One
of the things I miss most from the past, from my growing up days in Lucknow, is…
peace. Peace and quiet. I was born in Lucknow and spent a good 20 years in that
city before moving out to Bareilly. And in those 20 years, we lived in four
different houses, in different residentials areas across the city. And in all
those years, wherever we lived, I don’t remember ever being subjected to
loudspeakers. Not once. Sure, people still celebrated all festivals, happy new
years, birthdays, anniversaries and… whatever else there may have been to
celebrate. People celebrated with joy and enthusiasm and with a genuine sense
of neighbourhood camaraderie. But without the noise. Without massive
loudspeakers blaring out jarring music at earsplitting levels of volume. Without
the incessant noise, which today makes me want to get the hell out of Delhi-NCR
and move to some small, remote village somewhere up in the mountains of
Himachal.