Dialogues

I remember having bought a book, Dialogues by Plato, it still is in my bookshelf! I read it while I was
a research scholar at IIT Kanpur, some 33 years ago and not thereafter
Today the word struck my mind, as I was pondering about lack of understanding that is very common
in families, societies I believe that people nowadays seldom engage in dialogues, may be because of
their own fears ! meaningful dialogue is, I think, possible, only between two persons of similar
status, whether mental, emotional, economical or power
"o a political leader can seldom engage in a meaningful dialogue with the downtrodden populace he
governs, not even with a representative of its class "omeone who has not learned to love can have a
dialogue with a lovelorn individual ! learned philosopher with an illiterate common person!!
"o, those are the limitations of a dialogue, and hence widespread misunderstanding can be
understood
#ut what about dialogues between a parent and an offspring, or between siblings In case of off$
springs there is often a wide age difference and hence of maturity too "iblings not very much
different in age, can be e%pected to have similar state of maturity, education
&ay be that is a lacunae of present educational system 'hich invariably relies on monologues only
between the teacher and the taught, may be because of a wide difference not only in age, but also
communication skills #ut the main constraint in all cases, is the availability of time, im modern life
styles
Rakesh Mohan Hallen