Sounds Of Silence

I.

“What does silence sound like?” That is not the question I began my day with. I woke up with a cool breeze hitting my body, it is a summer morning - at the backdrop of a warm atmosphere, the fan was running at full speed.

I checked the time - it was 6:45 AM. it was a pleasant surprise, I slept at 12:00 AM and half expecting myself to wake up early, I had an alarm for 7:15 AM. It is a different feeling all together for me - when it feels like I’m ahead of the day, as opposed to playing catch up throughout the day - why is it so, maybe for some other time.

I smelled the air, it was still moist, although it didn’t rain in Hyderabad, and after this brief moment of silence, a song started playing in my head - “Mukilinte” from Hridayam - the slow tune playing on and on, it keeps going on in my head.

Tempted by the early morning - I put on my shoes and go out for a walk.

II.

Durgam Cheruvu Park is like a half complete ring, with the Lake residing in the middle. I always enter it through the back door - you don’t have to pay and it’s a shorter route to the entry point.

I have walked the same route before, many times since I first came to Hyderabad, and yet I feel I miss something each time I look around. On the left side, you have the big oval rocks, the trees and the variety of flowers that bloom in the summer. On the right you have the Lake, with trees on the side. The lake isn’t too bad, but if you go near it - there is a stench stagnant water.

The route on which I walk is naked, with only dust and lined with small concrete boundary’s - two paths on the road - one to walk towards and other to walk away from the park. The route which I find myself on is peculiar, it always has a slight bend ahead, indicating the nature of the park.

With people all around, some walking, some running a few in groups and others in pairs, and few others alone - mostly with headphones on - just in their own worlds. I wonder if we have any sense of shared reality - with the smartphones and headsets, we have the ability of craft our own worlds - music, podcasts, audio books, articles, videos, streams so effortlessly, it’s almost fascinating.

As the I walk along, I hear the birds chirpping occasionally, sometimes people laughing and other times the sound of my footsteps. I didn’t bring my earphones, so I couldn’t get lost in my world - but even then I felt I wasn’t alone, I wasn’t silent, at the backdrop of “Mukilinte” still playing - there was an onslaught of thoughts.

III.

I should do this today - maybe it’ll help in the coming week at work”, “She looks pretty”, “After this - chai for sure, or maybe go to Old Madras Baking Company and have a coconut bun”. We all get this thing - our minds they just never stop, and there is no theme - I keep thinking random things.

That is why I only occasionally heard the birds chirping, occasionally saw the bend in the road, occasionally saw the lake - actually saw it, rest I didn’t remember how I got ahead of the road.

But this is nothing new, what was about to happen would be. I slowly came across the end of the path I usually walk, but instead of turning back, I kept ahead. The bridge was under construction that linked the quarter of the park with the remaining part , but there was still a way under it and I trudged on. This side was less explored, but there was an even clearer view of the lake. What was amazing is, slowly - as I became more curious here, I started to see the trees standing taller than previously, the pastel green color and view of the lake at a height which I hadn’t seen before. I started to listen in to silence and there was no thinking.

One really misses something amazing in the hum-drum, and as I walked along, I witnessed the sunlight falling on the water, just dancing, but it wasn’t just static - as I moved, they moved with me and it was something I had never seen before.

Just below, two men were laying a net to catch fishes in the water.

IV.

I passed through the Durgam Cheruvu bridge and was nearing the end of my walk, so far I have still had “Mukilinte” running in my head faintly. But as I walked through a small street, with a housing residency, to reach the hostel, I suddenly was aware, I just listened intently, the shrill of engines, people walking, children screaming there was no interference, I heard what I saw and saw what I heard.

And I just wondered: Is this what Silence Sounds Like?