Talk to Me....

For millions of years, Mankind lived just like the animals.Then something happened…That unleashed the power of our imagination.… We learned to TALK.- Stephen Hawking
The above lines have made a lasting impression on my mind and the following incident narrates how! Once upon a time in a town called Mumbai… (dramatic pause) an assignment was handed over at an orientation program of XYZ Institute of Communication to yours truly. He was asked to do something that he had never done before (anything legal of course!). It did not take me long to figure out that whatever I wanted to do was illegal, immoral, fattening or outrageously stupid. I was wondering what would be interesting without being all these. I started to jot down things that I loved to do most playing the guitar, wrting, reading, harassing the women in my life (mother, sister, girlfriends) lazing, talking. YES! I had found it. TALKING! It would be interesting not to speak for the entire day. At first I was terrified by the very thought, cause I even speak in my sleep, but then all things SCARY are worth doing aren’t they? I decided to take the plunge after all there would be some way to communicate. My entire day was going to be spent figuring out just that. Hmmm…difficult yet interesting…YOU BET! So finally the dreaded day dawned on which I had decide to do some thing that I had not done in my entire lifespan. Being a Sunday I got up early (on Sunday 10 o’ clock is early). Got over with my usual routine and waited patiently on my breakfast table anticipating how the day would pass. By then everybody was up and were looking forward to a long chilled out day. It wasn’t long before everybody realized that I was not uttering a word and only answering in nods and smiles. At first they thought I was feeling ill (first learning) but soon they figured that it was some stupid prank I was playing. My mother was obviously happy and my sister the happiest. It started well as I had just decided not to utter a word however making faces (with all younger sisters that’s easier) and using my limbs was allowed. To my surprise I realized that one can actually get along quite well using all these. My sister (after being bribed) played a very important role in making my day interesting by asking me difficult questions about everything under the sun requiring me to be explicit to the last detail. Man was that difficult, I enjoyed it nevertheless. Mother prayed to god that I should practice this more often. But she didn’t want to let go without having some fun herself. She sent me to the market to fetch some things. Now this was going to be challenging. The shopkeepers didn’t bother at first cause I was pointing at the articles and paying accordingly. The problem arose when I was buying vegetables, from selecting the right ones to bargaining it to the last paisa was a mammoth task. The vegetable vendor thought, I was not only dumb but deaf too, he kept screaming through the transaction. That was some entertainment for the crowd that gathered around us. I was so tempted to yell at him, but I bit my lip hard and my antics at making faces got me through. When I returned home looking at my face everybody realized I had been through hell. They laughed even harder when they heard what had happened. In the mean while my sister told me my girlfriend had called and will be calling again. This was going to be easy cause mostly during our conversations I’m at the receiving end and I was hoping this wouldn’t be any different. Post lunch I spent time thinking about people who could not speak. I had never thought of them till now. What started off as a frivolous self imposed project actually made me see them in a different perspective. At certain times we don’t want to speak. I figured out even saying nothing meant something and was a unique way of communication. It could be used to convey many emotions like anger, fear, love, hatred, awe. I understood that being mute had various attention grabbing dimensions. I also concluded they were not for me. Later in the evening my friends could not stop laughing over my antics of the day. They too tried their hands at it but were not able to sustain for more than 10 minutes flat. It dawned to me that our ability to speak was an incredible gift bestowed upon us by the almighty, which we should ‘handle with care’. By bedtime I had a totally altered outlook towards the physically challenged people. Little did I think that this exercise would turn out to be so interesting and that I would learn and unlearn so many things. I think I should try being deaf next Sunday and blind after that. They say “Silence is Golden” well it may be but I definitely don’t want to be McKenna. On a final note I’d like to conclude what Mr. Hawking quoted,… it doesn’t have to be like this all we have to do…is Keep TALKING.
VINAY ZENDE