*Can you hear a pin drop?*

 *Can you hear a pin drop?*

*What is the meaning of pin drop silence?*

*Following are some instances when silence could speak louder than voice.* 

*Take 1:*

*Field Marshal Sam Bahadur Maneckshaw once started addressing a public meeting at Ahmedabad in English.* 

*The crowd started chanting,"Speak in Gujarati.*   

*We will hear you only if you speak in Gujarati."*

*Field Marshal Sam Bahadur Maneckshaw stopped.* 

*Swept the audience with a hard stare and replied,* 

*"Friends, I have fought many a battle in my long career.*  

*I have learned Punjabi from men of the Sikh Regiment;* 

*Marathi from the Maratha Regiment;*

*Tamil from the men of the Madras Sappers;*

*Bengali from the men of the Bengal Sappers,*

*Hindi from the Bihar Regiment;and*

*Even Nepali from the Gurkha Regiment.*   

*Unfortunately there was no soldier from Gujarat from whom I could have learned Gujarati."...*

*You could have heard a pin drop*

*Take 2:*

*Robert Whiting,* 

*an elderly US gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane.*

*At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on.*

*"You have been to France before, Monsieur ?", the Customs officer asked sarcastically.*

*Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.*

*"Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."*

*The American said,*

*"The last time I was here,*

*I didn't have to show it."*

*"Impossible.*  

*Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in France !", the Customs officer sneered.*

*The American senior gave the Frenchman a long, hard look.* 

*Then he quietly explained*

*"Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach,*

*at 4:40am, on D-Day in 1944, to help liberate your country, I couldn't find a single Frenchman to show a passport to.... "*

*You could have heard a pin drop*

*Take 3:*

*Soon after getting freedom from British rule in 1947, the de-facto prime minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru called a meeting of senior Army Officers to select the first General of the Indian army.*

*Nehru proposed, "I think we should appoint a British officer as a General of The Indian Army, as we don't have enough experience to lead the same."*

*Having learned under the British, only to serve and rarely to lead, all the civilians and men in uniform present nodded their heads in agreement.*

*However one senior officer,Nathu Singh Rathore, asked for permission to speak.*

*Nehru was a bit taken aback by the independent streak of the officer, though, he asked him to speak freely.*

*Rathore said, "You see, sir, we don't have enough experience to lead a nation too, so shouldn't we appoint a British person as the first Prime Minister of India?"*

*You could hear a pin drop.*

*After a pregnant pause,* *Nehru asked Rathore,* 

*"Are you ready to be the first General of The Indian Army?"..*

*Rathore declined the offer saying "Sir, we have a very talented army officer, my senior, Gen. Cariappa, who is the most deserving among us."*

*This is how the brilliant Gen. Cariappa became the first General and Rathore the first ever Lt. General of the Indian Army.*

*(Many thanks to Lt. Gen Niranjan Malik PVSM (Retd) for this article)*

*Worth reading ..*

*This article thrills to read even after reading n times!*