Acknowledgement: Prof. Swaminathan, Retired professor from IIT-Delhi.

Creation comes out of imperfection. It seems to come out of striving and frustration. And this is where I think language came from. I think it came from our desire to transcend our isolation and have some sort of connection with one another, using communication. And it had to be easy when it was just simple survival. Like saying, "water." We came up with a sound for that. Or "Saber-toothed tiger right behind you." We came up with a sound for that.

But when it gets really interesting, I think, is when we use that same system of symbols to communicate all the abstract and intangible things that we're experiencing. What is “frustration”? Or what is “anger” or “love”? When I say "love," the sound comes out of my mouth and it hits the other person's ear, travels through these channels in their brain, you know, through their memories of love (or the lack of love, perhaps) and they register what I'm saying and they say yes, they understand.

But how do I know they understand? Because words are inert. They're just symbols. They're dead. And so much of our experience is intangible. So much of what we perceive cannot be expressed. It's unspeakable. And yet, you know, when we communicate with one another, and we feel that we've connected, and we think that we're understood, I think we have a feeling of almost spiritual communion. And that feeling might be transient, but I think it's what we live for.