Introduction to Communication

Communication' (together with its twin information) is perhaps one of the most hyped words in contemporary culture. It encompasses a multitude of experiences, actions and events, as well as a whole variety of happenings and meanings, and technologies. For example, a conference or a meeting or even a mela or procession is a 'communication event', newspapers, radio, video and television are communication media', phones, pagers, and email are Communication technologies', and journalists, advertisers, public relations personnel, and even camera crew and news-readers are communication professionals'. Further, the contemporary period has come to be labelled variously the Information Age', the Communication Age', and most recently, the Cyber or Networking Age. The uses and understanding of Communication have come a long way from its original association first with 'means of transport' and later with transmission'. The English word 'communication' is derived from the Latin noun 'communis' and the Latin verb 'communicare' which It means 'to make common'. Terms closely related to communication and with similar etymological origins include community, communion, commonality, communalism and communism. The closest Indian language equivalent to the original concept of communication is 'sadharanikaran'. Communication, in its simplest sense, is a human relationship, involving two or more persons who come together to share, to dialogue and to commune, or just to be together say at a festival or a time of mourning. Communication is thus not so much an act or even a process but rather social and cultural 'togetherness.