Dialogue in the Dark

It was  a sunny Saturday in Hyderabad  , the winter had suddenly disappeared after few days of joint venture with the rains, leaving us with the ruthless Sun’s acquisition over the climate .We didn’t need an Oracle to tell us that the weekend at home ( where there is no AC like one in the office ;)) is going  to be  too hot .Feeling the heat ,unable to bear the boredrome , we were wondering what to do  to  kill time …….(its better to kill than being killed ;)) .. Being a weekend ,it was supposed to be different from usual  boring day at office , nevertheless bright Sun had kept us inside Prakash Palace  till late in the evening( don’t go by “Palace”in the name ..its just another apartment in Telangana infected Hyderabad where we stay ) when the light started disappearing and night started approaching with the darkness.We also finally decided to go out  to Inorbit Mall, one of the largest malls in Hyderabad.

We reached the Inorbit Mall at around 6:30. ( Its called In-orbit because you will find hundreds of people orbiting there  everyday ....even on a week day) As usual , the mall was over flowing with people like us ,who had come to the mall to spend leisure time on their weekend (  .. or  were they on Go-Green movement !!  I would prefer roaming in Garden/Park though ;)) We entered the mall , clearing the security checks and there we saw a poster in front  of us

“Dialogue in the Dark”..

A Wonderful Family Entertainment Experience ..

 Lets Play!

Curiosity crept into our minds as we read the poster. Is it some kind of adventure sport , is it some kind of show .. what is it exactly?? We were confused ,so we started hitting arrows in the dark  about what was written on the poster and began  to discuss about what kind of experience will it be if we happen to visit the place. Well ..as  usual , handful of people gave their opinions about whether we should visit the place or not , before we finally gave green signal to  the idea  .

Santosh had rejected the idea straight away saying that it would be  nothing but some marketing gimmick we see these days , often used  to promote an ordinary work  as a creative /extraordinary idea ( well this “idea” is superset of the idea which changes your world everyday).

Neera too showed red signal to the idea saying that she was not interested in hearing so called “Gyan” from anyone  about any values  or something like that …or any “dialogues” for that matter …Ratin disagreed with them  saying that it might be some kind of new “adventure sport” which we should not be missing to experience. Shaila joined hands with Ratin in support of the “cause” saying that she too would  give recognition to “the dark matter “  by visiting the place at least once and… you never know  ..it might turn out to be “cool” ( not to mention we badly needed cooler atmosphere ;))

As the discussion ended ,we had reached the 5^th Floor via lift( yeah it’s the same lift which gives a “lift” to your obesity) and entered the Reception Desk of “Dialogue in the Dark”. Near the desk , there were few people (just like us )who were asking at the reception if it was a restaurant or some gaming zone or some show or ….

As we neared the desk , to  our surprise ,we saw 2 visually impaired girls greeting us. We greeted them back .One of them  asked us  if we wanted some help and pointed to a girl standing besides them  .She was already explaining few people about what was meant by   “Dialogue in the Dark” as we joined them.

“Its an exhibition where you will be in complete darkness and (still) you will  experience,feel and roam to different places such as cafeteria , super market , boat ride etc .”.. She said . This had  thrown some light  into our heads about the exhibition  as we bought the tickets .The hour later was in complete darkness.

As we entered the first room , we were briefed about what’s going to happen inside and how  we should go about it . It was going to be complete dark inside so were supposed to deposit mobiles , watches and anything else which would reflect or shine and hinder the experience .We were given  walking sticks which visually impaired people generally  use for navigation . We were explained how to use them ( well ..we were also asked , not to use  the stick  to settle any personal scores with anyone once we go in the dark ;))..

We entered the first dark room , it wasn’t complete dark as  few rays of light were entering from the room outside.There   we met a guy called Venkat who was going to guide us throughout  the exhibition .Though we couldn’t see him clearly due to dark ,we could hear his clear voice as we introduced ourselves to him .So on his instructions ,  we approached an adjescent room using wall as navigation tool. When we entered the dark room , there was nothing we could see  at all…however hard we tried, light refused to show  any presence .The entire place was filled with darkness!!!!!!!!!

But wait ,was it  just  darkness all around ? ..not really!!…  There was a pleasent sound of waterfall , birds were chirping all around .... yeah we were in the garden exploring the flaura and fauna using our senses of smell , hear and touch  and ..also with the help of our guide Venkat …We navigated to the waterfall and experienced the pleasing cold water .We then identified the trees and flowers  in the garden.. …. Not  far from there ,where we also identified the  “ BEWAE OF DOGS” zone … No , we didn’t see any such board  , we saw it through the voice of barking dog  near by .The garden was meant to please the visitors with warm heart …. And there we were ready to go to next place..

As we approached the next room through our walking stick  as navigator, we sensed that we were crossing a pretty busy high way . The atmosphere was filled with  sounds of Autos , Taxis and people all around .As the traffic became lesser with  the sounds disappearing slowly , we crossed the highway . We reached a bus stop besides which there was a garage with lots of tyres and few vehicles parked . We could clearly identify  “Hamara Bajaj” and “Hercules Thriller”  parked in the garage….

Just then , Venkat announced a good news for the ladies in the group. We had just entered a super market. There was a shop of bangles near by followed by shops of  spices ,vegetables and fruits...On  getting the news ,people started trying to explore  them immediately. Sound of  Bangles followed pretty soon from nearby place when  one lady was trying to grab the bangles . Besides Bangles’ shop , was a fashion Clothing store where Jeans pants and T-Shirts put on the display .(I tried to match the T-Shirt and Jeans size by the way ;))

I could imagine  how happy Columbus would have been on discovering America after the long blind journey in the hope of finding India( thought he thought it to be something else and it turned out to be something else ;)) as I was observing the joy of the adjacent lady as she discovered the Bangles’ shop , the fruits/vegetable shop near by and so on.. ‘I will also try and guess all the fruits and vegetables correctly ‘, I thought to myself as I neared the shop. I did recognize handful of vegetables  including onion,potato,carrot etc and fruits like banana , orange, grapes etc… We could find almost everything there , indeed we were in the super market!!.. As we explored further , there was a  shop  where soaps were on the display .. “Its Lux I am sure!! and the other one is Nirmaa !!!”  One of the ladies exclaimed .. Venkat replied in affirmative and the lady went happily to explore the items at the next counter..The next counter  had sugar,beans,dals  etc and she recognized all of them immediately and correctly. When people were exploring their respective shops , suddenly came a voice of little Anurag “ Mummy ,  I have got toys!!”, yeah .. there were few stalls for the little ones too with  soft toys ,toffees, chocolates etc...

We exited super market from one end and super boat ride was waiting for us at the other end as we entered the next room. We reached the port meant to take us to the boat in which we were going to have  the boat ride .As we reached the boat ,Venkat helped us enter the boat and seat comfortably.Soon when everyone settled down , Captain Venkat declared the commencement of the sea journey as the sound of boat motor destroyed the silence in the room .The  boat started tilting towards the ends as it acquired the speed and we received felicitation from the sea in the form of  small droplets of  water  as they got sprinkled into air. During the journey, we again had one more round of introduction within ourselves and we soon started singing songs  to enjoy the journey further..As we approached the destination ,Captain announced that we were nearing the end of our journey , heading towards the Sea-side Cafe .

 We got down from the boat , entered the Café where Amruta , the Cafe attendant was waiting for us to come in .She welcomed us .Melodious bollywood songs in the background  and pleascent smell of scent refreshed us within seconds .Rima orally presented us the menu in the Café.(as there were no menu cards to be  read by us) We checked our pockets for cash and tried guessing the denominations. I tookout the “longest note” which I had from wallet , for giving 100Rs..

We had ordered one Maza,one Coke , Chips and Coffee.It was served to us in no time even in the dark.I had never noticed and  enjoyed the “KRKRRRR” crispy sound while eating chips as much as I did there. As we were enjoying the food at the café ,Venkat  intimated to us that the cafeteria was the last stop in the exhibition .. that’s where the journey ends. …All of us  had enjoyed the exhibition thoroughly well .So we started finishing snacks and got ready to say Good Bye..

I thought I would ask Venkat our guide , to come with us till the end of the room where we would be facing light so that we could see him in person having companioned us for around an hour.I never did ..As we approached the last room we were getting blinded by the light and he was infact accompanying us till the end .As I opened my eyes slowly , I could see Venkat standing in front of us and he was infact blind…..

                     

                             Dialogue in the dark

                      It was an exhibition where we  roamed to places ,

                      We observed the things and made guesses

                      Using touch ,smell and hearing senses

                        ............                     

      

                       In today's world we are too busy to understand & see  
                     Blinded by the surroundings we often divide and neglect thee

                      Try to  open your eyes in the dark and believe me

                      All the differences will collapse in a wee 

                      ........................

                                      

                      “The dialogue in the dark”

                      It was the  symphony of the dark    

                       inside our hearts ,has  left a mark!!