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
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
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| #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
- Whizz of an autorickshaw as it goes by in the
lane outside
- Whirring of the fan
- Tapping of the foot (it’s a quirky habit I
have when I am writing or excited)
- Somebody watering the plants outside (Cant see
the person, guess its the weekend gardener)
- Drip of water from the kadai that I soaked for
my Sunday cleaning
- 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’
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