MAUNAM SARVARTHA SADHANAM (SILENCE IS GOLDEN)

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”.