ABSTRACT
In this chapter, Nemi C. Jain and Anuradha Matukumalli provide an excellent account of the forms and functions of silent communication in India. They contend that, although it is often viewed negatively in the West, silence is interpreted as a sign of interpersonal sensitivity, mutual respect, a sense of personal dignity, affirmation, and wisdom in the cultural context of India. At the individual level, silence serves as the means for the individual soul to achieve union with the universal spirit in the Hindu practice of yoga. At the interpersonal level, silence is used in Indian social interactions to maintain harmony, avoid conflict, and exert punishment. At the public level, as manifested in the Gandhian movement of satyagraha, self-restraint, patience, and protest against social and political injustice are communicated in silence and particularly significant in the civic sphere of Indian life. Jain and Matukumalli urge communication scholars and students to recognize and realize the value of silence and its full potential in intracultural and intercultural interactions.
