The loud speaker must, once upon a time, have been a miracle, a beloved broadcasting device and a symbol of holiday fun and entertainment. It must have been invented after the earlier miracle of recorded music came to be. It must have been the wonder of wonders in a sleepy village that set it up for a whole day's musical bonanza for villagers to enjoy during temple festivals.
When I was a kid, my family lived in an area where many poor labourers had their homes. They celebrated a temple festival, during which they blocked the road with a large white cloth, the size of a cinema hall wall and showed glittering grand films of kings and Gods. We probably got the best view because our home had a terrace and we would sit through the cool night hours watching those films.
Fast forward a good four decades and you have 2016. Every beggar, urchin, every peddler on bicycles selling palm fruit and tender coconut, every house maid, every farmer and labourer carries music and videos in his or her pocket.
Where is the logic in blaring religious music out on loud speakers when it is no longer required? And not just in village fairs, but on bustling city streets amidst high rises and staggering traffic! Totally no logic here!
When I was a kid, my family lived in an area where many poor labourers had their homes. They celebrated a temple festival, during which they blocked the road with a large white cloth, the size of a cinema hall wall and showed glittering grand films of kings and Gods. We probably got the best view because our home had a terrace and we would sit through the cool night hours watching those films.
Fast forward a good four decades and you have 2016. Every beggar, urchin, every peddler on bicycles selling palm fruit and tender coconut, every house maid, every farmer and labourer carries music and videos in his or her pocket.
Where is the logic in blaring religious music out on loud speakers when it is no longer required? And not just in village fairs, but on bustling city streets amidst high rises and staggering traffic! Totally no logic here!
2 comments:
I am not sure if you always had jarring, boring things coming out of a loudspeaker. Perhaps that is why it has become quite irritating now.
No, when people were longing to listen to music, anything that was played was beloved.
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