Hello !

“Hello” is a very powerful word of expression and people seldom realize its value.

Let us get on to its etymology first.

hello - 1883, alt. of hallo (1840), itself an alt. of holla, hollo, a shout to attract attention, first recorded 1588. Perhaps from holla! "stop, cease." Popularity as a greeting coincides with use of the telephone, where it won out over Alexander Graham Bell's suggestion, ahoy. Central telephone exchange operators were known as hello-girls (1889).

"Hello, formerly an Americanism, is now nearly as common as hullo in Britain (Say who you are; do not just say 'hello' is the warning given in our telephone directories) and the Englishman cannot be expected to give up the right to say hello if he likes it better than his native hullo. [H.W. Fowler, "A Dictionary of Modern English Usage," 1926]
 
Have you ever tried to say Hello to a stranger?
I am sure most of us have not done this. But I am sure if you did “Hello”, you have won a smile from the person receiving it. It has the power, inherent in it, to open a new channel of communication, a new road towards co-operation and a new area of collaboration for you. It helps to acclimatize you to the new situation.

In this age of communication and information interchange there is no time that you can spare exclusively for fostering relationships and developing contacts. It has to be dynamic and spontaneous and of course an offset can be “Hello”.

In India I have noticed that people are more than often reserved and do not open up easily to neighbors, co-workers, etc, the list goes on. It takes considerable time for a person to open up and communicate. The most common assumption being: “the person next door is no good”.

It is also an observation that when two strangers start to communicate they start associating the information exchanged to there own life-sphere, and many a time they are able to foster a new relationship and collaborate to the advantage of each other. I have observed this mostly in the Trains, in India. I must say Indian railways must be a fertile ground to many new deals and relationships that are based on a simple “Hello”, what if the “Hello” done was to feel good in the journey.

Why do we find it so hard to say “Hello” and beam a smile to a stranger?
I claim a “Hello” has the power to make life easier and a rosier place.

Start to “Hello” today!