A blog a day (#10)

COMMUNICATION

As a trainer and consultant, I have prided myself in being able to communicate quite effectively and persuasively during my interactions with people. The strength that one possesses comes with a certain assurance that one can speak quite well with anyone on a subject one knows to a certain extent - even if one isn't quite an expert there! 😀 This was put to a severe test about a decade and a half ago by a group of school children in a train!

I was based in Bangalore those days and a partner in a consulting organisation. I was returning from an assignment in Hyderabad. Those days, to save some money, I used to travel by II Sleeper in train. I had boarded the train in Secunderabad station and was enjoying the solitude of a lower berth-cum-window seat. When the train arrived at Kacheguda station, there was commotion and a group of raucous school girls got into the train accompanied by some elders - their teachers, I thought. There may have been about 20 girls who got into the train and occupied various seats. Around me, probably, there were more than 10 girls laughing and enjoying their train journey! After some time, I realized that the girls were specially-abled (speech and hearing impaired). Being alone in their company gave me some opportunity to observe them closely and I realized that they were conversing quite rapidly in sign language. Suddenly a girl sitting beside me 'elbowed' me and asked me my name. I told her my name. She could lip read as could all other girls. We were introducing ourselves and it took me some time to understand what they were trying to tell me. They were patient with me, though.

It was then that the girl by my side said she would teach me sign language - primarily alphabets - so that I could sign whatever I was trying to tell them. They also had a small quiz at the end of their tutorial and laughed hysterically when I blundered and couldn't remember how to sign for the letter 'G', for example. This went on...they asked about my job, where I lived, about my family members, and also shared some information about their family. I came to know that they were returning from Hyderabad to Bangalore after participating in a cultural programme.

The girl by my side, while telling about her brother, told me his name and said that he is 'normal' and that he could hear and speak! When I heard that, I had tears well up in my eyes. I could only mutter that they were equally special and had a talent that we guys didn't possess.

Suddenly the girl by my side asked me another question (can't remember now what the question was) which made me think of the answer and, as I usually do, I looked out of the window to collect my thoughts. I felt an elbow sink into my midriff. When I looked at the girl, she said that I shouldn't look away, but maintain eye-contact with them so that they could lip-read my response! I apologized and said that I had looked away only to collect my thoughts. But this small incident is still imprinted in my mind and I learnt an important lesson on communication from some specially abled children.

One has to keep an open mind and learn from those around us. Learning is a continuous process.