The Silent Mumbai

Mumbai has always been a city that never sleeps.  The sounds of Mumbai encompassed the soul of the city. From the blaring sounds of the rikshas to the hustle bustle of traffic, Mumbaikars have always been a part of this humdrum. As the news of the pandemic set forth states started to take coercive action by shutting down non-essential services. Maharashtra was amongst the most affected state. With limited supplies and logistics people were just running helter-skelter with the thought of returning to their hometown.

After the first wave of the pandemic had gone, we had all believed that the coming year would allow us all to be back in action. Things started to be better with the government easing out the regulations and people again started to get back to action. But this was short lived. Only to know that the new year bought with itself an even deadlier variant of the Covid 19. And before one could realize that the things had gone way out of control, we found ourselves bound to the chains of house arrest. Welcome to the second wave, that’s what blared on the television sets. And, we all kept thinking of the nightmare that was approaching.

Just when the morning sounds that welcome Mumbai had begun, the next moment it returned to silence. We are in a ‘new normal’ world, where now the day starts with a cup of coffee, you are not greeted by the autowallahs honk but by the constant sounds of notifications or the tingling of the mailbox. Our conversations have changed from ‘meeting’ at a coffee house to meeting virtually on Zoom. Books have turned into Kindle and the most cherished moments of movie watching has taken the face of OTT platforms and ‘binge-watching’. Our questions have changed from Good Morning, to saying ‘Hey I hope you are keeping social distancing’ and most importantly, our expressions have got ‘masked’.

Amidst all these, there are a few who are still keeping the heart of Mumbai beating. They are the people who are working tirelessly, selfless, unconditionally to keep a hope alive. The hope of a longing mother, wife, sister or a father that they will get to meet their kin again. - Yes. I am referring to the medical faculty, comprising of doctors, nurses, compounders, medical shops, the municipal corporation workers and the people working to create the vaccines - the real Covid Warriors.

Today, as India is getting vaccinated under the guidance of the state’s brilliant administration, we are returning back to the hope that ‘we shall overcome’ this pandemic. Yet, as you see the city from a closer lens, you would find the roads empty, closed shops and life is still at a standstill… Mumbai is still in a state of silence and the only sounds that are beating are that of hope that the city of dreams shall rise up victorious for its Mumbaikars!

Sound of Silence

 "The quieter you become the more you are able to hear."  - Rumi

                                                                  

The honking of the autowallahs, followed with a siren and the cacophony of sounds that would probably had given Mozart or Beethoven a headache. This is how the people in the city of Mumbai is greeted.

How does it feel when the first sounds of the day are the notifications on your phone that does not seem to stop? It’s almost that your body is programmed to first check your messages as though that becomes the deciding factor of what your day will look like.  And, while that is not enough to barge your ears you will hear the blaring music of a typical Bollywood mix playing in the nearby locality as though it’s a ritual.

By the time you reach the station you are half famished as you find yourself semi- skating through the stairs and find yourself stuffed into a compartment. If you have found a place to sit man its your lucky day if not does not matter, the entertainment is about to begin. No matter how hard you plug in your earphones the sounds of the vendors will always catch your attention. Post which you will start getting calls from your clients so frantically as though it’s going to be the end of the world… Especially for those in the advertising/media industry and excuse my being biased.

For a musician one must be in an advertising agency or call centre. Just close your eyes and one can listen to the continuous ringing of cell phones. Most interestingly these come with some impeccable ringtones that will make Goddess Saraswati put an ear bud and for you well just record all these sounds… And their you have just made a new song! If that was not enough for you, please join a conference meeting. It's more of squabble followed even more of sugar injected in your body with cups of tea/coffee and at the end of the day the problem is always a mystery that remains unsolved!

We are now in a situation of a complete lockdown and we are cribbing about the problems we are facing. But did you realize that this situation has become a boon to us. Now the first sounds of the morning that you hear is the whiff of cool air.

The sound that you had completely deleted from your mind is the first wish of the day…. GOOD MORNING and GRATITUDE to the Almighty that you are alive. 

You can now feel free when you step out in your balcony because there are no cars, autos or buses, no blaring cacophony of songs. All that is there is the open sky with birds chirping, the thoughtless mind, the smell of pure air, the touch of surroundings and the only sound you can hear is the  Sound of Silence.