Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Chatterbox

Some smart wit had rightly labeled us Indians as a race that suffers verbal diarrhea. Whether its a joy or a sorrow, we have to express ourselves, no matter what. Crib, rant, flaunt, gossip to our heart's content.Few are like me; a minority who would rather listen and observe quietly. Observing such wide variety of talkers is as interesting as traveling and photography :) After much observation and analysis, I have categorized these chatterboxes to distinct varieties.

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The I, Me, Myself

Its not difficult to find such folks. They do not worry about common interest, being courteous, time, place, situation, these types are thoroughly immersed in their self happily under the assumption that their affairs and adventures are interesting to all as they are to them. They do listen once in a while, but they would sure have a counter reminiscences for every story uttered by you; where they would sprinkle generous amount of glory

The Crushers

The insult throwers. They have that sad pleasure in pulling down everyone. No one appeals to them and nothing could satisfy them. They find faults at the drop of the hat. Their words are laced with poison and they can make a kill with their taunting cruel words. Not one to listen, they can chatter incessantly when all we could hear is abuse and profanity. 

The Road-rollers

They never ever stop, not for catching a breathe, not for interjections, not for questions. Other person's opinion? Whats that? Nothing could dither them, no display of boredom, no yawns or smirks, not even a frown. Try interrupting them, one can be sure of getting trampled just as a road-roller.

The Tube-light brigade

Subject of mockery and ridicule; but rather likable.  They take some time to understand what others are talking about, they need little more time to warm up; when they understand they positively glow bright. They get into the jive and throw in their own accounts but by then others have moved on; and they grapple again!

The Anecdoters

The darling of the lots, revered and respected. These types have exclusive fan clubs and others wait to hear them. The above types often fancy themselves to be of this kind. But the genuine ones can be made out; their vast knowledge, their repertoire of interesting and enriching experiences, the story weaving capability such that it enchants the listener and thus increasing the appetite of the listener wanting for more. These coupled with requisite voice, modulation and expressions so that there is no boredom and monotony. What sets them apart is their knack of shifting gears once they get the slightest hints of boredom.

These are the real conversationalists. What is it that sets them apart from talkers? Is it their talent to make the listener feel important? Or is it their versatility? Or their knack of gauging the listener's interest? Or the combination of all these along with that unknown X-factor? Maybe, that is why most of us are just talkers but not good conversationalists.

So which category do you fall under?

19 comments:

  1. Which brigade do you belong to? That's the one I belong to! :-D

    I am sure there would be more subtle varieties of 'speech-therapists'.

    Good one, B!

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  2. There is a guy who sits next to me in my work place and he is so 'The I, Me, Myself' type... This guy is the definition of this type...

    Right now he is on vacation and the entire isle is enjoying is absence so much...

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  3. I dont fall into this category being a reticent and wearing silence on the long sleeve !

    But there perhaps are some more categories.

    a. carriers of news
    b. Armchair commentators ( on cricket, life and all else )
    c. The critics
    d. The experts
    e. 'Once upon a time' nostalgia types...

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  4. Can we have a non political category?

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  5. I was sitting silently and listening to a group talking, when someone asked, wont you talk. My reply was that usually I wont, but if I starts I wont stop. And that was what I did for the rest of the day.

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  6. Oh my god. I cannot sleep now as I will be laughing whole night. Superb post.

    May be there are few more. Also some have combination of 1 2 and 3

    I don't know which kind I am. I would like to believe the best kind but if I say that then I will be the first kind...so I will let you decide.

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  7. A confession.
    I am a very poor listener,unless it is my own voice.

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  8. Good Post! There are some other categories that you missed though! :P

    I do not specifically belong to any category I guess. Sometimes I keep mum, the other times words have to line up to come out of my mouth!

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  9. Dont know:), only others can tell about me.but the first type I meet very often:)

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  10. Nice categories!! :D
    No. 1 and 2 are very very irritating!!
    As for me... well, I am a Listener!! :D

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  11. good observation.
    just remembered P L deshpande.

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  12. I belong to the Tube-light brigade especially when people are discussing about finance :)

    Nice one.

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  13. well..it seems that u have a great observation power, plus ur mastery over the language make it an enjoyable and informative read..

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  14. There shoould be a category for "holier-than-thou". These are the people who comment/write exhibiting their attitude of superior virtue.

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  15. Anecdoters are fun to be with ... but roadrollers !!! gosh save me... reminds me of friend... used to call her machine gun :P
    wonderful classification :D

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  16. I don't know to which category I belong but nice categorization.

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  17. Balan,

    Hahaha smart! Yes, this is definitely not an exhaustive list. Thanks.

    A.k,

    Yup you dont like to have such boastful guys around you.

    Kavi,

    Yeah the list is not exhaustive. You could lot of categories as well. Your ones are super!
    Thanks :)

    anil,

    Yup! why not? :)

    Harish,

    Poor them :)

    A,

    Glad you liked it :)
    Yeah there are lot more and wide range of permutations and combination
    :)

    Showla sir,

    Oh my God! :) You dont look like one :P

    Enigma,

    Yes I didnt miss them. Its too very long a list to accommodate every types :)

    Renu,

    :-) First types are common

    Shilpa,

    Thanks :) You and me are same :-D

    sm,

    Thank you. :)

    G3,

    Finance!!! I am a tube-light as well. :)

    Tomz,

    Thanks so much, yeah observing can give you an interesting insight. Mastery over language? No not at all..I am average compared to so many other people who have mastery over English.
    Glad you liked it

    SG,

    Thanks. Yeah, we can lot more categories.

    Rajlakshmi,

    Yeah! thank you :)

    Nethra,

    Thanks, glad you liked it

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  18. I was also trying to see which group I would fall into.I think I fall into the 3rd category.

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  19. chitra,

    Oh! Roll roller? Hmmm.....

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I'd love to know what you thought :-) Please shoot!