Listening..

“Kaash kabhi aisa hota kii koi apna hota jisse karta sari baat. Call 55365 Rs 9/- min aur kahein apni dil ki baat”

This is the sms received from Vodafone today morning … Vodafone was here playing the part of a counselor asking lonely souls to speak to them and pay them for listening to what he/ she is saying!! My first impression was to laugh it off as I thought about the funny business ideas these guys come up with and wondered if anyone actually called … But the very fact that this service is provided meant that the personnel at Vodafone would have done some basic market research for studying the requirements of the users…

Also made me wonder what would be the process involved.. One person desperate to speak to anyone (and just about “anyone”) decides to call the number and then pays for speaking his/her heart out to someone who is mechanically fitted into the scheme of things as a “listener”. Now what would the listener be doing at the other end? He/she takes on the role of being a supportive friend or a counselor hearing out the problems faced and trying to console. In most of the cases, this counseling or support would be fake since its too much to believe that any person can be so touched by just a phone call from a complete stranger. But then they get paid for appearing attentive and the caller is happy that he could speak his heart out. Maybe a similar approach to a Christian confessing in the Confession Box !!

Why would I want to speak to “anyone” rather than speaking to my family/friends? Maybe I don’t have anyone close to confide with or maybe I don’t trust anyone with this piece of secret information.. or maybe I don’t have anyone who wants to listen to me…

Looking back in my life, I have been really lucky to have wonderful people around me .. my family, my friends .. who have ensured that I don’t have to go to any stranger to air my views.. They have sat through (maybe bored!!) but been very receptive to my ideas, thoughts etc etc.. So let me take this opportunity to thank all of you dear ones for being there for me through all my success and failures, happiness and sorrow… You mean a lot to me..

But I feel I have not reciprocated quite well and I doubt whether I played the “Listener” role well.. I seriously think I need to work on this aspect

So start talking !! I am all ears for you !!

Regards

Sunil