Melodies Of Silence! ? Poem by AtreyaSarma Uppaluri

Damn and blast!
There's no escape anywhere in sight
From the tangled web of noises!

As the day breaks:
The radio's nonstop blah blah blare
Prolonged peals of the calling bell
Rings endless of the telephones
Clang of utensils tumbling about
Grating sound of the inexorable grinder
Nagging whirr of the washing machine
Hawker's sale cries
Hammering in the new building next door -
All conspire together
And drive you mad and out of home.

Even out upon the street
You have to face the music(k)
A frenzied babel of noises -
Automobiles honking
from your right and left
from front and behind
Whining whistles of chugging trains
Reverberations of whizzing aircraft
Scuffles and screams at public taps
Ganging brawls at street corners
Rattling megaphones with high decibels
Dreadful drumbeating crowds -
All gang up
And pierce your ears to no end
Everywhere noise and din
Hustle and bustle unbearable.

You flee to the outskirts and beyond
And take a cross-country trek
Even there you are banged
With the quarrying blasts
Deflowering Virgin Nature.
What a cacophony!
What a caustic acoustics!

You can't live without
gadgets and contraptions,
You'll protest.
But they are stunting
And marring my life
More than helping.

Silence, calm and quiet
Have become a far cry -
With everyone about
Appearing to have
Unquestionable licence
To make mind-maddening noise.

Silence has become a luxury.
Sure you can escape
To an eerie treetop resort
In Kerala's deep forests
If you are affluent.
Even they can't afford
That long a holiday.

At a forest retreat too
You can't be free from noises -
Rustle of naughty leaves
Chirps of playful birds
Sounds of youthful cataracts...
They are not jarring noises
But Natures' dulcet notes.

What about splitting thunders? ...
They are Nature's gong
Though deafening.
Anyway
They are seasonal, occasional
And so tolerable.

Have a separate room
With full AC comfort.
Too 'sound' an advice
For I can't afford it.
Even if I could and did,
Wouldn't it add to the global warming?

With every noise deadening my ears
With the cry of agony in my heart
ruthlessly shouted down -
How can I attempt an inward journey?
How can I have soulful musings?
How can I contemplate and meditate?
How can I find my space?
How can I hear my inner voice?
How can I pick up the signals
of melodies of silence?

Om shantih shantih shantih! ! !
[Om, peace, peace, peace! ]

[Jan 16,2009: : Hyderabad - 500 056]