noise and its consequences

About noisy cities in general, I’ve even come across scientific proof that hearing gets affected for those living in them.

Maybe in Indian driving conditions, the minimal usage of horn makes more sense than not using it at all . But what about the reverse horns that are increasingly popular nowadays? Even now I approach my neighbors asking them to remove that reverse horn once in a way, if not for others atleast for the kids in *their own* house – but they defend themselves saying “thats how the system is, we cant help it”. Maybe they need a doctor-attested certificate that says that noise indeed affects hearing. I’ve reversed my car (succesfully) even in the most crowded streets without using any reverse horn and I know its use is completely unjustified – contrary to popular belief, most people aren’t actually so stupid that they cant see a car reversing at them unless it tries to blast them out of the way with sound waves. (And for those that are, they would’nt see it even if it tried anyway!)

But I found that even in an arguably advanced country like the UK, there were loud bikes without silencers, oversensitive car burglar alarms, and car tyres screeching on the road* and that kind of thing. And while a garderner trimming a fence in India might sound like “snip … snip … snip…” in UK it typically sounds like “RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR” – they have a gadget for almost anything and everything.

(*surprisingly very loud esp since I’d once stayed near a ’roundabout’ i.e. circle)

So I’ve tried different ways of dealing with it…

1) go around requesting the whole world to keep quiet, even informing them about the harmful effects of noise pollution, etc

Had created this website a few years ago, luckily its still active (dont bother to comment on it or something, I don’t check it anymore)

2) buy one of those whizzy mini-music-gizmos that drowns out and replaces all external noise with something more pleasant

I bought a sleek pocket MD-player (with remote control which makes it very inconspicuous even in public) where I could listen to music wherever I went – even on the road or in BMTC buses.

3) escape frequently to some silent place amidst nature

As an ardent admirer of nature, I’ve done this countless number of times. But even in the most tranquil places – I’ve sometimes found a constant chatter – the never ending train of thoughts about something or the other in my own head! So ultimately there’s no escape. 😀 I finally realised that thats the only noise that matters, and by developing a quiet mind, one can live with any other noise!

Now when I compare the difference from the time since I’ve made the website, I think I’ve become a lot more peaceful – I don’t react with unpleasantness at noise any more – most of the time atleast.

Since I live near MES college, my ears are always (ill)treated to the latest and greatest in silencer-less bikes (though luckily these seem to have reduced nowadays) and ultra-“horny” guys who seem to perpetually be in an emergency and use their horn like a siren. One such chap was driving down the road and I happened to be standing outside as he approached. I turned to face him, closed my ears… it took only 2 seconds for him to pass me but in that time, he caught my stare and my strange gesture, and miraculously, seemed to get the clue… and stopped the honking ! That was pretty cool! 🙂 never imagined it would work… so I guess there’s no end to solutions!

Not just car horns, but even vegetable vendors shouting early in the morning, neighbours kids crying, TV, electric machines (these are the worst), etc no longer annoy me. In fact I went on to observe that there are actually a lot of noises around us that are actually interesting and even spellbinding – like rain fall, thunder (which no Dolby 3D Pro-Logic Surround Blah Blah on the planet can match!), birds, the way some vegetable vendors call out their wares, the train, my mother cooking in the kitchen, etc. All this might of course sound very strange, but I’m glad that I found another chap who seems to agree, and actually records them! 🙂 As a matter of fact, in a discussion with a friend I learnt that audio recordings are becoming known as an important relic of the culture of a place.

Another example is of course that there are a lot of Indian movie songs which very innovatively use ordinary sounds (like the train in Chayya Chayya).