"if an object or expression can bring about, within us, a sense of serene melancholy and a spiritual longing, then that object could be said to be wabi-sabi." -Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence(2003)

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Regardless of where you stay, there are some sounds that you just cannot get to hear outside of your home.
being in this "situation" for quite some time now, i realise that there are quite a few of them that i miss on a regular basis.

So here they are, in no particular order.

    • Leaves rustling with the wind on a lazy Sunday afternoon (during winter, natch)
    • Night-watchman's stick hitting the ground during unearthly hours
    • A car's reverse-horn piercing through the still of the night (i never thought i'd miss this)
    • The different sounding horns of trucks,the mechanical bells on cycles and the squeeze horns on rickshaws
    • Faint sound of far off trucks passing through the streets late in the night
    • Shehenai playing on the loudspeaker of a near-by marriage hall / bands playing tunes of totally unrelated Bollywood numbers with meticulous attention to detail
    • Pheriwalas shouting out 'bhaajiiiiyaa ...' or 'paaeepaarr ...' every minute as they pass your lane roaming the streets
    • VividhBharati's jingle and the announcements of their RJs (we can call them that, right?) in their proprietary, monotonous voices
    • Bangles clinking as the womenfolk go around doing their housework
    • Stray dogs/cats barking/mewing away to glory in the middle of the night
    • dialogues from afternoon soaps coming from 5 different directions (the same one) other than your own TV set (especially when you are trying to concentrate on something)
    • unoiled, heavy iron gates/steel almirahs creaking while opening and closing
    • ...

Your mileage may vary, of course. Do you miss any sounds from your days of yore?
Do let me know in the comments...

4 comments:

  1. wasabi lol ... i was laughing for sometime after reading title of your blog ... i had to forcibly taste it on several occasions before i took liking to it
    @sounds, "Night-watchman's stick hitting the ground" is definitely what I miss here ... and not to forget "unoiled, heavy iron gates/steel almirahs creaking" ...
    this is a great post Saumitra ... i really enjoy and look forward to what you write

    ReplyDelete
  2. :)
    well, your wish has been granted! a new post awaits...
    btw, saw your photos on flickr...nice !

    ReplyDelete
  3. naaah ... its nothing ren ... i'm just an amateur photographer ... point n shoot on the go is what i do ... btw i can't read a thing in your new post :( is that a font problem ..everything is like "??????...????"

    ReplyDelete
  4. oops.
    okay, updated entry!
    thanks :)

    ReplyDelete

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Me Me Me. ... Me Too

NY, United States
--"I have the simplest of the tastes and I am always satisfied with the best!"--
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