Writing is a laborious process. But at times, it's a welcome relief from the mundane, hectic drudgery of daily routine. It is the fresh scent of earth after the rain; it is like Christmas in June. Like driving, writing is good while the going is good. But if you hit a couple of roadblocks, it is not the same again. As students, we were often told to write without worrying about grammar in the first draft. It was important to not lose the train of thought, for the mind is fickle. Grammar could be added later like pepper, to adjust the taste. There were opposing schools of thought on the matter. From the perspective of the grammar police, language wasn't much without proper grammar. Others frowned at the idea of precious thoughts lost in the process of getting semantics right.

There are some very good languages that now languish, unspoken, in books because of their overtly difficult grammar. The ancient Indian language of Sanskrit is one such victim. Sanskrit grammar is one of the toughest. Once hailed as the language of gods and spoken widely across the subcontinent, it is now relegated to high school courses. Having endured it for three years in high school myself, I don't blame people for not using it in their daily lives. Grammar that makes a language tedious without supplementing it is like a flood of traffic signs in an unpopulated region. Traffic signs are there to manage traffic. But if they start interfering with traffic flow, there's something wrong. That demands simplification. That simplification is seen with Indian languages derived from or influenced by Sanskrit. They seem to enjoy keeping things simple. The same is true for programming languages as well. A tedious grammar linearly affects the adoption rate.

Wanting to delve deeper into grammar, I purchased Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots & Leaves. The first 50 pages were engaging. Then it started to wear on me. One good point to note though was how famous authors sometimes circumvented the rules of grammar for emphasis and/or flow. So, I am not alone!

There are a few pet peeves of mine. Use phrases only in headings for instance. Per a popular chef conundrum, it is important to feed the eyes before you feed the stomach. Applying the same parlance, it is a writer's prerogative to engage the reader with what best describes his perspective. If that warrants a sentence or a phrase or a quote, so be it! Why stifle the poor soul? Extra spacing is another. How many would even notice that there is a spacing issue? I can bet my top dollar it will not be a high number. Bold and italics are two other wretched souls who are relegated to obscurity by editors. Given that a user on a typical web page takes 15 seconds to decide if he/she will read further or pass, it is a given that the key elements stand out in an article. But not to the copy editors. They still like the insipid prose sans any gimmicks, but astute in grammar.