Campaign for a happier Diwali

These ads are music to my ears. Almost literally.

I’m in Kolkata and there are posters pasted on walls everywhere inBengali, Hindi and English saying that noise-making Diwalifirecrackers are prohibited. I even saw a police vehicle making the rounds of my neighbourhood announcing the same message over a loudspeaker (ignore, for the moment, the irony of that) in multiple languages. This campaign has been running for the past few years and has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the din of Diwali in this city. True, it is not totally successful. You do hear some firecrackers go off. But they are nowhere near as loud as they used to be. And the night of Diwali no longer gets extended to Diwali Week asit used to do. The fact that the police actually patrol the city during Diwali and stop people in the act of breaking the decibel limit gives this campaign teeth.

How I wish the campaign would spread to Mumbai. I live next door to Hinduja Hospital in that city and cannot sleep properly for about 10 nights around Diwali. I shudder to think what happens to patients. I am sure that it is not just Mumbai but most cities in India that are in crying need of a campaign against noisy firecrackers like the one in Kolkata.

In fact, while we are on the subject of noise pollution, let us also campaign against illegal high-decibel air horns as well as any form of loud noise that we produce in public areas in the name of religious, social and cultural events or ceremonies. As we try to take our pride of place in the world, let us try to become more sophisticated. Let us keep our noise to ourselves!

Though some readers will no doubt toss this aside as a noisy rant, I would like to consider this column my contribution to the campaign against noise.

To that end, I will leave you with a couple of disconcerting facts to ponder: A single explosive noise can destroy some hair cells in your ear (which enable you to hear). Once destroyed, these hair cells never grow back. Sounds of 120 decibels that last just a few minutes candamage your ears permanently.

A chocolate bomb, anyone?

(The author is Executive Creative Director, South Asia, Ogilvy & Mather)