Here's a folktale from the medieval Muslim world with a powerful lesson about overcoming communication barriers:

One day, the wise fool Mulla Nasruddin is sitting in a local teahouse when the town doctor walks in. Nasruddin says to him: "I'm worried about my wife. She seems to have grown hard of hearing. Do you know of any cure for this?"

The doctor replies: "Bring her to my clinic and I can take a look at her eardrums. But before that, try this test. When you go home this evening, call out to your wife from the gate. If you don't hear a response from her, then inch a bit closer and try saying something to her from the front door. Keep moving closer to where she is until she answers you. This will help you gauge how serious the hearing loss is."

Grateful for this free medical advice, Nasruddin heads home. Stopping at the gate, he yells out: "I'm back, sweetheart! What are we having for dinner?" No reply.

So Nasruddin makes his way to the porch and shouts: "It's me, honey! What's on the menu for dinner tonight?" Still no response.

Nasruddin then steps inside, stands under the kitchen doorway, and loudly exclaims: "What's for dinner, dear?!" Nasruddin's wife is stirring a big pot on the stove. She turns to face her husband and, quite irritated, says: "Are you deaf, Nasruddin? For the third time, I repeat - we are having tomato soup with pilaf, followed by baklava for dessert!"

Nasruddin believed his wife had a hearing problem, when in fact it was the other way around! Likewise, we often remain unattuned to our own role in contributing to breakdowns in communication. We can easily become "deaf" to other perspectives, cultures, and languages, assuming things about them that are not true.

As the town doctor advised, we can only challenge our assumptions by taking the time to listen to others with a desire to understand them better. This approach may trigger cognitive dissonance and all the uncomfortable feelings that accompany it. But in the end, we will be able to have more sustainable conversations with people of diverse backgrounds.

moral of the story:

Open communication requires open ears.

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