Conversation
Conversation is an art, it is said. Like any performing art, the performer has the capacity to hold the audience spellbound. In the case of conversation however there is no performer or audience. Two people or a whole group of a number of persons participate in the conversation and there is no demarcation such as the performer and audience. All are participants when the subject of discussion is of interest. Some may take leading roles while others just add on a few points or sometimes express agreement or disagreement with the views being expressed. It often happens that one of the participants emerges, as a performer and the rest become the audience. Unless the subject under discussion is something interesting to all in the group, and the narrator does it in a very interesting manner the discussion will not last for long. In many cases one emerges as a performer because he/she wants to hold the attention of the audience - like a leader of a political party. It is the need of a person to hold the attention of the others, rather than the group’s interest in the subject under discussion that that produces performers. The need for attention is caused by one’s love for leadership or simply vanity and is inherent in many people. Politicians are most prone to becoming performers in “Conversation”. The common man does not want to be identified as a politician because by popular definition the politician is a scoundrel. So it is rare that a common (average) man emerges as a performer in “Conversation”. He has no interest to monopolise the conversation but he is one with good skills in conversation to hold the attention of the entire group. A good conversationalist is not one who monopolises the conversation. But in certain circumstances he becomes the sole speaker. In the case of the politician it is not the circumstance but his need to be noticed and heard that makes him the sole speaker. Usually he would have perfected several methods by which he could silence the others. But if his methods fail he would become mildly aggressive and assertive to hold the audience. Many politicians are known to have resorted to violence when interrupted in their speeches, because the politicians believe (truly believe) that it is a kind of right, which no one can question, a kind of democratic right to bore others. If there are more than one politician in the group one cannot predict the outcome!
There is another type of people who want to forcibly hold the audience captive. They are the vain types doing it for the sole purpose of self glorification, trying to publicise their achievements and exploits, imagined or otherwise. They do not become aggressive but plead with the others to listen to them. If one is so unfortunate as to be a lone listener, he may become sleepy and inattentive but that does not deter the speaker from continuing the speech. He would laugh loudly and make loud noises to wake the listener up, and then offer to repeat any portion that the listener might have missed! There was this man who disentangled himself from such a “Bore” by telling him that he should be excused immediately for he could not hold it any longer and another minute of delay would dirty his clothes, and ran to the wash room! The freedom was short lived for when he came out there he was saying “ Where was I when you ran to the wash room?”
Conversation is also a form of communication. Another, more dynamic form of communication is Gossip. It is a pastime for a lot of people but who would admit that he/she is a Gossip? What other activity is more entertaining than Gossiping? It could be useful to listen to Gossips because it helps you to gather and understand the world around you. It helps you to gather useful information. With tact and cunning one can indulge in Gossips not only to gather valuable information but also to disseminate information in an informal way. The grapevine is a powerful tool to gather and disseminate classified information. Through this medium people can be warned of impending disasters and to advise people to follow the right path. One can intimidate or encourage.
The danger is that sometimes the contents of the information gets get all twisted in the process of carrying by mouth. There is this story of one man having vomited a crow! People ran miles to see the man who vomited a crow. And when they could not see the crow they questioned the man who last said that a man vomited a crow. He said that “X” told him so. When questioned, “X” said that “Y” told him that a man vomited some thing that was as black as a crow, and this chain of questioning went on till finally they came to the truth, which was that a black man vomited after drinking heavily in the pub!
So, one has to be very careful while giving or receiving “word of mouth” information.