
Example
2:Shri Tripathy appealed all concerned to
clear the reconnaissance permit applications expeditiously. He said
exploration work, to fructify
at ground level takes time. Future
exploration works needs a reorientation, so that the results of
liberalisation and investments are realized.
Example
3:The initiative to address country’s oil
security needs is fructifying with the receipt of India’s first
consignment of crude oil from equity oil abroad on 15th May
at Mangalore Port from the Greater Nile Oil Project, Sudan in which
ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) acquired equity recently.
The PIB web site promises to be a rich source of material for some time to come!
Text Copyright © 2004 Rangachari Anand, all rights reserved