Thursday 5 December 2013

Surprising and sudden stillness

It's a normal day with everything going on as it ought to be and then all of a sudden the power goes off. Shhhh. The whirring of the fan is gone and the buzzing of the fridge has stopped. Before the sweat and the mosquitoes (if the time is after sunset), one can hear the heart beat softly and a distant train with its siren. The drip-drop of the bathroom tap that always gets lost in the humdrum of the fan, fridge and the exhaust fan, is loudly audible and one, if inclined can set it to rhythm -- drip-drop-drip-drop-drip-drop. The call of an unknown bird strikes the ear and the sound though familiar is at its shrillest. How lovely it sounds!

I have undergone the torture of scheduled power-cuts while living in Tamil Nadu but here there are seldom any power-cuts and so the times the power goes off for few minutes, one is treated to a variety of sounds. Sounds always thrill me and each sound is distinct and speaks to us in different ways. Sounds often synchronize with our own moods and emotional status. If one is angry, then the drip-drop of the water faucet is an irritating and annoying sound but if one is in a lighter bent of mind, then any sound is music to the ear. I hope you agree.

The sound of the distant train always spells journey and the journey is often to places where one finds comfort and joy but on peppier days the sound of the trains reminds one of the unseen and unexplored places that may or may not be seen and felt.

Life is strange, indeed.

What are your thoughts.

12 comments:

  1. Susan Deborah, this is more a comment, than an "insight"!!!

    When near a great city, I--especially at night--am aware of the constant never-ending heartbeat..It is millions of human and animal heart thumps combined with infrastructure power-sounds--and what a beautiful beat it is! A CITY'S heart beating.

    When power goes OFF (city-wide) it is as if all has died, even sounds such as you describe are only heaven-sent, (birds, muffled sounds of neighbors talking--or yelling things like, "GO TO HELL, YA MORON!" (on the way to hell?--grin!)

    As power is suddenly restored, immediate happiness descends, and EVERYONE is smiling. PEACE reigns. That is my experience. (You DID ask, Hon!)

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  2. Diff perspective. Kudos!

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  3. Diff perspective. Kudos!

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  4. What's that poem that goes " no time to stand and stare' for the life of me, I just could not recall. I am living my life now like a train rolling with no stops. I am tired. I want to hear the stillness, I want to watch the birds fly, leaves flutter.. Now I could not have stillness, cannot even go one minute without the TV on. Mind you I am not watching the programme just needed the noise. Hiaz

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  5. Lovely the way you described the sounds...I could actually hear them and could feel the peace in your heart which penned this. In rushing through life we somehow miss these sounds...like we miss the little and simplest things around us that give us joy. In stillness...when out mind is at peace and we are one with our surroundings we realize and get amused by these pleasures...as simple as the drip-drip of the tap or the rumble of the train!

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  6. All sounds, no matter how faint, are magnified in the stillness. Sometimes, when I'm at home alone, it's so quiet that the barest noise makes me jump.
    Nice reflection, Susan, and may your power stay on! :)

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  7. I've heard this awesome quote -

    The beautiful sound of Mother Nature - birds cawing, insects chirping - that one hears early in the morning is actually the desperate sound of all those animals, insects and birds desperately trying to get laid...

    fc*klove

    :)

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  8. For some reason - the description sounds like a perfect beginning to a cold-blooded murder mystery or other such dark tales - 'tip, tip, tip the water dripped slowly from the leaking tap, the darkness of the evening crept all to quickly and Mia felt a sudden pang of dread...' - how is that for a prompt :)

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  9. We are used to powercuts here and to our inverters and generators. Of course, the kids go crazy if the power is off and Coco runs around all confused tripping everyone in his path :).

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  10. yes i agree with you susan. that life must be go on, life is strugle, must going with greatness of soul

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  11. I like how you describe simple nuances in a way that they seem appealing. Accustomed now to a prime world country, energy shortages are seldom seem and never welcome. Life is different depending on the color of shades we look at them with. Simplicity makes it so much more enjoyable.

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