The Art of Persuasion



We all have had that experience, buying things even when we know it is not really needed. While I won't go into the details of shopping instinct, shopaholics,et al, One thing which we have encountered in this experience(shopping without meaning to) is the sales patter coming from the person behind the counter.
We generally will dismiss his/her talk as 'salesmanship' but do you agree that he has the power of persuasion? He cajoles, argues, and finally persuades you to shell your precious dough.

So what is it that he has that makes you so malleable in his hands?

Obviously he is empathetic and establishes the connect with you quite effortlessly
He enters your world- how? by listening to you carefully
He understands your body language and he patterns his body language to it
He has the gift of the gab- all good businessmen,entrepreneurs, politicians, in fact all successful people have this gift
He understands human emotions; the foibles and frailties, all of it

You may think how all these is possible when we are spending such a short time with him?

Malcolm Gladwell in his book "Blink" gives a very good and logical explanation to this phenomena. In fact he asserts that all of us use this technique called- Thin Slicing. It is the perception our mind has when we first meet a person or situation and  surprisingly, it is 9 out of 10 times absolutely correct!

The art of persuasion depend on thin slicing technique to a large extent and then it is followed by all the effort one puts into it. The quicker and better the bond we establish with the 'customer' the higher and better is the sale quantum.

So next time you buy something needlessly know that you been 'Persuaded' 

            8 things that make me see red!

Coming back from office to see the house littered

Cribbing about workload

Expecting beyond one's abilities

Disrespecting elders

Finding fault in everyone and everything

Using foul language and gestures

Dissatisfied people

Hypochondriacs

The desire to be beautiful

Man or woman, everyone desires to be beautiful. The mirror asserts our image as we grow up and slowly our self image takes a firm shape in our minds.This helps in creating our self esteem also.

You may have noticed that a child spends little time in front of the mirror,but as he grows older the time increases exponentially. Every girl or boy thinks of himself as the most desirable and beautiful person on earth...God's gift to the opposite sex. In some cases self love or narcissism sets in quite early and continues for a long long time.

Whatever be the case the desire to look beautiful is a very strong instinct and we spend both time and money to appear the best. An entire industry runs on this psychology which is exploited to the maximum. Strangely it has nothing to do with age or social strata.How others see us is perhaps equally important and relevant in seeing ourselves in our own eyes.

The only aspect which we tend to forget in this mad rush to be beautiful is the fact that we need to be beautiful from within. There are no cosmetics to do it for us. It's something which we need to work upon on our own. But the reward for it is tremendous; it complements our physical beauty and adds to our personality.

Cleopatra was supposed to be the most beautiful lady in the ancient world and so was Helen of Troy for whom a 10 year war was fought! But the essential difference between the two is cone stood for the bold,courageous and magnetic beauty while the other was the garden variety type. Both enamored, both brought massive destruction yet both remain examples even today of great beauty.

These two aspects of beauty certainly tell us that beauty really lies in the eyes of the beholder 

Managing New Gadgets

Tough job, right? All these days I had thought of myself as gadget-savvy; after all I could work on the computer,run various household gadgets,talk intelligently on newbies coming into the market. Imagine my surprise and shock when I relate the following incident.

 It so happened that last week I bought a camera. This was primarily for my use and sometimes to be used by sonny dear.

No big deal! A small luxury or maybe not even that.....But after buying it I realised that there are more additional attachments which may/will be required later if I have to pursue this hobby, so pehla dhakka.
The second dhakka was that the gadget is too highend for me as it has be manipulated with scores of adjustments!
Third mukka(for now the dhakka has turned to mukka only)- some physics and mathematical calculations required for focus,light and dark shades,etc......Phew!


I am keeping a straight face and persevering with my tinkering, fast approaching a position when I know it will become my son's domain

You understand where all this leading to? Straight out of my hands to new generation sonny. Well i stand defeated and chastened till my next run-in with another gadget


                                                  
                                             

RANDOM THOUGHTS

                                               

The story of Krishna's birth is known to everyone; mothers,fathers and grandparents tell these lores to the children and it is passed on from generation to generation.Similarly Rama's birth and his sojourn culminating in getting Sita back is also another mythology deeply ingrained in every home in our country. Our moral and spiritual education takes on all these stories at its core.

When we look at Rama and at Krishna, we find lots of essential contrasts. Rama is 'maryada purushottam' whereas Krishna is our 'makhan chor' 'raas rachaeita' 'master planner of kurukshetra' 'skillful negotiator' and so much more.

Krishna in comparison to Rama looks a more colorful character and more humane with his faults,his sly ways, his love affairs,marriages and finally his message The Gita. Rama in comparison seems quite dull; more of a follower of rules,conventions and societal norms.His message is never direct but always what he lived for through his entire life.
The modern world can find more meaning to Krishna's teachings as the principles behind it looks more suitable and matching with our current society, it's diabolical ways, the intricate relationships,the overlying and underlying meaning to even commonplace transactions.

We  revere Lord Rama but we love Lord Krishna
We look upto Lord Rama but find ourselves one with Lord Krishna
We rarely can match Lord Rama's call to duty but find kinship with Lord Krishna transgressions
We fear Lord Rama's 'Laxman rekha' but feel happy with Lord Krishna's convulated thinking
But we need both Rama and Krishna, in our lives!

Revenge.................the art of it

Recently read some interesting articles,essays on this topic. In some it is advocated that revenge is justified as the wronged person gets the satisfaction of redress. But for that to happen revenge has to taken by first making the person know by name and action that you have taken revenge. Because to revenge silently does not give so much satisfaction!!

Another school of thought says that revenge is only possible by rising above it and letting the wrong be ignored as this gives the wronged person a better and cleaner feeling as it showers peace and God's blessing on him.This school of thought enjoins us to forgive and forget. The wrong done can never be righted and one should rise above such petty comeuppance and pardon the wrong doer.

One more philosophy says that to pardon the wrong done by a acquaintance is still an option but wrong done by a friend should never be forgiven or pardoned. A treacherous and faithless friend can never be pardoned as he is more detrimental than the other.

My question to all readers is what is more beneficial to let go Or to take revenge and then let go?

Why are we always in such great hurry

You all will agree that it's a common phenomena, an almost natural tendency in all age groups.The moot question is,why???

The small infant is in tearing hurry to grow up
The child is in a hurry to finish whatever he is doing and play,enjoy
The young adult is in a hurry to pass out and take a job,fall in love,marry
The adult is in a hurry to amass a bank balance,make a house,buy some luxuries,retire comfortably
The middle aged is in a hurry to see his children marry,settle down and maybe enjoy his grand children
The old are in a hurry to meet his creator
Who knows, perhaps we are in a hurry to get reborn, in the nether world too?

It is never ending.

What is it that makes us hurry so much,always wanting to outdo others,ourselves in this rat race.Deep down we are all looking for that 'something' that what we think will give us happiness. We think we will be happy if we get this, then something better and bigger comes along and we start thinking of that as what we want.
In contrast nature is never in that state, maybe that makes for its permanence in a bigger sense.Even the most scorched piece of earth is patient enough and there comes a time when it gives rise to shoots.
Let us strive to be happy,enjoy and savor our everyday moments rather than hurry for a future which we haven't seen and in the process lose our present.