Prafulla Kumar Mohanty
Those
who taught us this maxim, perhaps, imagined life and world as moral order,
where human rationality directed all human doables. Silence is for
contemplation. The yogis, philosophers and thinkers thought of silence as the
endpoint of all irrational volubility that makes man a nervy, distracted person
who loses the fulcrum of his authentic self. Silence restores the balance to
weigh events, actions, words to get the proper measure of reality. But silence
does not mean the universe would be still, motionless and almost soporific.
Nature is never silent. The rivers, oceans continue their roar,liquid, limpid flow in varying rhythms. The moon and the stars speak in soundless lean whispers
the romance of life. Even dreams speak a language to make man laugh or cry or
to get up with a start at the dead of night. Man at times, however rare cries eureka as though he has found out the
absolute truth of all mysteries. The sensor of the mind never sleeps. A guilty
mind as Lady Macbeth in her somnambulistic awakening speaks of blood in her
hands which the multitudinous seas cannot wash off. All creative minds whisper
to no one in particular words and ideas while in total abstraction from time
and space. The grass blades murmur when the spring breeze soft - fans them to
playfulness. The man who feels lonely in a noisy crowd mutters disbelief at the
range of vocabulary of the gushing multitudes. Waiting for a phone call too is
not a silent surrender to the whims of the expected caller: he groans in
disgust, sighs his impatience and often breaks the phone if the wait is longer.
Man, nature, society are not meant to be silent. Silence belongs to the realm
of death.
But
what is purported by this ‘wisdom’ is noninterference in complex, complicated
things or affairs. If elders are discussing a problem better not to speak
something silly. In the present border situation of India at Ladakh if someone
says “… I would have chased away the Chinese soldiers in 15 minutes” that would
illustrate the maxim’s efficacy. The speaker here is a mindless person. It
smacks of puerility. Silence in such situations is golden if you have any psychic
problems against the people responsible for the peace and security of the
country. When you hear wrong
facts from people who matter automatically you keep quite. And if the audience
is silent when the speaker thought they would burst out in laughter, he would
rewind the tape in his mind and know where he was wrong. He would rectify. A
true scholar listens to the wrong suggestions of peers in silence. Often the
women in the family listen to the irrational tirades of the parents out of respect.
But silence should never mean acquiescence or acceptance of imposed lies and
false accusations. Silence is golden as
long as your inner being is not hurt; your rights are not infringed upon, and
your character is not compromised. Silence can also be defiance. It is the most
subtle kind of protest provided the authority or people against whom protest is
made are not dumb nincompoops. Gandhi’s fast against the British administration
and his silence as a response to torture were the most potent weapons: and the
perpetrators understood Gandhi’s strength. Silence in certain situations is
“trumpet tongued” to borrow a phrase from Macbeth’s soliloquy. Silence however,
should not be allowed to be misconstrued as admission of guilt. If you listen
to false accusations in silence you are more guilty than the accuser, however
respectable and powerful he might be. One should remember that the Accuser is
not always Caesar’s wife. Mindless silence before Royalty, Nobility or Justice
and the Tyrant is suicidal – if one is not guilty of anything. A secret agent
may keep silent to protect his country and that is honourable silence. If by
opening your lips you jeopardize peace, security well being or integrity of a
country or a great man, one should be silent. Sealing your lips to protect
someone from the wrong side of justice you may save a reputation. But if your
silence makes a guilty man escape your silence is homicidal.
Today
in India and some other countries we see a new trend of so called civilization:
and that is synecdochic of the new values of prudence. If you see a crime
committed on the road you go blind. If you are called to testify you
will be silent on truth and vocal on irrelevance. If your friend or a neighbor
harbours terrorists you should keep quiet for dear life. A modern, educated
person is a self-whole, he is the total life system. Nothing exists beyond his
own safety, security and well being. He is not responsible for anything. His
charmed circle of life has a radius of half a centimeter, and that too is large
enough to maintain. The justice system
in the world is awry because testimony is truth- blind. If you saw a rape you
will try to prove you were not in the country; you were abroad holidaying with
nymphs from another galaxy. Of course, truth in the modern society is hard to
digest. A whistle blower is done and
dusted if he breaks his silence on personal or institutional corruption. Yes in
such cases one has to choose between heroism and self centered cowardice. But
if you remember your lessons of childhood and say Silence is Golden, you are
unworthy of living a life.
In
love and faith silence is never golden. If you love someone confess everything
and if your sweetie is guilty of anything make a sacrifice of her: for your
silence ruins someone else and also your love. Couples who are silent in love
live not like saints but like animals. Sex too is animalish if there is no
poetry and music in your union. Faith too deserves the respect of your being.
Hypocrisy of silence is not a culpable crime, it is a moral failing which
reduces man to the quintessence of dust. A man should be open, free and use
silence either as a weapon to save people or as a shield to protect innocence.
Silence is unnatural and evil if it is a fig leaf to cover your unmanliness.
