What is silence? The answer to this query may be framed as – silence is felt when no sounds of footfalls, laughter, babbling and of busy hands settling the messy home in order are produced. The atmosphere is calm and quiet – a right ambience for creativity to unleash and to embroider the thought process with the rightly chosen words.

            The mind often prefers silence to cruise back and forth in the sea of memory. In such a case, the childhood memories are often relived. The panorama of innocent days passed sucking the pristine beauty of nature is recalled. The mind elates to remember how during those days it leapt with joy at the sight of each pearl of dew drop on supple and lush green blade of grass. It savoured freedom then at the sights of the bird shooting through the sky and of white cotton flying from burst out fruits on the trees in heedless directions. Love for mother filling the bosom at the sight of each petal of forget- me-not flower receiving the kiss of rain drop in silence outside the nursery school with big glass windows. The silence evokes the view of the house, dead and silent now but once palpitated with love and warmth of the siblings under the aegis of energetic and active parents.

            Silence also engages in bustling audit to settle the loss and gain of the life lived so far. How much earned and how much saved for rainy days that also silence measures. At the end of the day, in silence, the mind checks the day’s schedule and strikes from it off the activities done. The pending jobs are endeavoured to be accommodated in the next day’s schedule and the means to accomplish them are chalked out in silence.

            Hence, silence is serene. It is a blessing that energises the brain with thoughtful exercises or gifts one with creative forms. But these notions raise a number of questions such as – is silence always tranquil? Is it always conducive for creativity to spurt? Does it really turn one into voluble for creations? Answer to these questions may be supplied in one sentence. It can be said that silence is as alarming and mystifying as it is tranquil and productive.

              Silence may be of two types. It may be self willed or thrust upon. When it is self willed, it happens to be a boon. It is then invited by the person as a means for leisure that but has its productive potential as mentioned earlier. It also freshens up the person who dips in the sea of silence after passing through a rigorous task schedule and aids them to gear up on time for next assignment.

            The horrific force of silence is felt, when it is thrust upon. It is the feeling of fear that becomes instrumental in conjuring up silence then. Such as, the fear of disrupting family peace often leads the members to tolerate each other’s misdemeanour without raising any word against it. The fear of being retaliated with insult often makes the parents to bear in silence their children’s whims and eccentricities. The fear of losing one’s reputation, sense of pride and position often makes one silent to bear sundry forms of persecution, discrimination and injustice whether at home or out of home without being vocal against them. 

            Hence, silence that is thrust upon shows its poisonous fang. It is corrosive to a merciless point. It leaves the person wrapt in silence with a ruffled state of mind leading to the inactivity of both mind and body.

            Therefore, such a caustic silence should be never be entertained. It should be overthrown with the rightly channelized words without being oblivious of verbal etiquettes.

Dr. Fathema Begum