Waking up at night to the sounds of cars and bikes with modified engines

By K.R. Nayar

There are a few people who take pleasure in waking up others past midnight wanting others to admire and enjoy the noise given out by their sound-modified vehicles. I made the mistake of sleeping with the window open to enjoy the cool breeze and weather only to be woken up by these miscreants. 

Since it is that time of the year when the weather turns pleasant and it is enjoyable to sleep with the windows open at night, I attempted to do that this past week.  The cool breeze flowing into the room ensures that I slip into a deep sleep as soon as I hit the bed.  Unfortunately, at times. along with the welcome breeze comes the unwelcome sound of cars and motorbikes that whizz past with screeches given out from their sound modified engines.

My bedroom faces the main road, and on many occasions, at night it seems as if I am next to a runway witnessing a pilot taking off a plane. Then there are also a few cars that give out these blasting sounds in spurts, and very often got me to jump out of my bed. It seems like these careless bikers derive sadistic pleasure in waking the whole world at night riding around in their sound modified motorbikes.

How I wish I was not a light sleeper and could sleep through even those blasting sounds. As a cricket writer, I've managed to write stories sitting amidst 70,000 screaming fans from a stadium. Unfortunately, I am unable to carry that ability to focus on my sleep amidst the screaming sounds of cars and motorbikes. And since my wife points out that waking up to these sounds is my problem, I decided to mentally prepare myself by pasting a famous quote next to my bed:  “Never let the noise of the world overpower the stillness of your soul.” But that too did not work as these sounds came in the way of the stillness of the night through my ears into my soul!

Then I decided to do some research on how much noise can be tolerated and found that noise levels above 45decibels can affect sleep patterns in human beings. But the lines that followed this information scared me more than the blast sounds from the modified engines. It said that 'noise pollution can cause psychological damage, lead to high blood pressure, hearing loss and stress-related illness'. Sadly, I then decided to close the windows at night and give up the cool breeze to ensure that I don’t land up with any psychological disorder.

Out of sheer curiosity, one day I decided to stay awake and take a look at one of these noise-loving night motorcycle riders. Although helmeted, it seemed like he was a young guy whose parents may have gifted him this costly bike. As a gesture of gratitude, I wish he had circled his bike around his home past mid-night for an hour every day when his parents were asleep before he launches on his trip to wake others up.

And if the sound from the bike engines weren't enough, there are some car drivers who keep honking as long as they press the accelerator. With no traffic on the road past midnight, I wonder why they do so. Could they be animal lovers not wanting to kill stray cats or dogs crossing the road, or are they trying to keep themselves awake when it’s time normal people sleep? 

Sometimes I wish I could go up to these characters and give them a piece of my mind. While their lack of concern for others speaks volumes of their character, I remind myself that it would be a wasted effort. After all, the more sound one creates, the lesser will be his receptivity. I also wonder whether giving advice at night when one should be asleep will be an eye-opener. And if one is used to spreading noise, it can never be an ear-opener!