The Loudest Sound

The Loudest Sound

Science, an indispensable part of our modren world, has invented the unit Decibel to measure a sound. Our wise scientists have even given how loud a sound produces what effect in living organisms. The louder the noise is, the more damaging it is to the body.

But, have you ever heard or even thought of the sound measuring 0 Db? Well, there cannot be practically any surrounding with no sound. But, the thing I mean to refer to is what we call, ‘the silence’. The ‘silence’ I am talking here about can never be 0 Db, because it cannot be measured, for its meaning lies in the thought of a man. So have you ever contemplated how loud the sound named ‘silence’ is?

As the old, wise words go, “Silence speaks louder than words.” The saying is perhaps as old as the human civilisation itself. But, I believe it is getting wiser with time, as man is growing physically busier and mentally lazier with time- no time to think and no time to work on thoughts. Perhaps, that is why we revere another old so much- ‘old is gold’. But, of course, you can always disagree with the last line.

Oh! Usual to my habit, I seem to be going a little off the track. But these thoughts are also produced by silence itself. Silence is surely louder than words. But this applies to the situation when you have something to convey to another heart. I feel that silence is most talkative when you are alone. Silence between two or more people is full of unsaid and silent apprehensions, questions and doubts in each heart. But when it is alone, only yours, independent of any other individual’s silence, it crosses all boundaries. It thinks as freely as it can afford to. And it can afford to think anything on earth, which can be pretty dangerous at times.

Silence makes your thoughts flow, makes your imagination go to unseen places, overcome formidable obstacles, see people who never even existed in any world, experience events which may not even take place ever. Silence is, as we may want to call it, a sort of emptiness. But this so called emptiness expands your world and does not allow you to put any limit to it and fills it with things as wild as an ant ruling the world.

It cannot be called an incident, but the feeling that prompted me to get hold of a pen and a random notebook is this. I was reading about the inscriptions of the Gupta king Samudragupta. There it was described how he was chosen as the heir by his father, how some three or four jealous princes conspired against him and how he, showing his famous valour, defeated them easily in a single battle. I usually have the habit of seeing all the scenes in my mind that I read of. As a student of history I have read a number of such stories, in fact it is one of the commonest occurrences in any dynastic history. But the effect of this scene was a little enhanced because of the silence of the very wet night outside (as it has rained really hard today). So, I could see unseen people, feel the events I could never go through personally and feel as if I was in that era. All these are the outcomes of the emptiness.

At the same time silence can constrict your world and limit it to yourself only. It can take you so deep into yourself that you would just not be able to do anything but get pulled into the whirlpool and wonder, looking at the depth of your own heart and soul. [In fact I am really tempted to coin a much stronger word than ‘wonder’, but I wonder whether I can reach that stage ever.] You would just go on and on unfolding many hidden folders within you and leave yourself in a state where you would just feel, “Am I really that complicated!?” Sometimes perhaps, this silence may show you a wider world within you than it had shown outside you. Silence shouts at its loudest only when you are willing to listen to it. It is your inner self that makes the silence its mouthpiece. Have you ever considered how silence gets heavy on the ears, but, generally, noise does not? Perhaps, this is also an indication for us to realise that the words of silence have a lot of weight. Almost every moment that I spend alone, comes out either with some new revelation or some new confusion about myself.

After my numerous encounters with this silence, I cannot help saying that it is the loudest sound the eardrums of my heart and mind have ever heard. And yet, no damage has been reported; rather many repairs have been successfully done. And, I feel, some of my readers will agree. But, what is this silence? Is it internal or external? In my understanding, it is basically the inner tranquility combined very harmoniously with the outer quietude. If there is too much noise outside, a common person like me will find it hard to realise that the silence is already there, in her heart, waiting to get the recognition it deserves.

There is nothing called ‘absolute silence’. If nothing else, the sound of a tranquil night will surely disturb it. But, believe me, there is nothing better than that disturbance.