I Wish it were Oh So Quiet

I like to think I can deal with a lot of inconveniences with minimal complaints once I leave the Western world. Sure, I would prefer a temperate climate, a mattress, a hot shower, potable tap water, a non-bumpy busride and clean air. But given that these things are pretty hard to come by in the far east, I deal with it. I don't mind that my room could badly use a fresh coat of paint or that I have exactly 3 minutes of lukewarm water in the shower before it starts to freeze up again. 

However there is one thing I do not see myself eventually tolerating: the noise pollution. A big reason I left NY was to rid myself of all of the noise. Unpleasant sounds are just unbearable to me. Maybe it's because I've played music for such a long time, (or maybe that's why I play music? chicken/egg scenario?) but my entire body begins to tense up and my heart begins to pound when I'm  subjected to car horns, construction sites and annoying music (forget about it if it is all at once). Even loud talkers are too much for me to handle. I've been known to tell certain people to lower their voices as their volume was really stressing me out. A particular friend of mine talks loudly since his lifelong best friend is deaf so he's really the only person I give a pass to.

India was the wrong place to end up for some peace and quiet. I love so many things about this place, but the noise pollution is really the driving factor that has me heading up north to the Himalayas, the peaceful hills up where the Ganges begins. The cars, motorbikes, rickshaws, cyclists, tuk tuks all compete for how many much noise they can make on the road. Sometimes there are only grumpy cows and a goat or two in their way. Do they expect those guys to move? I really don't know. Sometimes there are pedestrians who just ignore them and go about their business walking along what could be a sidewalk, a urinal deposit or the actual street (hard to really distinguish). Sometimes there really is a traffic jam so insane that you wonder how people don't just abandon their vehicle and crawl to the nearest corner and rock themselves into a state of sanity. Part of me thinks the reason people are so religious here is because Hindu temples, Buddhist monasteries and Muslim mosques are the only respite from the insanity. I'm pretty sure I would sign up for any religion that preaches momentary silence if I were here long enough. 

I have booked myself into an ashram up on a little hill overlooking the Ganges in Rishikesh. There's a chance this won't even be quiet enough for the time being. If it isn't, I'll be sure to send postcards from that ashram up in the mountain complete with a shaved head and an orange robe.

Namaste