Sounds of Silence

Sounds of Silence

This title was lingering in my thought for many years. Many years before  I have seen a small documentary film in Door Darshan TV channel, in black & white  ,with the same title. It so happened that the maker is a Madras  film institute student living in neighborhood,  near to my ancestral home in Mylapore.  I have seen him many times in a shop next door and he was a very quiet and smart boy. But the sad story was , he died  within  a short time after his short film was telecasted. This information, I came to know from one of his friend , who was also a friend of mine.  

The documentary goes like this. A student preparing for exams living in a single room in the first floor trying to silently study. But the sound of loud music  comes out of the cone speaker from a nearby  place , whether from a temple festival site or some family function with all cheers enjoying the cinema songs or so. I forget the instance. But the concern for him is , he wants silence but he is surrounded by sounds. He closes the window and try to concentrate reading but the sound has no barrier and his ears could not be  sealed  with any material. The few minutes movie narrates his suffering by the sounds of silence and he could not succeed in his studies till the film closes. I think the film closes when he closes his books , abandoning reading , and go to sleep after late midnight , the external  sound faded away and gave him a peaceful sleep.  The impact of his craving for silence from the sound around still remembered by me. I believe the maker boy of the documentary must be in silence ,chanting in Heaven , with  all good souls at the Lotus Feet of Sri Krishna in peace.

It is a common situation , experienced by  everyone in different occasions  ,for different reasons , with  different sounds of silence.

I travel nearly 35 km one way daily to commute to office in company bus. It is a long time habit of mine to read books in travel . Many years I have well practiced to read in public transport without the disturbance of sounds around. The sound mostly of automobiles passing through and I could read in silence , if I get a seat to sit. But for last 5 years I am travelling in company bus and all the  young colleagues would like to listen loud music of movies  and the song selection of them is  a particular type, which we call in Tamil ‘kuthu paattu ‘.  Of course it may sound well if you listen at home with the required volume. These youngsters do not bother about others privacy. The beauty is the contributor of the selectively selected songs in a pen drive starts sleeping soon after he entered the bus. For the sake of others he meticulously select songs daily and disturb the privacy of all. This is  a type of sounds of silence , without going into the literal meaning !

There are occasions I enjoyed the sounds of silence. Some time I used to visit Krishnamurti Foundation India  located in the first floor of Vasant Vihar  in Greenways Road, Chennai , near Adyar river.

The library is so good to have a silent reading in the armed cane chairs placed near the windows. There will be few readers like me , young or old , looking for the books and periodicals of JK . The experience of sounds of silence in the library is so enchanting. The sounds of nature comes and softly touches our ear drums. The shaking of the branches of trees all around the building by wind flows from one direction to other. The cool breeze , even in summer you can enjoy. The  occasional raising and falling of the dead leaves in the ground near the building creates a soothing sound to our ears.  I really enjoyed the sounds of silence there with added sounds of cuckoo birds and other sweet sounds of parrot in the mango tree.

Another  experience to share how I enjoyed the sounds of silence. I had been to a Lion and Tiger  Safari near Shimoga  along with my office colleagues for a picnic to Jog falls.

  This safari is en-route to Jog Falls in Karnataka. All of  us were packed in a closed small van of capacity 10 to 12 and taken into the deep forest where the Lions and Tigers  freely  move around in deep woods. Our transport is a battery driven and with the least noise it moves in the narrow passages to get a glimpse or view of the ferocious   man eaters.  We are keeping pin drop silence inside the van  and keenly looking forward for any signs or symptoms of the creatures we love to look at close range. At that time a sudden roar of a tiger broke the silence. That sound of silence is shocking but enjoyable and felt lucky to see a tiger at close range , walking near our van and stare us throw the window.  We all came to one side of the van to take photographs of the beautiful beast. The flash distract the animal and makes further roar .  We could see the cubs are running towards their mother for sucking  milk . In the distance we can see even more tigers and lions living together. This is a different experience with the sounds of silence.

Silence breakers  are sounds only .  Breaking of silence in a temple is enjoyable with ecstasy. My experience with my son as well with my son-in-law in ISKCON , Mayapur for the early morning Mangal  Aarti was great. 

The morning aarti , a ritual to wake up God , with sounds of counch  is a wonderful experience. We all assemble in front of the deity stage with absolute silence and no lights. All the devotees will be waiting for the opening of the screen by the priests  at both stages wherein Radha Krishan with Gopis in one stage and The Pancha tatva deities in another. At the stroke of 4.30 am , the blowing sound of counch  shell  made by the priest and the screeching sound of the screen opening  with the bell sounds take the devotees to trance and all in one time chant the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra  loudly to start the prayer. This  sound of silence is spiritual and enjoyed by all devotees.

The life sound in silence is a  special experience for the first time parents . When a father to be ,walking here and there in the corridors of a  maternity hospital near the operation theater of the delivery ward , with no sound around , hears for the first time the first cry of his child , behind the doors , where his wife delivers his first child, is  so special a sound of silence for him and his wife.

  I had the experience and would love to have the same experience by my son-in-law, daughter , son , daughter-in-law . Praying Lord Krishna to bless us to get  the loving experience of the life sounds of silence again after long years ,by all our family members.

I have many audio tracks with the sounds of Nature , Mountains and Seas . For hearing those tracks you need silence to enjoy the richness of natural sounds. We cannot escape from  sound daily in our routine , but we can keep silence to hear the sounds .

Let us be closer to the nature than to books .  Sounds of Sea , Rain, Mountain , Wind , River , Trees , Thunder , Temple/ Church  Bells , Early morning prayer from a mosque , Tring,Tring.. of milk vendor / news paper boy’s cycle bell in the early hours before sun rise attracts me much and many others not able to recollect and write. I found an album of  Simon & Garfunkel’s titled “ Sounds of Silence “ in internet and yet to listen ! Try out and comment.