LISTENING [ON REQUEST from Mr. LAKSHMANAN]

LISTENING

[ON REQUEST from   Mr. LAKSHMANAN]

Listening is a demanding exercise; it demands time, demands keen attention, demands eagerness to learn by hearing; above all listening fructifies only if the idea is retained. What makes ‘listening’ a worthwhile effort is, connecting the information gathered to a process or practice or phenomenon.  

A major hurdle to ‘effective listening’ arises from difficulties in understanding the basics  leading to comprehension. Without comprehending the totality of information, any knowledge is fragmentary.  The problem is complex if we try to identify the real issues behind listening. The exercise called ‘listening’ is a variable as a function of age. Students [younger age] have a different disposition to listening as compared to the attitude of elderly persons [beyond 30 years of age].

WHAT INTERFERES WITH ‘LISTENING’ PER SE

The student –though less attentive, reconciles to being confined to a place for ‘listening’. An adult cannot stay put in a place for more than 2 hours at a stretch. You can observe ‘dejection lit large’ on faces of men 30+ by age whenever they participate in academic programmes like seminar or special lecture. The sag in their seats like old pillows with head tilted to a side under a soporific influence of ‘lecture. This is because the elder mind indulges in instant assessment of the resource person’s ability to present an idea. From the role of ‘listening’ the elder man turns a judge and tries to pick flaws in the message delivery. He fails to channelize the information to the right storage domain. In the process, the listener gets digressed and loses the occasion to appropriately co-ordinate all ideas; instead, [s]he is interested in the shortfalls of a lecture, only to ultimately feel that ‘nothing was clear’. Without concentrating, no lecture can help the faculty of ‘learning’.

RECTIFICATION

Every malady has a remedy. A common defect in properly receiving an idea pertains to understanding of ‘terms’. It does not relate to English alone; it can happen in one’s mother tongue as well. The underlying reason is careless listening.

Carelessness in listening is from the tendency of looking around instead of sustaining attention to the speaker.  So, one should cultivate the habit of attentive listening. A simple method to turn attentive is to practice ‘noting-down‘ specific points like terms , meaning or reference or the source of information or the place or year etc. It is impossible to be inattentive if we try to mark information in a compact form. Always carry a scribble pad exclusive for the purpose of ‘recording’ information. This habit would readily compel our taking a position, physically the most advantageous for careful listening. It would inculcate the habit of punctuality in us to reach the venue in time to take vantage seat- ideal for attentive listening. Another approach could be to take along a like-minded friend with the same tools on hand so that later on the two can exchange ‘notes’ or opinion on any item of interest from a session of listening.

Listening would soon turn a pleasant exercise because one starts getting ‘clarity’ on intricate points by careful listening. Listening and pleasure thereof are mutually inclusive, each triggering the other in a ‘cause and effect’ relationship. But, please remember that one session of earnest listening can surpass the benefits of hard learning from books. Also, by listening one also gets to have a clear training on ‘how to arrange our thought‘ to plan a straight forward delivery to be a convincing conversationalist. After all, nothing succeeds like success. Try these simple methods and get to enjoy the opportunities of listening.

GOOD LUCK                   Prof. K. Raman