Sound demons

We have shifted recently to Faridabad. Our new home is a quaint little place, nestled on the foothills of the Aravallis. Although a bit out of place from the throbbing hubs of commercial Delhi, it has a very charming environment, with rolling hills as far as one can see, and roads going all topsy turvy, like a hill station. The breeze is always cool and gusty.

For me the biggest benefit of the shift was a tremendous decrease in ambient noise in the neighbourhood. In Paschim Vihar (my previous home), we were accosted daily by traffic on the Outer Ring Road, sundry marriages and loud garish bands, competing MLAs organizing 'jaagrans' each night of the year, performances by 'stars' in the community center next to home and other general cacophony.

Of these, I was most irritated by the loud proclamations of devotion to gods and goddesses all night round. I am mostly agnostic, and happy to let people worship whoever they think is the right god for them, but I object seriously to loudspeakers advertising this devotion to the world at large.

So far, my new home has been ideal in this regard. Sadly, with the onset of the festival season, this freedom from noise has come under threat. Only today, while driving home, I espied a Navratra pandal and HUGE loudspeakers... As I write, I can hear some lady proclaiming her love for god on some remixed Himesh tune... Enough to give me the creeps. I hope this is an isolated incident and not a sign of things to come.