My grandfather was
sitting in his chair. He was wearing somewhat sheepish expressions and was
staring at the wall in front of him. He knew that she is in foul mood and it
would be futile to explain. My grandmother was obviously very angry with him. I
don’t exactly remember the reason why but for me that wasn’t important. The old lady was short tempered so she was
never short of reasons. My object of study was my grandfather whom I was
observing carefully while pretending to be studying in the same room. I didn’t hear him say ANYTHING; sometime he
would nod but it was very difficult to deduce anything out of that. The show
went on until my grandmother ran out of steam and shifted her base.
On her departure I
went to him. He still had the same expressions. I whispered to him, “what
happened?”, but he couldn’t hear. Next time I was much louder but still no
response. But this time he noticed that I am trying to say something; so he lifted
up his hands towards his ears; removed his ear plugs and said, “YES DEAR, WHAT
DO YOU WANT TO SAY?”…. This was first time that I witnessed the POWER OF
SILENCE. Later I have seen even my father applying it. I too practice it on
regular basis.
Silence is a very potent
tool in marriage. It saves you the hassle of answering unending series of
questions if you master it well. Moreover it allows you to keep things open
ended by its virtue of not taking any concrete stand. Here is an example…
My wife: Shall we go
to Singapore for this December vacation?
Me: <a nod>
My wife: Priti is there
so we can stay at her place. It saves us expense on stay.
Me: <two
nods>
My wife: Jet is
offering very good price for to and fro ticket.
Me: <two more
nods>
My wife: <Smiles – her day is made>
For
her, we are going as I didn’t say NO. For me, we are not as I didn’t say YES.
Silence continues to be at work for few more days of blissful life. Later the topic
loses its fizzle since it isn’t discussed much and her mother gets an
invitation for December stay. J
Silence is equally effective
at office. It helps you avoid assignments from your boss. Here is an example…since
it is office communication it is through email…face-to-face talks are
considered foul in the game of office.
My Boss: Prasad,
please help me think creative for a new customer proposal.
Me: <it means he
wants to make stories about something which we don’t know- I remain silent by
not replying>
My Boss: <after a long wait> Let us meet post
lunch for this discussion
Me: <continue to remain silent by not
replying>
My Boss: <after
another long wait> It’s okay; Radhika is joining me for this. You continue
your work.
Me: <after 30 mins of safety period> Oh!
Just saw your mail. I was stuck in meeting and couldn’t reply in time.
;-)
My silence got my boss
a woman of his creative inspiration and it saved me from a really boring job. J
My friends, out there is one man who really understands the importance of silence. He took silence to new heights and because of him SILENCE is now ruling the country. He is the man who gave silence a glory when he recently said, “My silence is better than a thousand answers”. Learn from our PRIME MINISTER (Dr. Manmohan Singh); he is a living example of “MAUNAM SARVARTHA SADHANAM” which means, “ANYTHING CAN BE ACHIEVED BY BEING SILENT”.
