Too Much Noise !
‘Sounds’ like a perpetual broken record … isn’t it? Nonetheless, there’s a twist in the tale.
Sharad’s Sunday Sojourns (week # 491 | 12th September 2021)
“Noise pollution is a relative thing. In a city, it’s a jet plan taking off. In a monastery, it’s a pen that scratches.” … Robert Orben.
In a hustling and bustling metropolis, two scenes are omnipresent.
First, the rush of the general traffic.
Second, the audacity of the taxi drivers.
Now before you start to hallucinate vis-à-vis Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese and the epic movie, calm down.
The heat is still manageable!
I am only referring to the common practice of forcing that trumpet just too much, often at the cost of pleasure, harmony and general well-being of the public.
I am sure you will raise a finger and point out that this only happens in third world countries.
I accept that. Why to deny?
However, as surveys after surveys have pointed out in recent years, the situation is just not confined in developing nations.
The big brothers are feeling the heat too!
Noise pollution.
Heard too often, ignored very much, and after all, who cares?
That’s the common mentality.
But dive deep, and you would discover potent health scares are just too large to disregard.
Although imminent fatal incidents due to slow sound contamination are yet to be discovered and reported, are we not aware that “slow but steady wins the race eventually”!
Civic sense has long been lost especially in a mega-populated democracy, with population overload taking the lion’s share of the blame.
However, there are demarcations too.
For instance, although both over 1 billion population, India has not managed to regulate noise pollution better than China.
This is just one instance amongst many.
Despite periodic protests and litigations filed by a handful of the NGOs and concerned citizens, we have been ‘successful’ to keep any rational measures at bay!
With my own experience, I lay witness to the strict regulations in developed nations regarding the practice of exercising ‘horns’ and ‘sound’ in public.
Although the major sectors targeted are general automobile traffic, and the public events, privacy amongst private households are not exempted, too.
After all, nobody wants to hear your music after 10 PM at night, is not a prohibition, but rather a private wish.
And as usual, it must be respected.
Honestly, I have never been happier concerning this particular aspect of life, which was literally molested when I was in India with an aggression hitherto unseen and unheard of.
However, I was amazed to note how far the developed nations have taken the issue of noise pollution to safeguard flora and fauna in general.
Visit the National Parks, the Sanctuaries and the designated farming lands, and you would note statutory cautions against the perils of elevated sound.
Although, concerns have been steadily rising in the law-enforcement circles regarding even further rigorous actions against the offenders.
Say what you want to say, point a finger at others with callous arguments regarding ‘aftermath’ and ‘slow influence’, the truth is grim and is more challenging than perceivable!
Sound of nature is one aspect.
And playing abominable rap at midnight at an unacceptable decibel in a tightly knit society is a completely different facet of life!
In Physics, the challenge is to isolate the ‘signal’ from the ‘noise’!
In life, the challenge is to restrict the level of noise to an acceptable level!
‘Sound of Music (1965)’ comes once in a lifetime.
Noise pollution, however, is rather ubiquitous!
