A Huge Talker

A huge talker is a person who talks so much. And I have heard about it a lot. But I have never encountered it till recently. He is my new Bhutanese friend in Bangalore (name withheld for personal reasons). He talks too much, so very too much I think so. Gross indeed. He opens his mouth from the time he wakes up and closes only when he sleeps, given the chance. A good talker is a good listener, we say. But he is not.

I would like to narrate an incident of his unending talks. Once we were walking to buy some vegetables in the market. He went on talking from the door we left... up to the vegetable market. “I was this…that…when I was…I would like to…my life…” Everything about him and his life. Many a time, I was shammed to be listening to him. I felt like running. “Ya, ya.” Is all that I can say. And the return journey was all about vegetables; the shapes of the vegetables, the texture of it, the mixture with it, the cost, and his likes. “Ya, ya.” Is all I can say.  

He would talk about his family, his wife, his studies, his and his, everything good about himself. Talking about oneself is not always good, I imagine; it doesn’t interest others but internally knowing oneself is important, most important than others; I push on. I would like to state that he is not an empty vessel, as he sometimes talks the wisest talk than life could offer. Anyway, happy that I have to stay with him for two or three days, not a garrulous future-forever.

The opposite of him is perfectly me. I am non-spoken most of the time. I am tacit, kind of babyish tantrums inside. I listen and can listen as much as I can. But his talks break my nerves, I couldn’t. It reaches the limit, and it seems like a barking dog, and now, and I hope I may get fed up listening to others’ talks in the future.

The climax of all his talks comes from social media Facebook. Very recently he has opened his account. He talks with it. He comments on every piece of post and photo. He sent hundreds of requests to unknown people and chats with unknown online. I squeak with a peal of big laughter every time he sent to unknown girls. And surprise it may seem, he gets a reply from some and become good friends. And that is how a seemingly insane person kicks his talking desire when I don’t give a damn to his talks.

Communication is complete when the listener can decode and encode the messages. The exchange of messages or information is effective when it is worth and appreciated. It’s understandable.