‘SILENCE’ (R)EVOLUTION

Silence is divine. Silence is mysterious. Silence is sinister. Silence is a language which can interpret anything objectively. Bhagwan Ramana Maharshi never used to speak much but with his stare he used to convey what all he intended to. Silence is the eloquence of the mind. It is a virtue for a rishi and a weapon for a politician. Silence is the ultimate device of a cynic; the first weapon of a diplomat; the last instrument of any bargain.

There was a story in circulation when we joined the All India Radio way back in 1963. A firm purchased time to do a ‘commercial’ in broadcasting for 30 seconds. At the apportioned time the broadcast went without any sound-total silence. Every household as also every listener went panicky. Was something wrong with their sets? Or with the broadcast? There were numerous calls to the radio station inquiring for the reason. The Officers on Duty also were at a loss to explain the lapse. It was later found that the firm, which purchased the slot, chose to leave it without any text. The second day also went in utter silence. That became the news. People started talking about it.

What happened at 8 pm on AIR? Why was the silence? Everybody was nonplussed. The ‘commercial’ came out next day saying: “The silence you have experienced in the previous nights is the welcome relief you get from any pain through our choicest Balm.’’ Everybody was dumbfounded. The silence gave a terrible focus to the message much more than any verbal could do. There was no rule which stops the businessman for ‘not filling the commercial slot’ until then. The rules were promptly amended saying that ‘one has to purchase a slot and it has to be invariably filled’.

Why do rishis go and stay at Himalayas or any secluded forests and not at Delhi, Chennai or Kolkata? It is because they brace silence as their media of non-expression. Meditation is nothing but organized silence of long spells. Withdrawing the sensory organs from the outside world and receding into nothingness is to slip into insulation, and its apparent expression is silence.

Silence is a coded language that expresses hundred thoughts. In a mundane world, silence is an instrument and a fine tuned implement to negate any action. It was another famous director Woody Allen who said “God is silent. Now if only man will shut up’’.

In a tropical world like ours, we tend to become extroverts because we live an open, exposed life. The best luxury to which we have never been exposed is ‘privacy’. We live in a community. Our lives are often loud, noisy and even congested. We don’t even know that a man requires a cool, private, silent introspection.

“We sit silently and watch the world around us. This has taken a lifetime to learn. It seems only the old are able to sit next to one another and not say anything and still feel content. The young, brash and impatient, must always break the silence. It is a waste, for silence is pure. Silence is holy,’’ according to Nicholas Sparks..

According to Karen Marie Moning, “Words can be twisted into any shape. Promises can be made to lull the heart and seduce the soul. In the final analysis, words mean nothing. They are labels we give things in an effort to wrap our puny, little brains around their underlying natures’’.

Verbal conditions the scope of a thought. A word can have only one meaning. Verbal defines. It restricts, closes its door, while silence is ventilation, a muse. It opens the mind’s eye and reverberate a receptive, cultured psyche. A dog, for instance is apparently man’s best friend. He cannot communicate. But his master interprets his thoughts as he chooses. He is as good as he wants; as warm as he understands; as faithful as he expects. Silence generously accommodates myriad thoughts.

Cuckoo’s melody is seasonal, while sunrise greets you silently every day. A flower, a rainbow, a star is a silent partner in our lives. They don’t express. They denote. They represent. They manifest. We give a label to it associate a thought to it. But alas, our minds are puerile beasts. They refuse to accept the silences that are manifest around us in countless forms and try to organize nature to meet our greedy needs. That is our poverty. The environment is a silent partner in our lives to make them worthwhile while they silently discharge their duties. But we regulate them - negating their message. And hence, the global disaster.

Silence is a message. A warning. If we care to hear, it speaks in thousand voices. It behooves one not to interfere with it with one’s limited comprehension. Lastly, silence can be a catastrophe. If you don’t care to understand, it erupts. Kedarnath? Perhaps.