NARA'S NOTEPAD: September 2012

Saturday, September 29, 2012

NARA'S NOTEPAD

VOLUME 8

OCTOBER 2012

NUMBER 10

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MEMO FROM NARA

Democracy…freedom of speech…freedom to protest…political and non-political parties with conflicting views…coalition politics… all these human activities are growing day by day in a country where diversity is the norm. No one understands these norms, but everyone comes out with new demands which are difficult to implement for any government. Instigating poor people and their emotions against others whom they don’t like has become a day to day affair in all parts of the world including India. Human beings are becoming inhuman in spite of rules and regulations, religious belief and orderly life. The net result is nasty behaviors of people on the street.

Society is organized and people have chosen a path of democracy which is in fact, dominated by political parties. These parties have leaders who are all in all for their followers. What the leader thinks is the rule and the cadres have no choice. Otherwise the followers do not get what they want to get in their life. However, it is not easy for anyone to survive in a political party with freedom.

India like any other country is undergoing tremendous technological changes. In order to cope up with such changes, one has to sacrifice some of their personal interests. But some people are not willing to do that. They are having fixed and traditional ideas which are spread to the common people and gather them to protest. These protests are sometimes legal and often illegal. Legality is determined by the apex courts by honorable judges. But people do not bother about the judgments if they go against them. In other words, even judgments from Apex courts are not being respected. Then what is the way out?

People protest peacefully on any issue which affects their life in one way or other. They say that it is the Gandhian way. There are advocates to support such activities. Therefore, the authorities, like the government organizations cannot use police force to harm the protestors. Police in large numbers are mobilized with an instruction not to touch the protestors. It looks strange! Peaceful people and peaceful police! How to solve the problems?

Invariably, some elements either in the group of protestors or in the police forces may start a confrontation either orally or physically. That lights up the fire and subsequent actions end up in chaos. People may die and police may also die in the violence. Public and private properties such as vehicles, offices, shops, houses etc. are burnt down. Stone throwing by the protestors is one of the common sights we see and lathi charge, tear gas usage and firing in the air are some of the police actions.

The electronic media will present a running commentary to spread the news among the public elsewhere. Thus the violent incidents reach the far off places. In fact, media should give an impartial account of the news, but there are TV channels governed by each and every political party. So such channels twist the news and present bias news. Hence the role of media is violated, but no one can find fault with media in a democracy. Media are the main channel through which news flow. The flow may be still or turbulent. It is often observed that media want to make sensational ‘breaking news’. We, the common people fall prey to such sensational news and harp on those issues. Is it not ridiculous?

In the name of democracy, every organization including the media makes the society more vulnerable to violence and hatred. Such activities are on the increase in every part of the world. Behind all these, there are technological developments which offer comfort and happiness to all people. If we highlight those developments and educate the mass we may end up in reducing if not abolishing protests on every silly issue. Anger and hatred towards others are the reasons for all the violence we view every day. Hence let us try to put down anger and hatred to solve many unsolved problem we face in our country.

TO QUOTE...

Great advances of science so often start from prejudice, on ideas got not from science but straight out of the scientist’s head, on notions that are only the opposites of the prevailing superstitious nonsense of the day. – De Kruif

STEPS FOR EFFECTIVE LISTENING

Talk less. God gave us one mouth and two ears that should tell us something.

Get rid of distractions. If it is important for you to listen, do everything you can to eliminate internal and external noise and distractions that interfere with careful listening.

Don’t judge prematurely. All of us are guilty of forming snap judgments and evaluating others before hearing them out especially when the speaker’s ideas conflict with our own.

Look for key ideas. We think much faster than people speak. To help focus attention extract the central idea.

Ask sincere questions. Devil’s advocate questions are really statements or criticisms in disguise. Sincere questions are requests for new information that clarifies a speaker’s thoughts or feelings.

Paraphrase. Reword the speaker’s thoughts in your own words to make sure your interpretation as a listener is accurate.

Suspend your own agenda. While you are listening, concentrate on what the speaker is saying not what you think.

Empathic listening. Empathic listening is knowing that given the same set of circumstances you might have done the same thing. It is the ability to experience the world from the other’s point of view. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you agree, but that you understand.

Open your heart with love. Often we listen to score points and make ourselves right and the other person wrong. When we open our hearts to each other, we do so with the belief that we are all the same. We have the same feelings, fears, and hurts, doing the best we can with what we know. – Gwen Nyhus Stewart

LISTENING

According to social scientists, verbal communication skills account for 7% of the communication process. The other 93% consist of nonverbal and symbolic communication and are called listening skills. Listening involves the ear, the eyes, undivided attention, and the heart.

Listening is described in numerous studies as the most prominent kind of communication. It has been identified as one of the most frequent problems in marriage, one of the most important in family and social settings, and one of the most important on-the-job communication skills. Often people think that because they can hear, listening is a natural ability. It is not. Listening effectively requires considerable skill and practice and is a learned skill. Listening skills have been described as either ‘listening with our hearts’ or ‘hearing between the words.’

Listening is a process that consists of five elements: hearing, attending, understanding, responding, and remembering. Hearing is the physiological dimension of listening that occurs when sound waves strike the ear at a certain frequency and loudness and is influenced by background noise. Attening is the process of filtering out some messages and focussing on others. Understanding occurs when we make sense of message. Responding consists of giving observable feedback to the speaker such as eye contact and appropriate facial expressions. Remembering is the ability to recall information. Listening isn’t just a passive activity; we are active participants in a communication transaction. – Gwen Nyhus Stewart

Ram’s grand mom: Go hide, your teacher is coming.

Ram: You go hide! I’ve taken leave today stating that my grandma is dead!

Three men were applying for the same job as a detective. One was French, one was Jewish, and one was Italian. The chief decided to ask each applicant just one question and base his decision upon that answer. When the Jewish man arrived for his interview, the chief asked him, "Who killed Jesus Christ?" The Jewish man answered without hesitation. "The Romans killed him." The chief thanked him and he left. When the Italian man arrived for his interview, the chief asked the same question. He replied "Jesus was killed by the Jews." Again, the chief thanked the man who then left. Finally the French arrived for his interview; he was asked the same question. He thought for a long time, before saying, "Could I have some time to think about it?" The chief said, "OK, but get back to me tomorrow." When the French arrived home, his wife asked "How was the interview?" The French replied, "Great, I got the job, and I'm already investigating a murder.

AN ACTIVE READER

v Knows what he is going to read.

v Prepares the reading materials so it will be easy to turn pages.

v Asks questions at the various stages of reading so that he keeps looking for answers to his questions (keeps him actively involved in his reading).

v Sits or stands in a comfortable reading position.

v Uses his left index finger to preview, read and review his reading material at various speeds.

v Applys good note-taking techniques to his reading.

v Reviews his notes to identify what is important to remember for future use.

Disposophobia is an excessive acquisition of possessions which have never been used and which cause impairment in mobility, finances, and health may be termed as compulsive hoarding. It may also be called disposophobia- the fear of getting rid of things.