In the first stages of what later become famous worldwide as the Chipko Movement, it was the sight of traditional caps worn in a neighbouring State that caused women to hug the trees to save them from being axed. When villagers in Chamoli saw men wearing the traditional cap worn in Himachal Pradesh, they surmised that contract labourers had been brought from the neighbouring State to axe the forest. However, some decades after the Chipko Movement and nearly 15 years after creation of Uttarakhand, these caps which are traditionally also worn in the Jaunsar region bordering Himachal Pradesh have become more popular among the men in Uttarakhand. The politician with dour personality and plastic expressions; the middle-aged man wanting to conceal baldness while looking ‘stylish’ and the man exhibiting lack of aesthetic sense quite often sport the Himachali cap here.
The traditional cap of Uttarakhand, though still worn especially in the rural mountainous areas by some might become a rarer sight in coming days since the native culture of the State is fast becoming conspicuous in its non-appearance. The subject of this column is not the changes in male and female attire in an Uttarakhand influenced by other cultures but such cosmetic changes are indeed part of changes that appear at least in the State capital Dehradun to be transforming the environment and appreciable characteristics of life here into something far from appreciable.
The noise pollution which the chief minister Harish Rawat calls a ‘silent killer’ but does little to mitigate is one such change fuelled by cultural perversion. Fortunately, Dehradun still has some greenery left due to which one can still hear a variety of bird songs and the sound of wind in the trees. One can also see an amazing show of stars, satellites and shooting stars in the sky on a clear night. Such sounds and sights can only be imagined by those living in big cities. However, sadly, many in Doon don’t even notice the bird songs or hardly even glance at the night sky. While the noise of traffic and motley human activities drowns bird songs during the day, the silence of the night too is being killed by illegal noise generation within earshot of the police. Marriage functions with coarse pop songs being played at decibel levels that can cause physical harm are common. Religious jagran programmes with ‘musicians’ lacking sense of tone and melody performing at volume that can perforate ear drums often last till dawn at times though legally the noise generation should cease at 10 pm.
The police rarely prevent this crime unless goaded into doing so by complaints from exasperated people being deprived of a goodnight’s sleep by this very loud sign of cultural perversion. Recently, a friend helping organise one such jagran had to call the police after some drunk men began dancing at the venue and refused to calm down causing anxiety among the women. Devotional music is meant to calm down the mind but the fast songs — many sung to the tune of popular movie songs — played in such all-night ‘religious’ events to keep the audience awake have hardly any calming or desirable effect on the environment and people not involved in the event.
It is common for policemen patrolling the suburbs on a motorbike well past midnight with their silly sounding motley siren sounds (the ones also used as ‘reverse horn’ in some four wheelers) to simply ignore such illegal noise pollution being generated right in front of them. The aim behind such patrolling might be simply to broadcast the ridiculous siren sounds to give the impression of an active police and not to actually prevent even the blatantly noisy violation of the law — be it in a marriage function or a ‘religious’ programme. The ‘Bhavya Shobhayatra’ that members of various communities take out on different occasions too exhibit utter insensitivity towards the environment and public convenience with noise pollution, waste and traffic jams lasting many hours now being accepted as expected outcomes of such ‘cultural’ expression.
The native culture of Uttarakhand is rich but simplicity and connection with the environment are also integral parts of this culture. This culture of a people known for their sensitivity, simplicity and appreciation of nature is being replaced by crass exhibitionism and insensitivity.
The mentality being encouraged now is that one has the right to have ‘fun’ even if that entails violating the law and causing pain to others — which is what happens at least in case of late night events generating noise pollution. Next time you are disturbed by such illegal noise pollution after 10 pm and feel hesitant to phone the police, just consider that the same mentality of having ‘fun’ while shredding the law and harming others also fuels rapes and a range of other crimes.