Savitri turned off the gas stove as the milk
boiled. The white liquid smelled good, but the glee turned short as her toddler
cried in the other room. Her baby cried a lot today, she thought. But, who can
stop the blaring sound from the loudspeakers? The temple near her house has
been playing loud music since morning. The noise was unbearable and no adult
could listen to it, let alone a baby. Her mother-in-law was in the hall,
covering her ears with cotton. Irritated, she asked Savitri to quieten the
child. Savitri knew her mother-in-law could not be blamed; any elderly person
would go insane because of the noise.
Savitri entered her child’s room; her baby’s
face turned red crying. She kept the milk bottle down, took her child in her
arms and swayed him back and forth. That was the only way she knew to comfort
her baby amidst such noise. Meanwhile, her mother-in-law, in the other room,
started feeling dizzy; the noise was agonizing. She called out to Savitri, her
sound was faint. Thankfully, Savitri heard her name being called out. She
rushed to the other room, with her baby in her arms. A crying infant and an
unwell mother-in-law, Savitri didn’t understand how to take care of the
situation. The cause of anguish wasn’t in her control. She knew things were going
out of her hand. The noise wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. More and more
people were descending in to the temple. The atmosphere was so distressing,
that Savitri couldn’t think of anything sanely. Her mother-in-law’s health
detoriated and Savitri decided to rush her to the nearest hospital. In a jiffy,
she entrusted her child to her neighbour, who was equally irritated by the
noise. She rushed her mother-in-law to the hospital. Getting her her
mother-in-law admitted to the emergency ward, Savitri was surprised to find
that the hospital ambience wasn’t free from the loudspeaker noise. Startled,
she asked the nurse about how the hospital suffered from the noise pollution.
With a straight face, the nurse looked at her and said, “Koi kuch kar sakta hai
kya? Complain kar ke bhi koi fayda nahi.”
This video was shot to describe the writer's experience!
Well, the Supreme Court cracked the whip on
noise pollution banning the use of loudspeakers between 10 pm and 6 am in
public places (except in emergencies), in response to a long-pending petition
pertaining to noise pollution caused by loudspeakers, generators and vehicles.
That was a good move! But, what about noise pollution during the day?
Nobody has a solution, and the menace
continues. By the way, Savitri’s mother-in-law got better and returned home in
the evening.
***
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