December 2. “Button, I must tell you about my experience this morning.

It was rather quiet at around 9 when I heard some parrots making a racket outside our bedroom window. The windows have been boarded up the second time round which you are aware of and they were chattering away to their hearts content. I decided to pay attention to some of the other sounds around me and here’s what I also heard: I heard cars honking; sounds of construction work happening in the floor above us; someone was testing a mike for a function later in the day; Buzo, our neighbour’s pet Labrador was barking loudly and Rani and Mowgli had joined in so there was quite a cacophony; someone was playing a piano somewhere and singing along; the sound of a siren in the distance got louder as it moved closer home; drums were beating; someone was making tea in our kitchen and stirring it rather loudly; my younger daughter, was taking a shower to leave for work and loudly clearing her throat and nose. Just then the doorbell rang announcing the arrival of one of the drivers. I also heard a train’s whistle in the distance. A pressure cooker was whistling away merrily somewhere. It was hectic. Just then sir called jolting me out of my reverie.”

“If only we stopped in our tracks and listened…!”

“I do this very often when I have nothing to do. But my younger daughter takes the cake. She can keep quiet and not utter a word for long spells! But I must say it was an amazing experience. I hadn’t spoken in all of 3 minutes!”