A Subtle Smile

Silence Please

The weather was excellent for an evening jog; neither too sunny nor too gloomy, with a cool breeze blowing. So, I put on my tracksuit and joggers and, after walking to the central park near our house, I began jogging on a running track with headphones in my ears.

I took 3 or 4 laps and then I started walking... and finally I came across a sitting bench which was occupied on one end by a mid-40-year-old male. I came to a halt, took a few deep breaths, and then decided to take a break by sitting on the opposite end of the bench. I opened my bottle and took a few sips of water while that old guy was looking at me... I gave that guy a smile, which he replied to with a smile.

He had an ear plug in one of his ears and seemed like he had an ear problem. Since it felt really awkward sitting there silently, I said, "The weather is really nice today..." to start a conversation.

The old man looked at me and smiled and nodded "I don't run usually... I just came because the weather was nice." I said this in a bit louder tone.

The old man again smiled and nodded his head. His lack of reaction was making me look like an idiot.

So, I decided to make him talk and also, I had my suspicion that this old man is deaf and he is not getting a single word I am saying since he is only giving me a smile and nod. I thought of approaching him through a direct question, so I forwarded my hand towards him "hello... My name is Daniel, and I live behind Block C."

The old man shook my hand and energetically smiled. I also smiled back, but I was really expecting him to say his name. And also, it doesn't clarify the situation whether he is deaf or not.

So, I tried again by asking him... "So, what's your name?" and before I could complete my sentence, my phone started ringing. I took out my phone and it was my mom, probably worried about my absence... "Excuse me..." I said while taking my phone to my ear... The old man again smiled and nodded his head.

After telling my mom that I would be home in ten to fifteen minutes, I cancelled the call and as I looked, the old man was looking at me while smiling, as if he was smiling at my stupidity or making fun of me, so I smiled back and said "it was my mom. She was worried. " She does that a lot. She calls me every time I step out of the home and takes some time off."

The guy again smiled at me and nodded his head. His smile and head nod were annoying me...I approached once more... "By the way, Mister, I didn't get to know your name..." At that time, the guy was looking at his phone... so I thought maybe he didn't hear me... I repeated my question again. And yet again, he looked at me and smiled, but this time he didn't nod his head, but instead he took out a sticky pad out of his jacket and a pen and started to write something...

I realized that the guy was not only deaf but also mute, and I began to feel bad that I had been so persuasive in getting the guy to talk... and now I was wondering what I should say and how I should say it. I didn't even know the sign language... as I was busy figuring out the situation. The old man gave me the small page on which something was written, and before I could focus on what was written, he got up and started to move, but then he suddenly stopped and looked back at me and said, "By the way, I am not deaf..." and then smiled.

He got away while I was looking at him fading away in the background in shock so much that I even forgot what was written on the page he gave me.... And as I looked at the page, it was written in an actually quite beautiful Writing...

"Speak only when your words are more beautiful than Silence" (By Ibtisam Amir)