My day's filled with a cacophony of sounds. It starts with the call to the faithful on the neighborhood loudspeaker.
Then the chirping of birds begin. A medley of sparrows, crows, mynahs practicing for their upcoming concert. There used to be a bird giving out a hissing sound. Chronic gastric problem, I thought. Now the fellow's disappeared. Unable to stand him, his friends would have banished the poor chap.
Sometimes the koyal's a special guest, especially during monsoon. It goes 'coo...cooooo...coooooooo'.
The alarm rings loudly, 'Prabhu tera pyaar.... '.
Hubby gets up with a start and clamps it down. His day's just begun. I cover myself again with the sheet saying, 'Five minutes more'.
'Cling..clang'...that's hubby dear preparing his special ginger tea for the family. Nobody can make it as well as him.
He knows it too. He'll crush ginger..lots of it..add it to the boiling water,a dash of pepper and he leaves it boiling endlessly..quite needlessly.
'Your chai', he brings it to me. Wow. My petrol for the day.
'Ding Dong' the doorbell goes. The bai arrives. Well dressed and nice looking,she goes about her daily routine.
'Clang'. She bangs the dust pan on the floor.
'Dhupdhup...' she opens the balcony door. It needs oiling.
Meanwhile sounds of vehicles, big and small, whizzing past in the background.
'Trrr..trrrr...'..go the autos all day.
'Screeeeeeeeech'.. Wow. That was close. The car brakes suddenly as the Autowala decides to stop in the middle of the road.
'Sweep..sweep', the sweeper cleaning the outside of the building.
'Tring..tring' the watchman intimates, 'gaadi aaya'.
Sonny packed off, hubby away, at last some peace, I say.
Mobile rings. Its Mom.
'What happened? You're quiet nowadays.'
I didn't tell her I'm on WB. I need utmost concentration.
2 pm-'Dhum..Dhum..' Sonny bangs on my bedroom door.
'I'm busy. Writing', I reply.
'I know you are on WB. One day I'm gonna read all your posts', he laughs.
Worried, I glance over my post again. Should I delete this or that?
Evening draws out the entire slum population living near us.
The kids play cricket with makeshift bats, 3 thin twigs as stumps and potential Zaheer Khans, Irfan Pathans are in full swing.
More screaming.
The sound gets unbearable.
'Ding Dong'.
'Breadwallaaaaah'..he announces, as if in real pain. But he makes a humble exit as I open the door and say, 'Nahi chahiye' with the sweetest smile.
I stopped buying from him of late, as we found his stuff not very fresh.
I go down for a walk. With the iPod of course.
And you thought I couldn't bear the sound.
'Diiiiing Dong'. That's my hubby alright.
Soon the TV blares full volume.
To bring down the curtains on my days sound show.
I wish for a quiet place on earth.
I mentioned this to a friend , who replied, 'In Mumbai? Never.'
Do you know of such a place?
