quiet please - this is a library

The gardens of this hotel are a haven of peace and quiet.  You can imagine reading a book or just quietly contemplating your navel, as the birds and butterflies flutter and sing.  But not today.

Behind the rear wall, there’s a sound that makes last night’s fireworks seem like ….. last night’s fireworks. The hotel has put on a free concert with complimentary food and a bucket of beer for each guest.  

The one-man band with three powerful speakers, a keyboard and computer gives us 4 hours of VERY LOUD MUSIC.  Birds flying overhead, turn on their backs, fold their wings and drop to the Earth, stunned.  The bass alone is enough to wake the Gods of Arrhythmia in my chest.

I shouldn’t be surprised because India is a very noisy country.  What seems loud to me is commonplace here.

The crowd love him and sing along to all his songs.  They know all the words.  Towards the end of the show, when the buckets of beer have done their job, some even climb onto the stage and help him out (see extras). 

They don’t want it to stop.  But eventually it does.  Birds dust themselves off, preen their feathers and tranquility returns.