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I know. Things are looking crazy grim.

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I just hope that you and your loved ones are doing okay during these scary times. Stay strong, stay safe.

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Meanwhile, I thought I’ll take your mind off the pandemic with this captivating extract from an ancient story.

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The story of a fascinating conversation

Two brothers are walking in a dense forest. The setting is beautiful.

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It is spring. There’s an eye-catching lake filled with lilies and lotuses in full bloom. The lush grass shines like a gorgeous carpet. Treetops are covered with scent-laden flowers and entwined with flowering creepers. A gentle breeze blows, sending some of these flowers floating to the ground. The rustling breeze, the buzzing bees and the crooning cuckoos provide mellifluous background music to this heavenly scene…

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Alas, despite this stunning setting, the elder brother is anguished and full of laments to his younger brother...

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And Lakshmana has no words of solace for his brother Rama.

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This portion - from the 1st Sarga (section) of the Kishkinda Kanda (Book of Kishkinda) of the epic Ramayana - is the prelude to an absorbing exchange that happens soon after - between Rama and Hanuman.

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You’d think the first conversation between these two divine beings would be like one between an ardent devotee and his God… with Hanuman singing Rama’s praises and the Lord blessing him.

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It was quite different. And it has something - ok a LOT - to do with what I teach.

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Let’s find out.

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The Conversation - and my analysis

So Rama and Lakshmana, distraught due to the kidnapping of Sita, are walking to the land of the Monkey-King Sugreeva (since they have received intel that the vanaras can help them in their quest).

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From the treetops, Sugreeva watches the two strapping guys walking in the forest with majestic bows, quivers full of arrows and sharp swords.

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And he panics. Could these two foreigners be sent by his vile brother Vali, to finish him off?

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He plays safe and decides to send his trusted minister, Hanuman, to find out.

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The all-powerful Hanuman takes the shape of an ordinary mendicant and approaches the brothers in all humility.

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And this is what he says (each cell in the table below refers to the translation of an individual sloka - my thanks to this wonderful resource from IIT-K for the original Sanskrit slokas and their simple translation):

So what is Hanuman saying? Here’s my summary using the Pyramid Principle :)

Here’s my take on the storytelling techniques applied by Hanuman (sorry Valmiki) in that speech:

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I thought the use of contrast was pretty cool. But there’s another technique that’s instructive.

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Hanuman does not lead with his request of friendship with Sugreeva. Does that not contradict with the principle of starting with key idea - the ‘Elevator Pitch’ - first? Especially given you are presenting to a leader?

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There’s a reason for Hanuman’s tactic of using the ‘bottom-up’ way of communicating his Pyramid of ideas. He’s just met Rama and doesn’t yet have credibility with his audience.

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By initially sharing his high-quality analysis of Rama and Lakshmana’s appearance in Vedic Sanskrit, he’s basically telling them: I’m the real deal, you can trust me.

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Once he’s built that trust, he brings out the request - of friendship with Sugreeva.

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Rama’s response

On hearing this eloquent speech, Rama responds (addressing Lakshmana):

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And here’s the Pyramid Principle summary for Rama’s speech:

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What techniques does Rama use here?

Rama shares the importance of being ‘balanced’ in communication. It’s quite fascinating to note he notes good communication being a balance between chest (heart), throat (tone) and head (logic). Pretty close to Ethos-Pathos-Logos of Aristotle!

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Also, unlike Hanuman, Rama leads with his main instruction - “Reply in gentle and sweet words”, in the first sloka itself … instead of waiting till the end of the speech for that.

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Why?

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In Rama’s case, he’s communicating with Lakshmana - someone with whom he has high Ethos. He doesn’t need to wait till the end to make his recommendation.

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When communicating, you have to keep the audience and context in mind.

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2,500-year-old advice on storytelling

This ‘advice’ - by Valmiki - is probably 2,500 years old (maybe older). Incidentally, Aristotle was writing about Ethos-Pathos-Logos and other elements of Rhetoric around that time (2300 BCE).

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I thought it would nice to learn from our ancient storytellers for a change - especially given the recent occasion of Rama Navami.

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May the good Lord give us all collective strength to defeat the evil multi-headed pandemic…

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Take care.

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Special thanks to my Dad for pointing out this incident from the Ramayana and sharing some great resources, including some cool analysis by Sundar Kumar.

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Thanks

Ravi

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