Silence

I had to admit, to myself,  that talking is overrated,  after being lodged  in a no talk zone at a Vipassana centre at Gaya Bihar,  for almost ten days and nights , with total  strangers.

For a person who has always believed that communication was the corner stone of any social interaction, and happiness and pease and calm and all such stuff,  between two or more homo sapiens, it was during those days I realised during those days, how  unimportant verbal and non verbal chatter actually is.

After four days or so, the advantages started  becoming more and more apparent.

The very first advantage being tiny little noises by the various birds and insects, which is usually lost in city din, become  clearly audible.

But more importantly, the  advantage of conservation of  daily energy. Since you don't talk, your mind is relatively clutter free, it needs to address very little of the unnecessary regular stuff you otherwise have to deal with, on a daily basis.

Like there was this woman who kept cleaning her rooms at night.  If it was a regular place, I think I might have asked her to stop the din, perhaps sharply,  and she might have said something back  and then it would have been a rather free for all after that. But since 'no talk',  I slept through the din, and by morning it was not even important.

Or the  other stranger  woman, who tried to make uncalled for, eye contact,  and for a while, I was angry with her, till, I realised she had some genuine serious issues, after which I was glad, that the no talk rule saved me from having created some unnecessary negative vibe.

In the retreat, the system of asking the inmates, to assemble in the meditation hall,  was by ringing tiny bells, at appointed hours.

It was such a pleasure to watch the inmates silently troop into the meditation hall, one by one, whenever the tiny bell beconed.

The first ring, and people would  start starting trooping from their respective solitary rooms.nobody taking care of the other, but every body taking care of themselves very easily.
It was like watching tiny ants going their respective ways in organised slow motion.

It was so invigorating, that I am tempted to propose that cities have silent zone parks or retreats too, where the only rule is silence.