Traffic Noise
Where there is noise,
There is silence.
Silence of the people
Who have accepted the noise.
Where there is chaos,
There is calm.
Calmness in the people
Who have spent their lives by the chaos.
Although I had initially agreed enthusiastically when senior Ravi had asked a couple of days ago if I could help a little with the surveys for his project on the effects of noise pollution on the well-being of people, I was slightly annoyed at being called to do so at 3:30 PM in JVLR Link Road. Haji and Sameer were there too. In a hurry I forgot my trusty cap and sunscreen. It didn't take much time to realise that I probably had one of the world's smallest violins at that point.
The task was straightforward and the questionnaire Ravi gave was handy and easy to administer. For sweet beginnings, I marched into a flower shop, only to get rejected by the florist saying that he didn't have any time for the survey. A young guy watching reels in his mobile repair shop also turned me down saying he's sick. I went to another mobile repair shop and this time, the middle-aged man got up to spit whatever he was chewing and asked me to go ahead. Eventually, my share of the survey gained momentum, and I gained some thoughts that wouldn't have appeared on their own in my brain.
Excerpts from the people I spoke to:
Rakesh | ~50y | Mobile phone repair
Had a very soft voice - easily the kind that would get annoyed by loud traffic noise. Marked a score of 10 for nearly all questions - disturbance from the noise, headaches. loss of focus. Has been here for 26 years.
________ | ~50y | Cobbler
This distinguished-looking gentleman was reading the newspaper when I requested him for the survey. His shop was literally on the road. 25 years since he has been here. Yes, the noise from the traffic disturbs him, but he seemed like he hadn't given a thought to the all of the noise from the traffic until I had stepped in to ask him about it.
Girish Chhadva | ~50y | Photographer, Customised printed gifts
Immediately recognised me and gave me a smile when I said that the coffee mugs he made for us were a hit and everybody loved it. Asked me to sit down on the chair and gave answers that couldn't be captured by a google form:
There is an immense amount of pollution here, but look at you people on the other side of the road. I see people wearing sweaters when they come out of IIT in February. I have never worn a sweater here in the 25 years I have been here! There is a world of difference between the two sides of this road. Despite IIT being here, this surrounding place hasn't seen much good.
If I rent shop somewhere far from the main road, it will be less noisy and likely the place will be larger too. But then the tradeoff is business.
I was thinking of putting up glass walls since 2-3 years and installing an AC too. But then if the roadworks start after that, it will all go waste. Now I am just waiting for the roadworks to start so that I can quit this for good and go someplace peaceful.
Now this is going to stay with me for a long time:
When someone stays in noisy places for a long time, they become loud too. Not only loud because of loss of hearing but also rude because of all the unpleasant noise. My personality has changed because of all this pollution, I have become irritable and I argue with my wife for no good reason. I wasn't like this before.
_________ | ~45y | Mobile phone repair
This man was highly skeptical of the whole survey, but nevertheless answered my questions.
What is this - will you stand in the sun and complain about feeling hot? If you want to do business, you have to stay put, noise cannot be a reason to not do so.
_________ | ~45y | Paper and metal collection
Two men were sitting in the dark abdomen of this comparatively spacious shop with a pleural membrane of neatly-stacked old newspapers and books. He asked me to sit on a wooden bench too. Totally agreed that there is too much noise but said that it doesn't affect them and their work and focus.
If someone has worked with garbage for a long time, he will not be able to sense the smell of the garbage after a point. He will become immune to it. The same way, we have become immune to all the traffic noise from the main road.
_________ | ~40y | Fruit stall
Not only agreed for the photograph but also posed for it! Agreed that there is noise but said that they have gotten so used to it that it doesn't bother them.
Jayaraman | ~50y | Fruits and eggs delivery
I initially tried to speak to the lady he was speaking to as I had interviewed zero ladies so far. But then she said she couldn't understand then I understood that they are Tamil and started speaking to them in Tamil. They were all smiles, they were from Tirunelveli and have been here for 30 years. This man had earlier been supplying eggs to hostels in IITB - but stopped four years ago because of the untimely payments by the mess caterers. I have incurred 5 lakhs loss.
Sivashakthi | ~40y | Fruit shop
Has been taking care of the roadside fruit-shop since last few years. Jayaraman's wife, has a loud and cheerful voice and a bright smile. Dislikes the traffic noise in general. Absolutely hates it when some motorbike dudes decide to blast our eardrums. It irritates her so much that she remembers specific times when the motorbike noise annoyed her and gave her a headache.
All of these people had few things in common. They worked an average of 12 hours a day, 7 days a week (one respondent actually quipped - 8 days a week) and for years together, the minimum answer being 25 years. And when I asked the final question about any night-time disturbance due to the noise exposure during the day - they denied it completely:
We get so tired of all the work during the day that we don't feel any disturbance at night.
You only have to close your eyes, sleep it is, nothing else.
Apart from all of this, there was this one yelani thanni thatha (grandfather selling tender coconut water) that I went to for the survey but instead he poured out all his woes to me. He has set shop in the footpath and has been toiling for 40 years. Now the police have been coming every other day to fine him for sitting on the footpath. Go back to your homes in UP and Bihar, they say. Why should I? I earn through my hard-work. What will I do over there, there is no one to take care of me there. He vehemently told me to write what he was saying, the problems he was facing. When I said that I was just a student there, he insisted strongly that I have a lot of power and that I should write to CM, PM and all the higher-ups that the police are an extreme nuisance. In an attempt to quench my thirst and calm him down a bit, I asked him to cut me a tender coconut and asked where they come from. He said Kerala and asked me if I was from Kerala or Tamil Nadu. I answered TN and then he said that his son and his nephew are working as clerks in Coimbatore and that his nephew even married a girl from Coimbatore. I said that I am from Coimbatore too. He remembered some good old days when the restaurant near Coimbatore Junction would serve all sorts of dishes on a banana leaf for just three rupees. I paid him 80 rupees. He asked about the survey papers I was holding. I said that it is different from what he has been telling us. He again asked to write everything he said. I nodded but I have no clue if and what I can do about it, except maybe buy another yelani.
We met Ravi, he bought us snacks at Aromas and we called it a day. Back in campus, I could hear the birds again.
