Soundscapes of The City Life

#31- Tuning into the sweet sounds of daily life amidst the ocean of cacaphony.

Soundscapes in metro cities can be disconcerting. It’s impossible to escape them. The ambient sound setting of a city life is hardly relaxing. Pankaj Tripathi, in one of his interviews, captured this beautifully : “Gaon mein hum madhur dhwaniyaan sunte hain, shehron mein karkash dhwaniyaan” ( In villages, the sounds are sweet & soothing, whereas city sounds are harsh).

A regular day in the city means exposure to -

• The cacophony of construction sounds through the day : high pitched screeches of angle grinders; Shrill hammer drilling machines; popping & cracking of stones with hammer blows. 

• The constant restlessness demonstrated through irritable honking 

• Higher pitch, louder tone of conversations in public spaces to be heard ( Although this behavior is also seen in meeting rooms - the loudest voice misconstrued as the most compelling argument)

If a filmmaker decides to show a city as is with its ambient sound design, the city’s sound will take over as the lead character. The superstars will become the supporting cast. Maybe this is why all of us are happy drowning ourselves into the escape portal of headphones. We detach and launch ourselves into the world of a song or a podcast. At Least that escape feels like following our free will. It reassures us that we feel we belong there, and not in this mad rush of chaotic sounds.

While in reality, we may not be able to solve for this macro problems ( although in gatherings with friends we may sound sure that we have the key to utopia), there’s still a small respite. A respite in our city lives. At a day to day level. All it would take us to be aware and be more observant. 

 We can expose ourselves to ‘madhur dhwaniyaan’ of the simplest of things within the confines of our own homes, if we choose to observe. 

When we prepare a cup of tea, the process entails so many sounds : the sound of water pouring into a vessel;  crack of a cardamom;  chopping sound of a ginger;  breaking a cinnamon piece;  opening the tea powder dabba ( and then closing it);  the knob of the stove, faint boiling sound of tea and then the final pour into the cup - it’s a symphony of sounds. 

There are countless, distinctive sounds around us. Every object exudes a distinct sound when we lift and put it back on a table. The sounds of pages flipping, a switch being turned off, a microwave, an Air Conditioner. Where there’s movement, there’s sound. Sounds that have become blindspots, but they keep trying with their unique voices. Sometimes, there’s a beautiful sound in silence as well.

So while the larger  state of ‘karkash dhwaniyaan’  may not really go away ( as much as we claim in gatherings that we have the ultimate utopian solve), maybe we find a way to tune into the smaller, less assertive sounds of daily life. Sounds that can form charming ingredients to be the background music in our lives.

P.S. - We can encounter sounds of a few other birds as well beyond crows and pigeons in a metro city. Sometimes it takes effort, but pleasing tweets in the real world is a reality.

Are there sounds in daily life that catch your attention? Allure you? Do share.