I fondly remember an uncle of mine who had a knack for falling asleep despite all the noise around him. Daytime or nighttime, even on an armchair, he would doze off peacefully. My loving uncle today might have been labeled as a “Pickwickian”- after M. Pickwick in Dickens’s Pickwick Papers. He was rotund, roly-poly and like Mr Pickwick could catnap at will. Doctors, in this era of high-sounding diagnoses, would have found him an interesting case of “Pickwickian syndrome” – a condition where overweight people have forty winks without any provocation. But I am prone to dismiss this as hogwash, all the more so, because even non-rotund members of my uncle’s family were endowed with the ability to snooze as they pleased. It was an inherited trait I bet, because my wife, who hails from that hallowed family, also has the rare gift of falling asleep no sooner her head hits the pillow. Blessed angels really!
As far as I am concerned it is different. The noise of barking dogs, the tic-tac of an old fan or the chirping sound of a cricket disturbs my sleep. Fortunately, the house where I live in Margão is away from the main road. But I am sure my cousin’s house opposite mine, which has traffic crisscrossing the lanes on three sides, must be a real inferno. With the noise pollution ever on the increase in Goa I wonder if we would have been better off with “transient episodes of reversible deafness” – which would then be hailed as a blessing in disguise! My heart bleeds for people of Vagator and Morjim who, day in and day out, bear the brunt of the blast of rave parties.
Obviously our sense of hearing is God’s gift. Isn’t it a joy to listen to a soulful ballad, a Beethoven’s sonata or vintage jazz? Isn’t it even nicer “to hear birds chirping at the dawn of day? their songs of happiness drifted in the wind’s splay?” But, permit me to say, this “sound” business is unacceptable when it turns into noise. For one I thank my stars that I am an Echocardiographer (here we deal with “ultrasounds” which are harmless sounds beyond the audible range). But I wonder what I would have done if I ever had to be a railway engine driver or arc welder!
Once I remember the genial exponent of classical music, Maestro António de Figueiredo had come to Clube Harmonia de Margão to partake in the conviviality of a typical Goan Catholic wedding. That was nearly thirty years ago. When I approached him he seemed intensely disturbed. I asked him, “What is the matter Senhor Maestro?” Pointing to the stage from where the sounds of music emanated he remarked furiously, “I can’t bear this noise. It disturbs my system and I feel I am heading for a heart attack.” Truly, those were the days when the “big bands” with the “big sound systems” had made their triumphant arrival in Goa Dourada. And, what was more annoying, these “noisemakers” made “Johnson and Jolly Boys” with its suave lilting acoustic music retreat into oblivion. Later, I was informed that Maestro Figueiredo left the venue in disgust.
As part of my reminiscences I also remember the tussle I had with the great Remo. Our superstar who relished the big sounds was at last endeavouring to tame them and had made some pertinent comments. As a rejoinder, I wrote a fairly innocuous letter. It so happened that the then editor of the daily newspaper sought to give a bombastic caption to my unassuming missive, “Remo is aiming for cheap popularity”. All hell broke loose! What followed was a World War (except that ours was a war of words and there were no casualties). But I painfully learnt how the editors can change the gist of your letter (for good or for worse) with a title of their choice.
Noise pollution affects both health and behavior. Unwanted sound (noise) can damage physical and psychological health. It can cause hypertension, high stress levels, tinnitus, hearing loss, sleep disturbances. Chronic exposure to noise can trigger heart attacks. A report from the World Health Organization (WHO) last year stated that around 1.1 billion teenagers and adults face the risk of hearing loss due to exposure to unsafe levels of sound. WHO define unsafe levels as exposure to sound of 85 dB or over for 8 hours, or 100 dB or over for just 15 minutes.
The good news now is the advent of comfortable “earplugs” to dampen the noise made from a silicone-free, hypoallergenic thermoplastic that contains a frequency-selective ceramic filter. Several companies are now into the business of manufacturing earplugs. They come with a handy container that can be clipped easily onto a keyring and effectively reduce noise with only the slightest compromise to the enjoyment of the music. A growing number of venues in the US are now providing them free to those who walk through their doors. Last year, Minneapolis City Council declared that all bars and clubs in the city that feature live music would have to make free earplugs available to patrons.
When will we have in Goa such devices? Till then it is important that the Goa Government implements the propounded rules against noise pollution strictly and the police do not succumb to hafta. All the more so, because few are as lucky as my rotund uncle.
Meanwhile here’s a plea to “merrymakers”: show due respect to others, especially the elderly. Just as one man’s food is another man’s poison, one person’s “sound” can be another’s noise which sickens him/her to death.
(Dr. Francisco Colaço is a seniormost consulting physician.)
