Sonu Nigam set the cat amongst the pigeons yesterday, when early in the morning, he had a series of tweets on being woken up by the azaan on a loudspeaker. Suddenly before you know it, the conversation is not on a peeved sleep deprived person, woken up, but on religious tolerance. I have had a running battle with loudspeakers in my neighbourhood for the best part of a decade, and personally, see no religiosity that can be attributed to blaring azaans, sermons, bhajans, kirtans, pravchans — nothing. Unless, torturing god to appear was the purpose of the exercise.
My pet peeve for just about ever has been the use of loudspeakers. I used to get very, very antsy, angry, irritated, at the sheer impunity with which prayers would invade my privacy, my space, my quiet, and my prayers. You couldn’t work, sleep, have a conversation, mediate – because someone else wants you to know how devout they are.
My first encounter with loudspeakers was in our home at Andheri (E).
There was a Gurudwara next door that would start kirtans really early, the loudspeaker got me to never sleep in. It was worse on weekends. I used to call the cops. Almost every day. they would come by, turn down the speakers, and 10 minutes later, the speakers will be full blast again. Others in the neighbourhood, including members of the Sikh community reached out to the Gurudwara, but the guy in charge was adamant – the noise will stay. Our next home was in Sher e Punjab – with a large Gurudwara next door. Not a loudspeaker in sight. it was quiet.
When we moved to Wadala, there were 2 mosques, 3 temples, and 1 gurudwara – also, bastis with tamils, maharashtrians, and UP wallahs. The loudspeaker menace could not even be imagined. It would start at 4.30 am and go on till midnight. My poor dad would say, they don’t let me pray. Also, we moved to Wadala in 2013, and all political parties – Congress, BJP, SS, MNS, NCP, SP – would fund ‘parties’ – be they religious or social. That meant a day long, year long, drowning in noise. Dad by that time was quite ill. He would need his sleep. And, sleep is impossible in a place that is inundated with sound. We lived on the 17th floor – and still couldn’t escape the noise. I am not sure what kids who lived in the bastis, and had to study for their exams had to go through.
I would call the cops. almost every single day. call on 100, leave a complaint. The cops would turn up, the loudspeakers would turn down. And, then 15 minutes after the cops left, the loudspeakers would be up again.
One of the things I love about the next move to Kherwadi, is that there are no loudspeakers anywhere. I can actually meditate and pray here. I can sleep without being woken up. Sunday siesta is suddenly possible.
There is a SC order on noise pollution – be it horns, construction, and the indiscriminate use of loudspeakers.
The Political correctness outburst on Sonu Nigam’s statements – btw made at 5.25 am, when he was possibly woken up – is ridiculous. We should be fighting to shut down all loudspeakers beyond a certain decibel, and restrict usage before and after certain timings. Not make selective choices – saying only 9 days of Navratri, or 90 seconds of Azaan.
I am not sure why i need to hear anyone else’s prayer. In fact the act of others screaming out their devotion loudly, interferes with not just my right to sleep; but also my right to religion and praying. And, finally, i definitely don’t need to listen to a mata bhajan sung to the tunes of munni badnam huvi , on the loudspeaker. I may just take religious offence to that, and file a PIL against the singer and the loudspeaker, and the people who are playing it, for insulting my religious beliefs
Image source : here
(a shorter version of this was my FB status update)