Being Mute for a day

    

“What is your name?”

Today he became interested in knowing our name after a long days of teaching  in our  classroom.

I wrote my name on copy. Stood and handed him. It was weird though .Instead of telling my name, I wrote it in my copy.

He asked, “What is this c..ha..k..r..i..it. My writing wasn't good.

“Chakrit.”One of my friend Corrected it.

“Why are you speaking on his behalf?, Can’t he speak himself?”He frowned.

I Just sat smiling. No words came from my mouth. My friends too became perplexed by my silence.

It was our first period. Compulsory  English. BA 2^nd year. I came late in classroom,10 minutes later after the teacher entered into the classroom.

All of my friends guessed that I was in some kind of  weekly fasting. May be some of them might have guessed I wasn't in a mood of speaking or I was using my silence as a weapon of discontent towards the teacher.

As long as I know myself, all those guesses are not  virtuous . The reason behind my silence was totally different. Very different. If some of my friends would have known they would have considered me mad or too much emotional for something.

My teacher didn't inquire much about my silence. He moved towards the other student to ask their name. I guessed he might have  constructed some perception regarding my silence after the class was over or he simply might have forgotten it as my awkward  act.

Silence was my experiment for that day. I decided that the whole day I will remain silent and will watch the consequences. How difficult will it be to remain silent? To remain mute. Spending a day without a single word casting from my mouth.

Same day at morning when I was heading towards my college , I saw one mute person on my way being teased and bullied by some guys. Those guys were young college students like me. They were irritating that mute guy by touching his hair. They were laughing on his indignation ,his resentment.

I could clearly see he was annoyed by them. Poor guy was mute .He was trying to utter some word from his mouth but it made him look  clown in front of those guys.  I felt  so anxious and furious at those guys but I was  so helpless .I couldn't do anything. I was afraid of them. They were in group. I felt so guilty afterwards .I decided that I would spend a day without speaking and feel  the pain of that mute guy. Just for a day what would happen being silent. I wanted to experience his single day in my life. Just a single day.

I really can’t imagine the difficulty that I had experienced during that entire day. Specially for a guy like me who can’t spend a day without talking. Teacher and friends had tagged my name in the most talkative person list.

The same day in college, my colic’s  from 1^st year came to ask me whether I would like to join them for picnic after a week. I just nodded my head in a sign of yes. They asked for money and I wrote on my copy.”TOMORROW”

Another guy From my classroom approached me and asked my number. I dialed it on my phone and displayed him. He guessed if I was on Moan fasting. I nodded.

Fasting and me? I laughed inside. I can’t wait a sec if I am late for my meal. But my answer was required to make them silent. Words are required to give much demonstration. And we have a  long history of demonstrating the silence. Once silence is always demonstrated by other.

After a college time was over, one of my classmate came and asked for my note copy. I was already descending down the stairs. I just smiled and walked away. He may have thought me arrogant and unhelpful.

I used to live in rent so I had to cook myself. Every day I used to buy vegetable from the same vender. The young guy, Wearing bull printed t-shirt asked me, ”Today no Vegetable?”

I just nodded and went. Actually I needed a vegetable and I could have pointed and buy but I felt ashamed. There were other person standing there and I was afraid that they would start gossiping about my weird act.

That day I cooked potato curry and Rice and had my breakfast.

My neighbor brother came and asked me if I was interested in strolling outside with him up to the hill. I agreed ,changed my dress and walked with him. He tried to talk with me. About some music and   about the girls I met. I couldn't speak. First he laughed thinking it as my drama. After sometime he got angry and left me behind, returned back to his house being annoyed with my silence.

At evening, our landlady came to ask for my torchlight. I gave. She asked me, if there was any problem in the room, since I was new on the rent. I just smiled and slammed my door. I don’t know what she might have thought about me.

When I was about to sleep, My phone rang. It was a call from my mother. I didn't receive. It rung  until the 11. I slept that day. I fulfilled my promise of being mute.

Now you can imagine how   much troublesome  that single day turned out to me? May be it wasn't that much difficult compared to the life of those mute people. Every mute person   in this world are living that single day for every second of their life. I felt so sad and unconscious. I felt so much suffocating inside not to express my feelings and emotions. I wanted to reply back. I wanted to express myself but I couldn't. If a single day would turn out to be this much exasperating for me then how difficult may those persons might have felt in this world to express themselves?

Why to tease them? Why to laugh at them? Can’t we be their voice? There are such persons in our society who need our love, who need our care and affection. This is just my short example of being silent, being mute .This mute guy represents millions of people who are living different sort of life due to their physical and mental weakness but they are not weak. They are not disable. They are differently-abled human beings like us. Let’s show some humanity towards them. Let’s be united for better and prosperous society.

We cannot feel their pain until we step on the   steep rock they are stepping, until we became the view they are viewing, until we feel their true soul. There are millions of people who can easily show sympathy. We all carry emotions. But we use them for our own problems. We consider ourselves as the saddest person of the world. We often feel jealous of others. We quarrel for trivial matters but have we ever thought once for others? For those who don’t belong to our family? For those who are not in the list of our loved ones? Just for a single day, at least for a single moment think of those people   who are living very painful life. You don’t have to go too far. Just search for that person in your own vicinity .Just think what you can do to help them? Anything. You don’t have to be rich to help people. Just carry your rich heart with abundance of love.

                                                                                                        -Frain Chakrit