The Art of Listening

Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in the communication process. It is said by elders that the nature has gifted us with two ears and just a single mouth to stress that we have to speak less and listen more.

People are fond of talking. Good. But listening has many many advantages.Speaking can reveal one's knowledge but also one's ignorance. In a lecture of an hour if the speaker commits a single grammatical error that would be the discussion of the day. A speaker may earn  but a listener learns.

Most successful people in the world were good listeners. If cultivated a habit of good listening, problems of misunderstanding surely would come down. From small babies to big leaders, all  are attention seekers. Pay attention to others and leave your tension. But just hearing to one's words alone can't make you a good learner. One has to be in a position to properly interpret the words that he hears. And words can't give meaning in isolation. They have to be put into  the proper context.  

A doctor has to be a good listener. He has to have lot of patience to his patient. Apart from the external symptoms or the things he gets on various tests/ X-rays and so on most of the clues for the ailment  can be had from the patient. A teacher too has to be very  patient as he has to answer the questions/doubts raised by his kids. This is more true with the kids below 10 years as they would be inquisitive to know and interested to share what they have.

Many of our leaders were successful because many listened to them and most of them failed later as they failed to listen to any one.They are found quite often talking and they have little time to interact with men and women of different ages. Over a period they become just a speaking machine. Hardly there is none from whom they listen to. Occasionally they may listen to the news readers. The result is that they never have an interaction but expect only action from others. 

In the Indian context any one with money or power is seen as a modern maharaja and these people tend to lose the listening habit totally. They become impatient when some one tries to narrate their woes. They are hard pressed with time and over the years since nothing enters their minds , hardly there would be nothing left to offer to anyone. Since only stale stuff is offered repeatedly their followers or the public lose interest in their speeches. No leader of the world ever realizes this basic flaw that enter into their life style, albeit inadvertently.

The aim of this piece is not to talk about leaders alone. Listening is life. If we want to be of interested to some one, we have to listen to them.