Empathy is the ability to sense and understand another person’s feelings, experiences and perspectives. It allows us to establish meaningful emotional connections with people. Empathy goes beyond sympathy to actually “feel with” someone else. Developing empathy can greatly enrich our lives and relationships. In this article we talk about What does Empathy Mean in Hindi.
In Hindi, empathy is referred to as “samvedana”. It comes from the words “sam” meaning “with or together” and “vedana” meaning “to feel or experience”. So samvedana implies “feeling together with” or “experiencing with” another being.
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Why Is Empathy Important?
Empathy allows us to tune into and comprehend what another individual is going through. It helps us build rapport and trust as we demonstrate that we “get” them. Practicing empathy leads to stronger interpersonal relationships – with friends, family, romantic partners, colleagues and even strangers. It promotes harmony and compassion on a societal level.
Developing empathy leads to immense personal growth as we open our minds to diverse perspectives. It combats prejudice as we realize that all humans have the same basic emotions. An empathetic attitude makes us better listeners, allowing people to feel heard and valued. This can diffuse conflicts and disagreements. Leaders with empathy can better understand their team members, customers or citizens. Overall, empathy makes the world a kinder, more inclusive place!
How To Build Empathy?
Empathy can be nurtured by making conscious efforts towards deepening human connections. Here are some tips:
Listen fully: Practice active, non-judgmental listening when people share their joys or troubles. Don’t interrupt them and give your opinions right away. Allow them to express themselves openly. Summarize their emotions to ensure you have understood correctly.
Observe emotions: Notice people’s facial expressions, tone of voice, body language and choice of words. These contain rich clues to their inner emotional state. See if you can relate to such emotions even though your external circumstances differ.
Ask thoughtful questions: Inquire about people’s well-being, priorities, preferences and opinions. Find out their personal stories and background context. Understanding their personality, values and life events leads to insight.
Try role reversal: Imagine yourself in another person’s situation. Picture walking in their shoes and facing what they do. How might you react or feel if you were them? This mental exercise builds empathy.
Suspend judgments: We often instantly judge people as good/bad or right/wrong. Catch yourself doing this. Instead, accept that each person has valid reasons for their choices and behaviors in a given context. Keep an open mind!
Spend quality time: Rushed interactions may not lead to emotional bonding. Have longer conversations to know people at a deeper level. Share meals, activities or travels with them. Recurring meaningful interactions are key.
Expand your circle: Interact with people from different cultural, social or economic backgrounds. Notice how human struggles and triumphs cut across barriers. We have more commonalities than surface differences.
Consume engaging art: Read novels, watch movies or attend plays. Observe how characters think, feel and act in various fictional situations. As you identify with them, your circle of empathy grows.
Volunteer and help: Tutoring underprivileged kids, caring for animals in a shelter or assisting elderly neighbors are all deeply satisfying. When we support vulnerable people, empathy comes naturally.
How Does Empathy Lead to Compassion?
Empathy helps us connect with and comprehend people’s suffering. This stirs up compassion – the intense desire to alleviate their distress. Compassion is empathy in action – doing something to ease hardship and make life better for others.
An empathetic social worker understands the trauma of marginalized communities. This motivates them to design supportive programs. An empathetic doctor gets that surgery can be scary for kids. So they patiently explain the process and reassure their little patients.
Compassion is the logical consequence of empathy. Once we deeply grasp people’s pain, we cannot remain indifferent. We instinctively want to lift their burden in whatever way we can. With empathy fueling compassion, we create positive social change.
Conclusion:
Empathy, or “samvedana” in Hindi, is all about standing in someone else’s shoes and feeling what they feel. This profound ability to make emotional connections can transform all our relationships. Empathy breaks down barriers, resolving conflicts and breeding kindness. It widens our worldview as we open up to varied human experiences. Best of all, empathy stimulates compassionate action to uplift others. Practicing empathy is thus one of the most rewarding gifts we can give ourselves and our global community. I sincerely hope you find this “What Does Empathy Mean in Hindi?” article helpful.
Dr. Rajesh Sharma is a Hindi language expert with over 10 years of experience and a Ph.D. in Hindi Literature from Delhi University. He is dedicated to promoting the richness of Hindi through his well-researched articles on meaninginnhindi.com. Follow Dr. Sharma on Instagram @hindi_adhyapak, where he shares insights with his 121K followers.
