Listen to the sound of silence to find peace

My heart skipped a beat on hearing the shrill ring of the phone. I had forgotten to set the phone on silent mode before going to bed. That set me thinking. High-decibel sound is an offshoot of the progress in the field of science and technology that is assaulting our senses incessantly. Although, a lot is being said and done to tackle air and water pollution, it’s noise pollution that is acquiring monstrous proportions, of late. The irony of the situation is everyone considers it his/her birthright to make a din without any fear of the law or concern for fellow beings. Religious places are the biggest offenders which relay high-pitched hymns and out of tune mantras early in the morning day after day. With ever-increasing places of worship, the early morning calm and serenity has become a thing of the distant past. We Indians are loud by nature. We grieve loudly and celebrate even louder. Whenever I’m invited to attend a wedding or a celebration, I’m delighted at the prospect of meeting old friends and relatives, who we don’t get a chance to catch up with often. But the loud music and DJs don’t give us a chance to interact with whomsoever. The non-stop jarring music is enough to dampen our spirits and send us packing home with a heavy head and heavier tummy. When we were growing up in the 1970s, our elders would listen to the news on the radio in the evening. TV was in the budding stage and programmes were telecast for limited hours. We were allowed to watch TV only on days when Chitrahaar or a movie was being telecast. Nowadays, 24×7 exposure to TV, FM radio and ever-ringing phones don’t give us a moment to ponder in silence throughout the day. Pressure horns and habitual honking is another cause of concern. Pedestrians and cyclists are the worst sufferers as pressure horns catch them unawares. As if that isn’t enough, these days street hawkers have installed gadgets that keep repeating the sale promotion messages ad nauseam. I’ve been abroad a few times and what amazes me no end is their patience to desist from blowing horns even in rush-hour traffic. High-decibel commotion and cacophony all around reflects in our personalities, too. We have become edgy, irritable, irksome, and an impatient species. According to a recent survey, Indians are ranked quite low in terms of sleep quality index. We are neither getting sound nor enough sleep and the ever-growing noise pollution may be one of the reasons. Let’s try to delve into the realm of peace by lowering the ring volume of our phones, strengthening our faith by keeping the decibel level low at religious places and saying no to compulsive honking. Mother Teresa rightly said: “We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. See how nature -- trees, flowers, grass -- grow in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls.”

LET’S TRY TO DELVE INTO THE REALM OF PEACE BY LOWERING THE RING VOLUME OF OUR PHONES, STRENGTHENING OUR FAITH BY KEEPING THE DECIBEL LEVEL LOW AT RELIGIOUS PLACES AND SAYING NO TO COMPULSIVE HONKING.