Silence

What do you make of scenes where somebody screams 'silence' and there is a background track playing to ‘highlight’ silence? At the same time, that scene from Babel where Rinko Kikuchi enters a club and the music drops but the energy is still maintained is one of those brilliant scenes that remain forever in my mind.

Can we ever be really silent? Is the tiger absolutely silent while stalking his prey…does our own heartbeat become noise that shatters this silence. Is nature ever really silent?

Even today, sometimes I hold my breath to listen to the sounds around me, to experience complete silence and never really find that… it’s not noise but it’s not really silent.

Recently on a trip to a tiger safari, the guide asked us to be silent so that the tiger can step out of the tall grass and give us a glimpse… while talking ceased, people continued to shuffle, scratch cough and sniff. Why? Is it because we are so uncomfortable on our own that we have to make some signs of sound to prove that we are alive…are we so dead inside that we cant hear the crackle of the leaves, the buzz of the wind or the heartbeat of excitement happening within our own bosom?

A little known anecdote on American composer John Cage's 4 min 33 sec experiment is that when he was testing it out in Harvard, there was a slight hum that was heard despite it being a sound proof room. Investigating it further, he found that it was the hum of nervous system, heartbeat over which we do not have any control. Watch his experiment here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY7UK-6aaNA

#bench #ratlamstation #earlymorning #traintravel #instagram #silence

Being a student of communication and a chatterbox I understand the need to talk, to express, to communicate….but isn’t ‘listening’ the hallmark of a good communicator (not the mobile phone dummy). Why are we so afraid of our own selves? Why do we have to indulge in small talk? Why are there awkward silences?

In school we had a sports/PT teacher who demonstrated the meaning of pin drop silence by dropping a pin and making us listen for the drop sound. Till then we used to whisper while having ‘finger on the lips’ silence.

As I type this post out, apart from the tap of my fingers on the keyboard, I can hear the following

1. Whizz of an autorickshaw as it goes by in the lane outside
2. Whirring of the fan
3. Tapping of the foot (it’s a quirky habit I have when I am writing or excited)
4. Somebody watering the plants outside (Cant see the person, guess its the weekend gardener)
5. Drip of water from the kadai that I soaked for my Sunday cleaning
6. Tapping of the Pipili lampshade wire against the set top box as it sways in the breeze

Next Post – Why I don’t consciously listen to ‘Music’

Social Experiments - Inhibitions

What is so special about superhero movies? Isn’t it about some guy who wears his chaddies on top of his tights! As much as we would like to spoof them, the reason these superhero movies do well is not just special effects and fancy gadgets, it is the underlying fact that the underdog sheds his inhibitions and goes on to save the world, become popular and get a little romance along the way.

Don’t we wish there was a magic wand or a spider or some kryptonite that could make us say, behave, do all the things that we wanted to and without any fear of being ridiculed or judgment?

When one has to describe self in 3 words, one is always inhibited and says the politically correct words like kind, generous, compassionate. The more adventurous go the self depreciating way and throw in a lazy or experimental. But would you like to come out and say what you are to a bunch of strangers? Don’t you want to impress everybody here and say things which are accepted worldwide in beauty pageants…like kind, generous and compassionate? 

Image Courtesy: Deviantart

Why is having a mask on and not sharing your real feelings to random people seen in a bad light?

But then don’t some of us put on a mask just to fit in, be polite, accepted so that we do not stick out like a sore thumb amongst a bunch of conformists.

Sometimes one has to be a bit inhibited to maintain the balance between outrage and comfortable. Most other times one tends to be inhibited for fear of revealing too much. It is for security, it is for acceptance, it is to blend in.

Isn’t that why Jim Carrey in ‘The Mask’ leave a mark? Then why does the world worship the superhero?