Random Ramblings of a Reluctant Blogger

Communication, the art or the non-art of it, is a veritable minefield. No matter how carefully one treads, one is bound to trip. For the simple reason it involves far too many variables _ age, intellect, gender, mood, _ just to name a few. And when it comes to communication between spouses, the minefield assumes gargantuan proportions and you hitting a mine is an assumed.
It just isn’t about the Mars and Venus thing, though, believing it does somewhat alleviate your transgressions. It is just that only one of the spouses can be right.
All this long preamble is just to get you to believe that I do have a solution to spousal communication, or so I like to think.
The answer. Silent communication, kind of telepathically. My favourite scenario is a couple sitting in their leisure and talking to each other without so much as verbally  speaking anything. The wife knows what the husband is about to say and she replies, to which he replies and she replies to his reply or her reply,  so on and so forth. Both talk.  _ All in absolute silence. Can one get more zen than this?
Naturally this sequence being played out has a far greater chance when both are retired and have endured each other for at least more than two or more decades.! You have to know each other well for it to succeed.
The silent conversation ideated, thanks to my loving wifey, whose regular instructions I never get it quite right. And no, it is not from lack of trying. “Get that from there,” she once said while preparing a special sweet for me. For her, the  instruction was clear, but “that” from “there” had me stumped. And as I went about trying to solve this brainteaser, she, perplexed by my lack of simple logical reasoning, picked up the jaggery from the container in the cupboard! Not just that, she added  “you are seeing me making kheer, so naturally I am asking for this. Simple logic.” Elementary! Not so, to me, dear Watson.
And this isn’t just an one-off incident. Everytime “this”,  “that” and “there” make an appearance I am left clutching at straws. Not just that. All I have to do is ask ” where” and her sarcasm reaches divine heights. ” Take the left, walk two steps, and use your right hand to open the cupboard where in the top right hand corner, you will find your wallet.” And just because I wasn’t able to locate my wallet at the usual place I kept it.
Once, when I tried to get back asking for the tv remote  with the “give me that”, she handed me a  book.! And before I could go all “Elementary, My Dear Watson,”  she ‘outlogiced’  me saying you have watched enough tv do some reading!. Good for the goose is certainly not good for the gander.
It was these kind of oft repeated occurrences that had me mulling  on mind-reading communication.
I have been slowly working on it and as I said it requires patience and deep insight _ insight into each other’s mind.
So goes without saying those with a huge amount of time on hand are more likely to succeed in it. All the to and fro dialogues have to be done mentally and in complete silence. The result can be calming provided it does not descend to a telepathic war. Even then the outer layer of silence can amount to something.
The other day, as we sat sipping our tea, I read what my wife had in mind, and she read my reading of her mind and I read her reading of my reading of her reading of  my mind.  And I got up to do the dishes!
I admit the experiment is at the initial stage, but it does show some promise. And if it clicks, as I imagine it to, I will be instrumental in promoting world peace. And no, I am not doing it for a Nobel prize!