V.IRAIANBU IAS

LISTENING

Man learns less by reading, more by observing and the maximum by listening. Research proves that we learn 80 per cent of what we know by listening but most of us absorb just 25 per cent of what we hear. Books are vocal words told in black and white. Speech is not always lip service. It can motivate, enlighten, guide, clarify, provoke, educate, inform and entertain.

Listening requires to be learnt. Everyone talks but only a few listen. We hear to overhear and drop to eavesdrop. Gettan, a Zen monk used to say, “When you have a talking mouth, you have no listening ears.” People love their own voice more than the symphony of Mozart. Transaction cannot be consummated without listening. If discretion is better part of valour, listening is the best part of communication. One may be extraordinarily endowed with mastery of language and a gallery of vocabulary.

Still, without listening, he would be dismissed as a dismal failure.

Listening occurs only when we value the importance of the other person. While listening, the second person should become the first person. One who feels superior with an aura of snobbish attitude can never be attentive. The disease of not listening exhibits several acute symptoms and chronic disorders. Some are selective listeners. They grasp the chaff and blow the grains. Some will constantly interrupt, miss the juice and taste the rind. The day dreamers dwell in their own imaginary world. It is said that hallucination is not vision. Poor listeners are attracted and distracted by all the unwanted occurrences. A few are lazy even to listen.

Listening requires empathy. Rulers become unruly by turning a deaf ear to the problems of people. Listening warrants magnanimity. Constructive criticism well received with an open mind will obviate mistakes and clear misunderstanding. Active listening is the silent salute that encourages the speaker. Our silence is mostly superficial. Our lips are tight and mind is loose. It is called disagreement fallacy and is termed illusion of communication. We converse within us. Attention engulfs us when we remain without duality. Undivided focus occurs at that moment. When the mind is free from prejudices and preconceived notions, concomitant converging of all the senses at one point happens. Then, every word uttered enters into the soul and becomes a part of the system.

Listening activates the subconscious mind.

Conscious mind is just the tip of an iceberg. When the conscious mind fails, subconscious comes to the rescue. Noam Chomsky’s transformational generative grammar elucidates it. One never makes an effort to recall the words in mother tongue as it has become a part of the subconscious mind.

Listening requires a keen discernment and an eye for observation. In a typical communication, 7 per cent of the content is verbal and the rest is non-verbal. Man conveys more by facial expressions and through body language. If we tape all the sounds that we utter in an ordinary day and run the tape would run only for 11 minutes. Language may be the same but the meaning may be different. Bernard Shaw said that England and the United States of America are two countries separated by the same language. People differ in tongue but resemble in emotions.

Reading can only give a vicarious enjoyment. We will miss the gestures, body movements and eye expressions by reading a delivered speech. While reading we miss the electrifying presence of the person. Continuous reading may render the eyes tired and exhausted. Ears never become worn out and there is no such thing as excessive listening. Hence, blindness is sympathised and deafness is dug at. Sight strays and clasps whereas ears stay and grasp. Eyes have lids to close, mouth has lips to shut but ears have no mechanism to shun sounds. Yet, we shut them with a hermetically sealed mind. Unless we close the eyes we cannot enjoy the melodious music. Synesthesia may be mixing up of senses in neurology but not for virtuosos of art and literature.

Speaker also has the responsibility to deliver a spell bound oration. One who listens to his address should glisten with wit and wisdom. A belligerent voice may not convey, convince or convert. Brutus goaded his countrymen to hear him for his cause and be silent so that they may hear. Mark Antony wanted them to lend him their ears. Humility always pays rich dividends. Listening cannot be enforced by summoning the senses.

Milo, an athlete of Croton, was a legend for his feats of strength. He lifted a particular calf onto his shoulders everyday. It grew heavier with age and finally he was lifting a full-grown bull. The student who attentively listens to the class finds the exam light like a calf and others feel it as a burden like a bull on their shoulders.