Hear Or To Be Heard

Hear or to be heard.

Written By:

Jawad Mahruz Khan, Class XI, Section Blue

Imagine yourself standing inside a large auditorium, giving a glorious speech. Now, fluctuate your mind to a quite different setting, say in front of a food stand where you are arguing boldly with a friend. I presume you would much rather prefer to be on that platform, letting the people hear you. However, one must realize that although each of us enjoys being heard, listening is a vital skill that is often ignored. How do you expect people to listen to you if you don’t listen yourself?

Let’s look at all the good that has been brought by hearing others. Listening, is by definition, an active role by which one can both take part in a conversation and hear another opinion. By listening, you are making the time required to arrange your thoughts, format your ideas and then say something in context to what you heard.

Barrack Obama is the greatest example I can refer to in attempting to explain. The flair of his personality does come neither from his deep voice nor from his resounding persistency; it is due to his unparalleled ability to listen the voice of the poor, the voice of the neglected, and the voice of the common man. His attempts at resolving major issues such as expensive health care and education go deep into the lives of the people suffering from misery and have changed their lives for the better. The amazing feats he has achieved in his 7 years as President would not be possible by a mortal man, if not for the fact that he values every single person’s opinion.

Joan of Arc was an avid reader- a reader of people’s minds. This is the result of Joan being an active listener. If it was not her who heard the voices of the farmers, the voices of the weeping old ragged men who had seen both their father and sons being mercilessly killed by the British, and quite controversially the voice of God, there would be no France. Because she has an active listener, she managed to both hear and be heard; a whole nation of tired men was ready to give their lives for her, sacrifice for the one true purpose.

“The barriers preventing the solution to all human conflict would be broken if only people would listen first.”-McLellan, PG. Is it not beautiful to be silent and hear the magic inside everyone? Of course it is! Listening is a crucial instrument that can be mastered with practice, and it is one we must all endeavor to learn.