Cartograph of cacophony: Finding a quiet neighbourhood in India is not child’s play

Just as traffic updates on car GPS systems are treasured by harried city commuters, a cartographic representation of loud neighbourhoods sounds useful for those who value p&q (peace and quiet) in their environs.

Indeed, a map of noise is something that most people living in cities would love to have, even though one that has been around in Japan for a while now has drawn flak for being fuelled by people sounding off against cacophonous children and raucous neighbours.

As long as it serves the purpose — pinpointing clangorous localities — the negative nature of the inputs is hardly likely to bother its users. Of course, distinguishing between mere curmudgeonly outbursts and genuine reports of noise could be difficult when settling for an area.


In Japan, the map identifies areas that have loud voices emanating from boisterous youngsters rather than traffic or other strident urban disturbances. But most Indian neighbourhoods have many more sources of distracting sounds, from vociferous canines — both stray and pet — to ‘musical’ vehicle horns, wedding celebrations and religious festivities.

So, drawing a noise map would be a complicated exercise here, given that every Indian conurbation would have some racket going on. This just goes to show that finding a truly quiet neighbourhood in India is not child’s play.