Let the music play on, but softer please

The first expression that comes to mind on learning that the state authorities are serious about the 10 pm loud music ban is ‘yay’. From statements in the media, it appears that the Goa authorities are going to enforce the rules, with some stringent fines. Whatever the function — wedding, festival, party — there is no reason that loud music has to be played till such time as the hosts or organisers deem that it should. There has to be a cutoff time for loud music, and if 10 pm it is. then so be it.

There are always two sides to an issue, often even more. At this instant, most of the entertainment industry is baulking at the decision of the authorities to act strictly on venues where loud music is played beyond 10 pm. They have proffered their reasons for this and they may have a point in some of their arguments, but shouldn’t they also consider the inconvenience that others face because of the loud music being played?

Look at it this way — neither is 10 pm a very early hour nor is it a very late hour. It’s a reasonable time to bring down the volumes of the music being played. There are elderly people, there are young children who have an early bedtime, and then there are students who are studying and the music can definitely be disturbing to them.

This is not about stopping the fun or enjoyment of anybody. I enjoy music as much as anybody else, playing it on the music system at home or switching on the radio in the car when travelling, but I see no reason to have it so loud that my neighbours can hear it or that I am unable to have a conversation with somebody seated a foot away because of the sound of the music.

A serious question to be asked and answered is why do we need loud music that can be heard within a radius of 500 metres or even further than that? Isn’t the same enjoyment possible with softer tones? Perhaps the pleasure can be enhanced with softer music. I for one do believe that it is not the loud volume of music that denotes enjoyment, but the quality of the music that does.

There is something here that needs to be clarified. The action will be on loud music above certain decibels being played, it does not stop the function from continuing, from guests sitting down and having a good time, all it does is ensure that people living in the vicinity of the event place are not disturbed by the loud music after 10 pm.

Let’s be clear, if I go to the beach, I would rather sit in a shack that is not playing music and allow the soothing sounds of the waves crashing the shore to calm me than a shack that is blasting music that is drowning nature’s sounds. But then, that will be possible only if the music from the adjacent shack is not so being blasted, and that is why we need the loud sound time restriction. Nobody is stopping the music, only lowering the volume.