Conversations are probably the most underrated aspect of human life, like Yuvraj Singh’s bowling or my ability to make comparisons. As a member of urban society, the other elements of life- academics, work, movies, TV shows, books, and Shikhar Dhawan’s runs, of the lack of it, are all pretty well documented and recognized. But the art of conversation, despite being something as fundamental as communication, has never been lauded, in daily life, or otherwise.
As I have found out time and again, nothing can possibly replace the fun and joy that is derived out of a good conversation. But I’m still a virgin so you should take that with a pinch of salt.
Talking to someone who can match your intellectual level, either come up to it, or come down to it, depending on whether I’m talking to Donald Trump or anyone else, has a beauty of its own. When you can relate to that someone else is talking about, or vice versa, or when you have common interests, and the way my friends and I do, completely lose your mind out of excitement and TYPE LIKE THIS ABOUT HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD BECAUSE THE EXCITEMENT NEVER ENDS.
The art of having a good conversation probably stems from the fact that I’m a chatterbox if there ever was one. So as I keep blabbering, somewhere through the process, I started making sense.
Simple things such a good pun, a clever one-liner, a good ice breaker all provide great contentment because talking to people is something I have always loved, only rivaled at various points by Pokémon, Batman, Chandler Bing and GTA 5.
In today’s fast-paced world, conversations are becoming all the more important because the world is becoming more and more impersonal as the years go by. Small talk at parties and social events are considered par for the course. Neighbors in your building being virtual strangers is becoming increasingly common. Although if you had the kind to neighbors like I did in the last 5 years, you would probably be better off having Lord Voldemort to go and borrow milk from when you’re all out.
Conversations with my friends are one of the most important facets of my life, simply because it’s so interesting. These days we seem to have mastered the art of talking about everything without talking about anything, commonly known as Sidhu’s commentary. While this can be fun at times, especially when you’re bored out of your mind, like teens normally are, it’s much more interesting and productive if you talk about a specific topic, whatever that may be.
Convergasms is a feeling you get in your head when you have an extraordinarily good conversation. If you’re not able to understand the meaning, comparison or reference, you’re too young to be reading this article. Chhota Bheem is playing on Pogo right now. Go.
As I have mentioned, in such an Era of ever busy people and politeness and courtesy(often fake), small talk is as common as a meme on your Facebook newsfeed. I don’t have a problem with a small talk. That’s how conversations start. It’s natural. You can’t start a conversation with a stranger with the words “I will slaughter anyone who doesn’t like Percy Jackson and serve the remains as an offering to Ares.”
That kind of dialogue is more of a hundredth date material, or when you’re sure there are no cops nearby.
The problem is that so many conversations today end at small talk. If you don’t want to talk to the other person, because of lack of time, interest or because the other person thinks the poster of Sultan is not photoshopped.
But more often than not, people don’t know to take a conversation forward. Beyond saying “Ikr” to half the things in the world, today’s generation, and I know this is a wide categorization, seems to be losing out on the ability to have a good, solid conversation consistently. Our parents and their generation did not have this problem because they didn’t have as many distractions and entertainment avenues, what have you. For them, conversations, with anyone – family, friends, acquaintances, was the bedrock of existence, I would imagine. Playing video games, watching TV shows until you can’t distinguish it from real life, and acting like typical moody teens with a pout and a “this sucks” attitude for everything, wasn’t an option for them. And they were lucky that way. Not that that is going to stop me from immersing myself in Fifa 16, but just saying. Many from my generation are incapable of a decent conversation sometimes due to lack of general knowledge or interest and often because they simply do not have enough practice.
In that respect, I am happy to report that inspite of having a plethora of video games, novels, gadgets and other things that would absolve me of human contact, a lot of my best memories are the conversations with my family. At the lunch table (also known as breakfast and dinner table), at a restaurant, at a resort, in the car – many a time, the conversations the 4 of us have had have been so hilarious, outrageous and somber in equal measures, etching them in my memory and perhaps theirs too, for the years to come.
In conclusion, I would say that the same applies to my friends. Whether it be in person or via WhatsApp or Facebook, a lot of the conversations I have had are such incredible fun and yet so many of them have been fascinating for the topics on which we discuss, debate and deliberate and if that gets too heavy, laugh over that time when I walked in the ladies queue, or when my best friend fell splat into water that smelled like fish at a railway station and how said friend managed to reach college after that.
