Silence: Need Of The Hour.

There are times when all I want is silence. Silence from the loud engines of vehicles, from all the machinery making noise on a construction site, from the television or phones people want all the time, from the constant chatter everybody wants. I'm so exhausted from hearing all the noise that even if it's just for a few minutes, I want silence. Complete and utter silence. I wouldn't mind the pitter-patter of rain or the chirping of birds. Not even the rustling of trees. All that is calming. I feel at peace with those sounds.

I read a poem once, it said that humans are so busy moving their hands too much and running towards development, making so much noise because they can't stop speaking and using loud motors. They never stop and reflect on what effect their actions have on other living creatures. The poet gave examples of a man who stops extracting salt from rocks to examine his wounded hands and feet, and another one of a fisherman who stops fishing for once and thinks how painful it must be for the whales whose lives he had taken. If for once, all of us manage to stop with all the work we're doing and reflect. Reflect on what effect it has on others, on what we really want with our lives. We'll be able to introspect oneself if we are given silence. Trust me it would feel beautiful.

I always have music blasting through the doors of my brother's room, television on full volume in the living area, sounds of utensils clicking against each other in the kitchen and the loud noise from a construction site in front of my house. So I once went to a garden in search of silence, there weren't many people there. I took around and then sat on a bench facing a small lake with a lot of greenery around it. I looked at all the trees, their leaves, the colours of their leaves, their trunks, it's height, the water in the lake, some guys playing football nearby and a few people walking around. It felt good to be able to observe everything in so much detail. There were mosquitos biting me but it didn't bother me much, I had a silence around. It didn't even last for a few minutes when people in groups walking across me started to talk and laugh loudly. Many of them looked at me as if I'm the biggest idiot sitting alone in a park and not doing anything. Is it so bad to want silence for a while?

Whenever I try to study, there always is a loud noise in the background that I can't even concentrate. I have grown so tired of telling everybody to not be loud, nobody listens. My mother used to scold me because I never helped her. Now when I do, she scolds me because I didn't do it properly, if I did it'd be because I didn't do some other work. It's those times when she never appreciates what I did when all I want to hear is a simple 'thank you' or a 'good job' and I don't even get a smile when I grow frustrated. When I want silence and someone would come around and start speaking without a pause. I don't think silence is a bad thing to want. Some of you might hate it but just try to experience some for a while and think. Think about anything and everything that comes to your mind. I assure you it would feel good. In this fast-paced world, all we require is a moment of a break when we all can sit down for once and introspect. But for that the only prerequisite is silence.

By: Roma