The art of listening

While in school, we were told to carefully listen what the other person or the teacher is reading so that questions could be answered in the best possible manner. In debates, we were told to carefully listen to what the opponent is stating and carve the argument around it. During college, the listening was majorly to get the notes done and complete the assignment.

All our childhood and adulthood, the whole agenda around listening was to give the ‘correct’ answer…to get ahead of the race and prove our point right. The point is, we never learned to just listen. We never really learned the whole idea of listening is not just to give the correct answer but to understand a point.

This reflects in every conversation we have today. We have no patience to listen to anyone…not even our heart. Imagine a situation when one of you friend calls you and venting out about his/her work environment. And before even that poor thing is done venting out, you have already started with all the gyaan you have. What we don’t understand is that person might not have called you for your unsolicited gyaan but he/she just might need a friend who could just listen. So why can’t we just god-damn listen?

So the next time, someone call you or text you….maybe just listen to them?