Sound Sense Of Silence
How much loss of hearing will it take for India to wake up to its noise? Bring in the town crier
A town crier? In 2026? That was the first question, when Canberra’s official town crier won the Guinness Record for world’s loudest voice. Joseph McGrail-Bateup bellowed ‘NOW’ at 122.4dB. Duck. That can cause permanent hearing loss. Louder than Indian traffic (constant 100dB). But, first, what does a town crier even do? McGrail-Bateup is a professional AC cleaner, his town crier position since 2017 is a “part-time role” for Canberra events. His award – membership to a heritage club of Australian Town Criers that preserves “historic & ceremonial roles”. Never knock the powerful tug of history-meets-nostalgia.
McGrail-Bateup beat the record of an Irish schoolteacher – no mean task – who had, unsurprisingly, yelled the word ‘QUIET’, at 121.7dB, in 1994. Spare a thought for her class, for all those whose eardrums were all trembling and aquiver, from a young age. The silence in her class is, perhaps, what Guinness Records could start a record for. But that isn’t possible. Because, noise is defined, but there’s no one definition for silence. While noise is a physical measure, silence is, largely, human experience. Natural sounds (rustling leaves) or unobtrusive sounds, (fan’s whirr), aren’t considered noise. Listening to birdsong is silence, right? So, measures are much about how the average human ear perceives sound. Say, a waterfall and diesel generator can have similar decibel levels, and yet…
What makes noise a public health crisis in India is that neither policy wonks nor public give a damn about long exposure to human-created din – traffic, construction, festivals, city clatter. Could this be because desi fundas put such a premium on ‘silence within’? But, and conversely, exactly for this, given over 6.3cr people in India are hard of hearing, per WHO, it makes sound sense to join the dots. Outside noise is so damaging that the silence within is in perpetual retreat. Maybe we will sit up, and shut up, if an Irish teacher yells QUIET, and a town crier bellows NOW.
https://www.who.int/india/campaigns/world-hearing-day?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
