You can tell when someone isn't a Bombayite by the looks of pain that frequently cross their faces. These grimaces often appear when they are stuck in traffic, cornered at a busy signal, or at the home of friends or relatives when they are suddenly subjected to aural attacks in the form of honking or what passes for celebration in our part of the world. A lot of us no longer react to these things, even though they are unnatural, because we have been trained, like circus animals, to tolerate them. Our right to silence has long been stolen from us, without us knowing we were entitled to it in the first place. This is why quiet places are overwhelming for so many Bombayites, and why we often carry boom boxes to beachfront properties in an effort to carry our noise with us.

It's hard to explain to a foreigner why our gods are supposedly appeased only if we blare item numbers at ear-shattering volumes on the street. Representation pic