Why noise became a headache!

                             Why noise became a headache!

Today on 27 November,2019 I had first period at 11 com and science in the girls’ section. As planned, I took them at the library in order to enhance the reading habit. At first I put instruction before them about what books and the newspaper to be read. We reached at the library and dragged the chairs with creeching sound. Then everyone grabbed either a book or the newspaper. Therefore I became pleased on seeing them to start reading. However they started talking with one another. I raised question at them not to speak in the library. I told them to maintain silence as decorum of the place.

 Again they slowly resumed murmuring while reading. At same time I was going through the newspaper. Immediately I lost the temper and scolded them for disturbing others. For a while they looked into the books and tried to show me that they were reading something seriously. In spite of instructions and scolding they began their talk in a lower voice. I thought why they didn’t realise the benefit of silence and reading the books.

     At a moment I remembered my college days when I was living at Saint Janardan Hermitage at Tapovan, Nashik. At that time I was pursuing post-graduation at HPT College of Nashik. At hermitage there was a rule which was supposed to follow by everyone strictly. It was about the punishment of a vow of silence (Maun vrat) to those who did mistake or wrong work. If anybody made a mistake, he would keep silent for whole day as ‘The Maun Vrat’ and try to maintain it around himself and others. That’s why everybody over there tried to avoid it and do the work properly.

                        Once I was caught by others when I did something wrong. So I was instructed to keep a vow of silence for the day. Firstly I viewed it as not hard to maintain. I thought it easily to be done. But my perception failed soon and slowly I was messed up with my mind’s talk. I was not permitted to go outside for talking once that punishment to be assigned.  By the evening I was really looking for someone listen to me. But nobody was ready and avoiding me. That punishment transformed me into the deep roots of the mind. Simultaneously that day was not easily being passed. It became a longer day of my life.     

     On that day I got realization of importance of the communication and why the silence was called golden. Apart from that, I was put into the deep root of daily commotion and asked why the back of our mind kept chattering over the past. Slowly I became aware of my voice which started to increase its noise. It was bigger than outside noise. It raised lots of doubt, rejection, regret, and grief of the past life. It served complains of the past and present before me and put these stuff into my head. I was surrounded by the clouds of these thoughts and not allowed to look outside of the mind. I was so occupied that I couldn’t concentrate upon any other point. Only mind talked with me a lot. As if it played a game of football with me. After sometime I tried to keep it quiet. Still that moment I didn’t succeed in it. I felt of running out of the hermitage and speaking with anyone. I was desperately in need of releasing my mind’s debris. That day brought me closer to the depth of new world and threw an arrow at me in sake of identifying its voice. It exposed lots before me to fix and connect with the life purpose.

On the other hand, my mind tried to tell me that talking would be better than a vow of silence. I realised while sitting at the library the students’ dilemma why they kept talking instead of quieting. Perhaps they know that they don’t live without talking for longer time.

Habit of keeping quiet takes time. Once it becomes habit, definitely it will transform us into mature, insightful, and mindful. But that kind of structure is not available at every school. Few school having it, but not every.