Blog Post #2

Half a year in the same working environment forged a deep friendship among the six of us. We met up regularly after the job attachment. Celebrating Christmas together was one of the highlights of that year. Different backgrounds meant different ways of celebrating the holiday. Poor Sean and Joshua thought celebration meant a movie and a meal together, while the rest of us awaited the exchange of presents eagerly. D-day came when both of them turned up empty-handed and two hours late! Tardiness was one thing that Jane and I abhorred. We kept our anger to ourselves so as not to spoil the festive mood, but our smiles had lost its original intensity. The bomb exploded when revelation time came!

If the day had started out better, there wouldn’t be such a big quarrel. I suppose the unabashed attitude of Sean played a part as well. He wasn’t apologetic for being late and forgetting the gifts. To make matters worse, he was picky about the gifts he received. May was very upset. She put in much effort in preparing her gifts. This was the spark that brought the outburst. Jane chided Sean for the blunders he made and included Joshua in her rantings. Sean remained unrepentant – as was his usual way of handling others’ dissatisfaction of him. Joshua’s expression spoke of remorse, while Peter’s reflected unease and awkwardness. May’s eyes were glistening from hurt. I tried to be the peacemaker: pointing out Sean’s mistakes while pacifying Jane. The day ended badly. Till this day, there’s a rift between Sean and Jane though the rest of us are on talking terms. Would it have turned out differently if the six of us handled that day with other approaches?

Blog Post #1

I want to communicate appealingly.

Loss of eye contact, disinterest reflected from the eyes, subtle grimace in their facial expressions, repeats of “sorry, I lost you,”, these are signs of waning interest in my conversation. Some of these knaves are best friends, close buddies and family members. It almost became acceptable. This is wrong! Though everyone has this moment once or twice in a while, this is not a satisfactory excuse. The fault may lie with the issue being discussed, but my bet is on the style of communicating.

My interpretation of conversation changes at different stages of my life with the accumulation of experiences. Until recently, it finally hit me that a conversation only works when there is listening by all parties involved. Listening, not just hearing. In every conversation I had, my topic is always of utmost importance. I’m still struggling to change this vile habit.Let me just be selfish once more and expound on my theory of the art of conversing. (I do feel like a professional now.) There is homework to do. The likes and dislikes, the “current affairs” of mutual friends (Celebrities included.) and of that friend whom we are chatting to, these facts must be at our fingertips. What happens if we face a stranger? There is no taboo topic. However, a neutral stand is required. We don’t want to offend. For non-supporters of utmost diplomacy can pursue the less rigorous version – convincing instead of enforcing. Choice of words and tone affects the pleasure one gets from a conversation. Our goal is to ensure that there is a second conversation, unless yours is otherwise. There is definitely more that these to an appealing conversation; I’m still searching.