A silent observation...

One of our alumni writes an essay combining imagination, music and spirituality, reminiscing about the College Orchestra competition...

There was to be the Orchestra competition in the Institute and I was very excited. The orchestra competition showcases some of the greatest musical talents of the Institute and it is a unique joy to get lost in the bliss of genuine music- a music that has no differences and is based only on the gifts of God-talents, a music which blends harmoniously the soulful ragas of the East with the harmonic chords of the West. I hurried to the auditorium to be in time for the showdown and the evening began...

"Wow! What a way to interpret the theme 'Solitude'! I am sure the judges will have a real tough time finding a winner."
"Well that is not going to be a problem. There seems to be winners only. Their problem will come in finding the loser! Rules make it possible only for a single winner and so the rest will have to be deemed 'losers'. Thats a tough call for the judges."
"Hey Vivek! Who do you think we will bag the prize man?"
"My vote is for the team 2..."
"Hey! Guess what! Thats exactly what I felt too. I mean, teams 1,3 and 4 were also good but, team 2 simply seemed a touch better."
"What did I tell you Roshan! Didn't I say that I feel team 2 would win?"
"I too instinctively felt it."
"What do you think made them better?"
Vivek thought for a while and said, "I dunno...and i am not going to hazard a guess. As they say,'Give your decision, but not your reasons for in most cases your decisions may be right but the reasons may be wrong!"
"Ha ha ha..."
And there was laughter all around.

As we split up after a most beautiful evening, something in me kept tickling me. What was it in team 2 that seemed to have touched everyone? I too liked them the most. What did they do that the other teams failed to? How come their music seemed richer and more meaningful? Was it the ragas they used? Or the chords they blended in? I will definitely ask Aakash I thought. Aakash is a kind of musical icon in the Institute. A quiet sort of guy who never speaks much. Lost in music all the while, every word he speaks seems musical too! And he does not participate in any of the music competitions for:-
1)He seems to be way beyond the realms of competition.
2)Everyone of us now that if he comes in, he will be the definite winner and the competition is only for the second place.

I met Aakash after dinner.
"Bhaiya, who do you think will win today's orchestra?"
"Hey little one! How does it matter who I think will win the orchestra?"
"Please tell me", I butted in, "I really want to know. It means a lot now for me."
"Well if that's the case, then listen. Team 2 will take home the trophy."
I felt thrilled that we had made a judgement that matched Aakash's.
"I knew it! Their music was more in tune and their ragas more appropriate."
"Well, well. I think that in the appropriateness of the notes and tunes, team 3 was the best. As for the interpretation of the theme with the ragas, nothing to beat team 1."
All the air that had filled my chest just fizzed out! "Then how come team 2 had richer music?"
"Team 2 had nothing extra special in their music. What was beautiful in them was the silence in between the notes. As important as filling the notes with music is to fill the silence in between the notes too with beauty and harmony. And now, if you will excuse me, I have to rush."

As I lay my head on my extra soft pillow, the hard Truth of life hit me. Tonight, one of the greatest secrets of Life had been revealed to me.
Not only is the "note" important but also the "silence between the notes".
I started to think of this enigmatic phenomenon called the human life where every participant is involved in the eternal pursuit of happiness. And while everyone seems to pursue it endlessly, only a rare few achieve it with great ease.

For instance, tomorrow morning, I intend to 1) meet up with a very special friend and then 2) have a nice breakfast before going for 3)a game of badminton. I love all the three activities I have planned and they make me happy. But in half an hour between breakfast and badminton, what shall I do. I don't know about the devil's workshop, but an idle mind is definitely boring and dissatisfying. Yes, I'll watch some TV then. Now my morning seems made.As I am watching TV, there is a commercial break. I don't like ads. There is nothing else on the other channels when the ads are on. I get up, go to the refrigerator and get myself some light snacks. The ads come on again and this time, I pick up my cell phone and call up another friend and chat for a few minutes. Finally, it is time for badminton and I pull up my socks and leave. Am I happy with the morning? Well, quite happy I feel. Only a few moments of discomfort in between but I quickly managed to overcome them with fresh burst of activities that I planned on the spot.

I return after my badminton game the next day. Having refreshed myself with a bath, I sit back on a couch. It is a Sunday and a holiday for me. I see my niece Manasa struggling with a maths problem. Uninvited, I am about to go to her aid, when a voice from within asks me, "Do you want to do it to only help her?" I just sit back and wait for her to ask me if she needs help. My eyes now fall on the remote and my instinct is to switch on the TV. Maybe some nice match is on; and anyway, Sundays have good programs. At the last moment, i don't know why, I restrain. Maybe I should put on some bhajans...or shall I read that good book.

Oh God! It is so difficult to enjoy doing and being nothing. Why else does man wait so eagerly for retirement at the age of 58 and once the retirement party is over, finds that life is so drab and dissatisfying? Because there is a huge space when the chapters change in the book of life? Well that reminds me, once I become old, maybe I wont even have the physical and mental capacity to keep filling my time with activity!!!

And yes, coming back to what I began with, team 2 won the orchestra competition. The standard traditional statement was made by the representative of the judges, "It was a very close contest and was not easy to find a winner. But we did it only because the rules of judging a competition demand that we do so." However, they too never explained their reasons for the result.

As Aakash alluded, all the happy people in the history of mankind, had the beauty of a rich "silence" between their "notes". But now if you will excuse me, I have to rush. I have things to catch up with....