Conversations as a learning tool

How much can you learn by listening: 

The educational potential of conversations online.

Thanks to the team at Deccan Herald for publishing this.

Webinars and online sessions are the norm today in many of our education institutions. Listening to conversations, too, can be an equally effective tool.

Listening to conversations between people who have made the best of life's opportunities, are well-versed in their fields, and have lived inspiring lives can open up new worlds. These are conversations where two people discuss, at length, a topic they are passionate about - conversations that Ralph Waldo Emerson referred to as “art” and “the best of life”.

These conversations, available on YouTube, include sessions from events such as literature festivals. Watching these videos provides us with an opportunity to listen to people who leave us flummoxed by their sheer brilliance - people we may never get to meet. These conversations can make us aware of people we were ignorant of until then. A few of these people have left me gobsmacked with their versatility - their breadth of knowledge and their ability to make connections across subjects. Udayan Vajpeyi, for example, a doctor and poet, talks on literature, movies, music, and aesthetics with equal élan.

Watching these videos may not be the end goal. Conversations on a book do not replace the book, but they can help bring out the nuances, the personal touch, or the journey behind the book which do not find a place in the book itself. They add flavour to the book, like pineapple to a salad. A conversation on Ramcharitmanas had me look up where it was written, the languages it is written in, the poet Tulsidas’ life in Banaras and Ayodhya, and his other works. These conversations make us aware of perspectives and views other than ours - very welcome in today’s times.

Learning from these conversations does not stop at the topic; it transcends to learning by observing people. The clarity of thought and expression that some of these people possess is worth observing and learning from. Listening to Salman Akhtar, another doctor and poet, talk simply about psychoanalysis, classical and modern Urdu poetry, and make connections between them, with a light-hearted demeanour and a smiling face, has been a revelation for me! These conversations also have the potential to broaden our horizons, help develop fresh interests, inspire us, and remove stereotypes from our heads - like about doctors in my case. I have also realized that while interviewing is a specialized skill, listening patiently is as uncommon as common sense!

These conversations can provide a wonderful platform to facilitate discussions and delve deeper into topics that matter. This needs no additional paraphernalia; students and teachers can also watch the videos on their own and then later discuss them together. These videos present students and teachers with an opportunity to bond over intelligent conversations and nurture their individual growth.

The availability of videos, on any topic, in any language, is surely not an issue, for YouTube is burgeoning. Approximately 2 crore videos are uploaded each day, with 500 hours of video added each minute. However, Truman Capote has rightly warned us that, “there are so few good conversations: due to scarcity two intelligent talkers seldom meet” We will need to select relevant conversations. As with life, being well-read will help separate the wheat from the chaff.

Thank you Ektara for introducing me to Udayan Vajpeyi and Lallantop for making me aware to Salman Akhtar.