Bring silent disco to wider use

The silent disco, or the silent rave, is an idea whose time has come. Well, it has been around since at least 2000 when BBC Live Music held a 'silent gig' in Cardiff, Wales, where the audience heard the band and other acts through wireless headphones. Even earlier, ecological activists used headphones at outdoor gatherings and parties to reduce noise and disturbance to the nearby wildlife. In addition to silence or even relative quiet, as rare to find in Indian cities and towns as the sun in a Delhi winter, the silent disco can double as a mass performance art. Watching people sway or dance to no sound can be surreal, reminding some of us what music inside his or her helmet may sound to a cosmonaut in space. It also reminds us that with the mute button on, the world can look quite silly.

But silent disco can serve a utilitarian function, too. If the authorities - and authorities can be your parents or bosses - are keen that you don't watch or listen to something, instead of gathering under the watch of watchful eyes to take in a proscribed offering, you can always 'silent disco' it. By which one means watching it on individual phone or laptop screen connected to headphones or earphones without 'disturbing the peace'. One can be together, for camaraderie - and even to make a show of it - without anyone getting too noisy about things.