Thursday, April 14, 2011

Shhhhhhhhhh…


Time is money.  Time is precious. In a busy city life on the pursuit of the precious time we often miss out the joys of doing simple things, the simple way. A look around and everything seems to be in a chaos and clutter. Everyone is in hurry, chasing behind a bus or a train or hurrying to get inside that small space left for the last passenger to squeeze in an already overflowing share auto. Be it the mornings or the evenings, we are always on the run. Either to get out of the house or to get inside it. Not that there is always urgency. But we are so used to this fast pace life that we seldom want to slow down a bit to breathe easy. Certainly, Impatience is the new way of life.

My journey back home from office requires me to change two trains. Everyday as I get down from one, I had to run through the over-bridge to catch the train standing on the other platform whistling to leave. I hardly care to notice the happenings around and try hopping in the train as soon as I could. Yesterday was no different. I was rushing down the steps on the over-bridge to catch my train. At one corner of the over-bridge on the sides of the steps I saw four teenage boys standing and chatting. Regular collage kids having a conversation. But not in the regular way. They were communicating through sign language, all four of them. Amidst the muddle of noise around, their silence was elegantly soothing. Where our normal conversations takes place with shouts and yells to make it audible amidst the crowd, these four boys were effortlessly having a conversation with much grace and grandeur than anyone else there.  No yelling, no shouting or screaming yet very much clear and lucid. A quiet and silent one with no haste, the conversation was happening only with the movement of the eyes and the hands, and of course a smile on everyone’s face. 

While I passed across them, I felt a strange aura of calmness surrounding them. When everything else around was noisy and loud, these four teenagers appeared so much at peace.  And before I could experience this tranquility further, my train wrestled me back to the world of impatience. All this happened within few seconds but it brought me a good feel taking me out from the maddening world of normal beings to a far simple and uncomplicated world of the special few, although just for a brief while. True it is…Silence is golden.