Dhrushta Sita!

Dhrushta Sita!
I have no doubt that most of you would agree with me that the most exciting and perhaps the most dramatic event of the Olympic Games is the Marathon race where the competitors run a gruelling 42 kms. I call it dramatic because the event is based on the incident of Pheidippides running a distance of 40 kms to announce the defeat of the Persians in the Marathon War by the Greeks. He was reported to have uttered the words ‘We have won’ (Nenikekamen in Greek) to the Athenians and fell down dead. Robert Browning has written a beautiful poem on the subject with the title Phidippides. There are some hardcore historians who keep saying that such an incident never took place but the poem of Browning which inspired the Olympic Event wants us to believe the story for the sheer romance of it.

From Phidippides, let us travel backwards, not by a few hundred years but by two yugas. Lord Hanuman is on a holy errand of seeking to locate Sita in Lanka. He leaps a distance of 100 yojanas (approximately 1500 kms) to reach Lanka where Sita is languishing in the Asoka Vana. After some intense search, Hanuman locates Sita. His heart filled with great satisfaction and after exhibiting his prowess by reducing Lanka to ashes, he leaps back to the other shore where the monkeys are anxiously waiting. The first word he utters to them is ‘Dhrushta Sita’. Kambar uses the words ‘Kanden Sithayai’. Earlier in the Asoka Vana too, when he observes Sita trying to commit suicide, he prevents her from doing so with the words ‘Dasaratha, the King of Ayodya’. He knew that if he had mentioned the name of Rama, Sita might suspect if he was one of Ravana’s clan in disguise because they all knew Rama. No one knows Dasaratha and so he uses his name to arouse Sita’s interest.

In both these incidents, the dramatis personae had a lot of personal incidents to convey but they set them aside to convey the most essential information which people were waiting to hear. Pheidippides’ run was a fatal one and he just had time to convey the news of Greek victory before falling down dead. His mind was probably full of his physical anguish and pain but he pushed them aside to impart the most vital piece of information. Lord Hanuman had so much to talk about his heroic leap to Lanka and his exploits in Lanka but he chose to remain silent about them and confined himself to the vital aspect of his mission.

Our mythologies and folklore are full of incidents to teach us about how to speak while chatting with family, how to speak when we are discharging our professional duties, how to speak when we are in business, how to speak when we are solving a problem, how to speak when we are trying to build relations and how to speak when we are a middleman or representative. Little do we realise that communication is one of the most essential ingredients of our character. One may have a heart of gold and yet be loathed by his kith and kin if he has a caustic tongue. On the other hand, a person who may have dark patches in his character may be an extremely popular person merely because he has a sweet demeanor.

Coming back to Hanuman, what would we do if we had been in his position upon returning to Kishkinda? We would have started narrating the story from the time we left Kishkind, spoken at length about our eventful journey to Lanka, given a graphic picture about the strange physical features of the Rakshasas, cracked a few jokes about the inconvenience of having ten heads, marveled about the Pushpaka Vimana of Ravana and how with the burning tail we set fire to all strategic locations of Lanka. We would not have come to the portion about the meeting with Sita until an exasperated Lakshmana pointed his arrow at our chest!

Most of us are capable of this folly. We land ourselves in dire situations through sloppy communication. More importantly, we keep saying things which hardly increase the effectiveness of what we want to convey. It is very essential that people in high positions should be even more careful about what they say. Mary Antoinette, Queen of Louis XVI, known for her reign of terror, responded to the public outcry that bread had become scarce by asking them to eat cakes! She got herself guillotined for this statement. DMK wrested power from Congress thanks to a statement made by one of the Congress Ministers during the redoubtable Kamaraj regime who asked people to eat rat meat! Recently, the intemperate remark of Obama about a policeman who arrested a black scholar has whipped up a mini racial storm in US! As children we were better communicators and the drag sets in as we grow older. Remember our shouting to our parents that we had come out successful in our examination from the gate? That was our best ever performance as far as our communication skills are concerned!

 

Dear Viji
Thanks a lot for setting the ball rolling and I hope it gathers speed! You have made a good point about people who keep talking and talking until we doze off! Our former Defence Minister V.K.K.Menon's record of the longest speech in UN still remains unsurpassed. People have forgotten what he spoke but remember that it was the longest speech. Lord Leslie Hore-Belisha's quote is very significant. He said, "To make a speech immortal, you don't have to make it everlasting'
Sri

 

Dear Shan
What can I say! You have made my day by branding this thread of mine as a 'masterpiece'. Coming from you, it's the equivalent of IL's Booker Prize! Thanks honestly.

I entirely agree with you that asking the owner of a new house or a new bike about his new acquisition is tantamount to committing harakiri! No one in his right sense will ever do it!
That tight hug from a homing child is poetry! I would rate it as the finest example of body language.

Incidentally, I have added a couple of things to my last para after you posted your FB. Please go through it.
Sri

 

Dear Shanthi
The following is a favourite story of mine to illustrate how bad communication can lead to disaster even in family life.
A judge was interviewing a woman regarding her pending divorce, and asked, "What are the grounds for your divorce?"
She replied, "About four acres and a nice little home in the middle of the property with a stream running by."
"No," he said, "I mean what is the foundation of this case?"
"It is made of concrete, brick and mortar," she responded.
"I mean," he continued, "What are your relations like?"
"I have an aunt and uncle living here in town, and so do my husband's parents."
He said, "Do you have a real grudge?"
"No," she replied, "We have a two-car carport and have never really needed one."
"Please," he tried again, "Is there any infidelity in your marriage?"
"Yes, both my son and daughter have stereo sets. We don't necessarily like the music, but the answer to your questions is yes."
"Ma'am, does your husband ever beat you up?"
"Yes," she responded, "about twice a week he gets up earlier than I do."
Finally, in frustration, the judge asked, "Lady, why do you want a divorce?"
"Oh, I don't want a divorce," she replied. "I've never wanted a divorce. My husband does. He said he can't communicate with me."
Sri

 

My dear Mindi
I know a lot of digression specialists who always forget what they are talking about. They'll invariably ask us what were they talking about! Some of them forget their main theme totally. Even in religious discourses such things happen when the main speakers frequently lapse into some unconnected stories and seek the help of their assistants to get back to the main point.

Shanthi was absolutely right. Body language plays an extremely important role in communication. Frequent yawning in a meeting is a sure indicator of how much interest the yawner is taking in the proceedings!

Sometimes I am also guilty of digressing. Old habits die hard!
Sri