Silence

Silence is golden. This is an age old adage and has proved its veracity on many-a-occasions over the period of time since its inception. But in this modern world, some serious doubts have been cast over its pertinence. Today we live in a noisy world where everyone is out to beat their own trumpet. Every person is trying to out-blabber each other in a very vain and mild hope of being individualized. It’s a talker’s world out there and people have the tendency to talk and miss hearing everything that may be important.

Listening, once touted as a skill in itself, has now been rendered the inconsequential sidekick of the real clincher – oration. In fact the people who have good listening skills are thought to be losers and are metaphorically placed at the back of the class, while all those loudmouthed dimwits adorn the front rows.

Do you remember the last time silence between a two people sitting alone wasn't uncomfortable? There is a constant need in us to fill up the void of vulnerability with vacuous gibber-jabber. All of this has led us to a point where each one of us is trying to find out that one person with whom we can be comfortably silent. That one person with whom you don’t really have to talk to communicate. Finding that person has become a pain in the ass job in this raucous world.

When those guys came up with the adage, they were onto something. Silence can be a golden as it gives the listener time to ponder and can also be used as a psychological manipulation tactic. I am not saying that one must vow to remain silent always, just that people today need to listen to what others are saying too.

Sometimes it is good to enjoy the music rather than listening to the lyrics. There was a reason why movies like Barfi, where both the leads were deaf and dumb, attract such huge crowds. Everybody yearns for a little silence. And its not like all of us should become good listeners, otherwise who would do the talking? But every now and then, when the mutinous child inside you rebels, just use common sense because a single silent moment in a pandemonium is worth cherishing.