Well, we live in the Indian city that never sleeps. And, loudspeakers aren't going anywhere, at least in the near future, If Apple or Bose is listening, there is a huge market potential for voice cancellation ear plugs or sleep buds, as they may call it!
Once upon a time, there lived a cuckoo bird who enchanted everyone with his sweet voice. Years passed by and he earned himself a collection of albums, thongs of fans and, of course, some loathers too. People were seen playing and murmuring his songs but hadn’t seen him on the virtual world lately.
Apparently, he was enjoying a sound sleep, which got repeatedly pierced by some outside noise. like a prodigal millennial, he woke up disgruntled, bad-mouthed, the noise once or twice and tried to adjust himself back to sleep. He tried very hard to make peace with the sound; until one day he couldn’t take it anymore.
What our child would have done next was screaming to his mom, and ask her to resolve it. But, our dear little bird, woke up early that day by the morning sound, paid attention to what it was, fluttered around, thinking what to do and finally got an idea. He tweeted some sounds of his own on the biggest virtual stage. And that’s when all hell broke loose:
The problem wasn’t with his voice or tone, it was the words. The lyrics of the song he sang, were, “God bless everyone. I’m not a Muslim and I have to be woken up by the azaan in the morning. When will this forced religiousness end in India, and by the way, Mohammed did not have electricity when he made Islam. Why do I have to have this cacophony after EdisonIJ I don’t believe in any temple or gurdwara using electricity to wake people up , who don’t follow the religion. Why thenIJ HonestIJ TrueIJ Gundagardi hai bus.”
Now, for a few days, he stood at the centre of the virtual stage where people were heard slandering and impugning him while being so loud that meek voices of his own and his supporters were almost drowned. People didn’t believe him when he said he was misunderstood; the die was cast.
Majorly, two groups of people were hurling angry sentences at him: One, the devotees who are otherwise busy, but their religiousness never fails to find expression in keeping a check on other people’s ‘right’ attitude towards religion. And two, the larks, who anyway wake up early and enjoy the music from temple or gurdwaras or mosques around, so they didn’t even realise what was our little bird complaining about, and just went on to shut him down.
His supporters, although meager, were also of two kinds: One, of course, his fans and friends who, on an emotional level are like: We are with you and there for you brother, whatever you say or do. And second, more importantly, the ones, who on an intellectual level understood what he meant, and tried to help the sentimental countrymen crack the code. The cuckoo bird, we hope, must have taken notes for future compositions.
Meanwhile, somewhere on a deserted twig, sat a rather long-faced owl and a witty hummingbird, for their evening cuppa — Hummingbird: Hey, I remember you always complained about pulling an all-nighter and dozing off at dawn, but being forced to tune in to sleep at the mercy of ‘god’. So, what have you learnt from this whole showIJ
Owl: Well, humanity or morality is best understood in legal verse. But, laws against loudspeakers are history and implementation of these laws is a distant future. Even if that happens, religion-based loud speaking will always be (practically) exempted. So, I have vowed that never shall I attempt to raise my voice against the high and the mighty loudspeakers. But hey, how about youIJ
Hummingbird: Well, I live in the Indian city that never sleeps. And, since you rightfully pointed out, loudspeakers aren’t going anywhere, at least in the near future, I think if Apple or Bose is listening, there is a huge market potential for voice cancellation ear plug!
(The writer is a freelance commentator)