India is an assault on the senses – especially your sense of smell. Next, though, and in some ways worse, is your sense of hearing.
The NY Times reports that many Indian cities sustain a background noise level of 105 decibels – equal to putting your head next to a leaf blower. At that volume, if an Indian city were a U.S. workplace, OSHA would limit your exposure to just one hour a day.
The big three noise sources are: honking, shouting and spitting.
All the colorfully-painted trucks have “Please Honk” or “Blow Horn” written on the back. It’s how drivers communicate their intentions. Turn signals are no use in India – the traffic is too chaotic. When a vehicle’s turn signals break down, no one bothers to get it repaired.
So Indians use horns the way we use signals. Everyone honks – the streets are crammed with trucks, cars, motorcycles, tuk-tuks, rickshaws, ox-carts, people – and large animals. All of them honking and bellowing, non-stop.
A broken horn is therefore a serious safety hazard. Our driver bragged that a regular factory-made American car horn will break down in less than a week in Indian traffic, so Indian cars and trucks have special “industrial grade” horns – louder, and much, much sturdier. Built to deafen, and built to last.
The assault on your senses starts early – it’s often impossible to sleep past 6am. There is little consideration of one’s neighbors, so bad pop music blares late into the night, and starts early. Dogs bark all night. The men generally shout a lot. Mid-level hotel hallways will echo with staff yelling at each other, starting around 6am.
Indians shout into their cell phones, yell in the temples, yell when asking for directions. And that’s indoors. Outside is much worse.
One of the quintessential sounds of India is the sound of a man coughing up a big wad of phlegm and spitting it onto the street by your feet. We called it “hawking a loogy” when I was a kid. It’s gross, and it’s everywhere. Every few seconds. Often, it’s the first thing you’ll hear in the morning.
“An Indian will spit where his neighbor must sleep, defecate where his neighbor must walk, clean his house – then dump the rubbish in his neighbor’s yard. When walking in the city one never knows when one will be spit upon from above.”
– M. Gandhi. He tried to get his nation to stop the spitting, but they’re still in the “ignoring” stage.
Travel in India is a character-building challenge, and everyone should try it at least once. Bring extra earplugs.
Wandering the World 