Ananya Ravikumar Dec 2019 Quiet is not silence It is the chirp of crickets on a warm summer night, and the rushing sound of leaves swaying in the breeze. Quiet is not silence It is the whirr of the ceiling fan on a lazy summer afternoon and the comfortable buzz that sounds fade into as you get a little sleepy. Quiet is not silence It is the patter of those first raindrops hitting the ground, the gurgling of the water fountain, and the sound of the sea No, I don’t think quiet is silence It is the azan on a distant loudspeaker, the sound of the conch from a morning prayer, the shrill whistle of a pressure cooker, the rumble of traffic, the unintelligible cries of street vendors, the screams of children at play - the sounds I grew up with - the absence of which I try so hard to drown out, In search of that peace and quiet. Ananya Ravikumar April 2020