SOUND OF HOME

 Our ability to hear is crucial for providing information about the world around us. Sound is produced when an object vibrates the air around it and this vibration can be represented as a wave that travels through space. For example, if a branch falls off a tree and hits the ground the air pressure around the branch changes when it hits the earth and as a result the vibration of the air produces a sound originating from the collision.

In the same way the wave of the sound around us makes us to feel that something is related to us. And we feel comfortable with it. In this sound of home assignment I have recorded ten sounds from my home which makes me to feel this is my home when I hear these waves of sound. 

So here I have recorded a parrot’s sound, my every day community prayer, our Christmas celebration singing, our house calling bell, mixie sound, tap water sound, washing clothes sound, our house frizz sound, TV sounds and calling bell sound.

I started to record the sounds which I felt and which I made me to feel that it is really my house. I am a sister I stay in a convent. Each day I observed the surroundings and I recorded each sound every day. And this is the process I used to record the sound.

We have a parrot at home, it is so lovely and it will exactly imitate us and it will laugh with us. So I love this parrot and even I go and spend time with this parrot every day. 

We have a community prayer every day in our chapel. Hearing of prayers and songs make me to feel the prayerful surroundings of my home.

In our convent we had a very good celebration of Christmas this year. We sang Christmas carol on Christmas Eve. And this sound recording made me feel that my house full of happiness and joy that we share with each other.

In each of our house calling bell sound will be different. As soon as we hear it we get a feeling, this is my house calling bell. So as I it hear everyday my house calling bell it reminds me that someone has come to my house. This feeling of main made me to record this sound.

My house chicken mixie jar, frizz and tap water sounds are a remainder for me that some delicious meal I am going to get every day. And also it makes me to feel that my kitchen girl is preparing something for all of us in the community.

TV sound. Our sister watches every day news or movie. And this TV sound in my house I hear it every day. When I won’t hear it I have a feeling that something is missing in the house. So this familiar sound too makes me feel that this is my home.

At home we have got a laundry. Most of my sister washes their cloths with their hands. Sometimes it will be very noisy and we enjoy together by washing our cloths. 

As I was doing all these recordings and writings it was really nice. And I was more interested to do even all these things. Recording sounds and listening to it and writing about the sounds gave me awareness that these are the kind of surroundings I am living in everyday. I really enjoyed by doing it.

When my family and I went to Bhutan, we were introduced to the magic of the Tibetan singing bowl. The audio next in line, is how the bowl resonates when struck with a wooden pestle. Before every morning’s pooja, my mother strikes the bowl thrice. And the sound travels through our entire house and calms our mind. 

My mother makes it a point to time her pooja with that of the nearby temple. After her Tibetan singing bowl session, she sits and meditates as the temple behind my house begins its early morning ritual. The third audio is the daily morning keertan procession that happens at the temple. 

After everyone goes to sleep at night after a long day, my sister wakes up at 3am. Every single day. And she will sit-up straight and sleep walk to the kitchen and fill herself a glass of water. She will drink it half and then keep the glass on the dinning table and go back to sleep. She then wakes up in the morning and wonders who kept the half-filled glass of water on the dinning table. 
 The next sound is of my sister’s nighttime quest; the sound of water. 

On the eve new year, my sister decided to bake a cake. I found this to be a perfect opportunity to record more sounds for my project. And of all the sounds I recorded, this one made the cut. It is the sound of my sister dropping an entire shelf of cake trays. She was so tired by trying to bake a cake that she didn’t even try and stop the utensils from falling. 

After the cake tray mishap, we realized that baking a cake at home is not easy. So we ordered a cake instead. Irish coffee cake from JustBake. This sound is of the doorbell ringing. On the other side of the door was the delivery guy with the cake. We were so excited for the cake that I couldn’t help but capture this sound that made our dopamine levels spike!

This next sound is of the landline ringing at 12 am on January 1, 2022. It was my dad. He called all the way from Tangdhar to wish us on the new year. We talked until it was 3 am. And I had ended up recording the whole call but decided to use only the ringing as that telephone ring was something I was waiting to hear since the day before’s morning. 

While we waiting for the clock to strike 12 and for new year to begin, I decided to work on my project and I recorded the sounds of the grandfather clock that sits in our living room. The tick-tock of this clock has been consistent since 1940. It was given to my grandmother as a wedding gift and then to my mother on her wedding as well. 

We began our new year with cleaning. And we decided to whip out the good old vacuum cleaner that was packed and kept inside a trunk. This sound is of the vacuum cleaner being used on January 1, 2022. The new year cleaning chronicles began with this sound. 

And the last sound is my favorite. This is the sizzle on the tawa as my mother  pours Dosa batter. It is the tastiest sound ever. It makes my mouth water and even without a single clue, I can guess that this is my mother’s best cooked dish, DOSA!
 
And the list that starts with sabji ends with dosa, and the circle is completed. These 10 sounds define my everyday life. 

Once I am done with my morning duties, I hop on to my online classes and listen to different teachers explaining different concepts in different subject. 

At midday, you can hear the vegetable vendor scream with all his might, about the different vegetables that he offers, you can see him over the window pushing his cart and people calling him out towards their respective houses. My house is located in a silent area and not much traffic can be heard, occasionally you would hear an impatient taxi driver honking his way through the empty roads.  

During the evening the stray dogs and cats in the neighborhood, come out to play and they often get very noisy, but to my luck, my brother plays the piano which subdues the sound of the noisy animals. Fur Elise by Beethoven is one of the many pieces of music that my brother plays. Different days he practices new music which is very entertaining.      

During the night  my house is so quiet that you can hear the sound of the wall clock ticking and water flowing in my indoor mini fountain and occasionally you can hear the sound of the helicopter and other aircrafts because my house is near HAL airport. 

Sometimes in the midnight when everyone is asleep I secretly reheat the food. Due to the sound of the microwave I get caught and my parents scold which is hilarious.

 Vishnu is ever awake as a poise of Consciousness.The wake up call is to the soul of ours bound in space and time to the puny intellect and snare of the senses.
Think of it as the call sent to our Jeeva to rise from its slumber and get performing acts of Dharma.

.>> My mother has never been a big admirer of cooking. In many ways, that was the impetus for me to learn to cook. On weekends when my mom was out running errands, I'd bake muffins, cookies, or coffee cake, experimenting with different recipes and procedures to see what worked and what didn't. When I did it, I used to believe I was on a food programme. I'd meticulously measure out all of my components into small dishes and chat to myself while preparing the meal (thank goodness no one else was home!). When there were additional baked goodies about the house, the rest of the family didn't appear to mind.
My mother has always done her share over the holidays by bringing something to the large family supper. I believe she appears to know less about cooking than she actually does in order to avoid having to do it, although she would probably disagree.
>>."I LIKE YOUR SMILE, IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL" " WHY ARE YOU SO SILENT " " I WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH YOU" " CAN WE TALK?" from 

 For us Chikamangloreans, a day isn't complete without coffee. We simply need a small incentive to drink coffee so that when you chat to a Chikamanglorean, he or she will smile. since they had their morning coffee Donno just keeps our minds relaxed all day... and when it rains in our neighbourhood, oh boy oh! The weather outdoors is really beautiful...
>> When we're drinking coffee, how can we forget the tunes that my father and mother used to listen to... like we in this generation don't comprehend the actual words of the retro sounds is simply mind blowing that to 50's,60's,70's,80's,90's,20's tho just wonderful to hear Where I am now, I am hearing it in a loop. and savour my coffee
why retro songs
Retro style is a style that is imitative or purposefully derivative of previous lifestyles, trends, or art forms, such as music, modes, clothing, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" refers to the two decades preceding the present one by 20–30 years.
>>so the awareness at the end BBMP
Many cities that are participating in Swachh Survekshan, such as Indore and Mysuru, have their own anthems. They are released each year based on the theme of the survekshan
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner BH Anil Kumar posted Bengaluru's 'anthem,' Jotheyagi, which means 'together,' online on Friday.
The campaign is part of the city's efforts to achieve a high ranking in the national Swachh Survekshan, which is performed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Rashmi Nayak wrote the three-minute multilingual song in Kannada and English, which was composed by Saachin Raj Chelory. While Lucky Ali leads the male vocals, who are accompanied by the music director, the female vocalist is also the lyricist.
A bird's-eye perspective of the city's prominent buildings, flyovers, and places is juxtaposed with video of pourakarmikas, young social workers, BBMP officials, and residents working to keep the city clean.

While the Kannada lyrics suggest that residents should take effort to keep the city clean, the song also emphasises that the ultimate objective is to make the city 'heavenly' to live in.
"The goal of this programme is to inform, educate, raise awareness, and influence public opinion in order to assist the BBMP in keeping Bengaluru clean and green," Kumar explained.

Speaking of sleep, my father doesn't like the idea of waking up early. He says that early mornings are the only time he gets any kind of sleep. I think it is true. I know this because he snores most mornings. And believe me when I tell you his snoring is enough to quiet down a horde of screeching cats. That's what my first sound is. 

My mom is the exact opposite. She never snores and more importantly she's an early riser. A very early riser. Even though her day actually starts late she is still up way before than everybody else and sits in the hall. Once I thought her silhouette was a ghost and almost screamed my lungs out. She spends most of this time petting out dog TinTin and uses weird words to talk to him. I think it's very cute. That's what the second sound is. 

Then the third, fourth, and the fifth sounds are my front door opening, my dog panting and the front gate opening. My brother is also like my mother and is up early. So he uses this time to take Tintin out on a walk. I do it in the evening. You could hear TinTin's excitement in his panting. He absolutely loves his walkies and we absolutely love taking him. 

Then there is the sound that all four of us get annoyed with. By this time my dad is usually up too. Yes I am the last one to wake. This sound is the BBMP waste collectors. They have this truck that produces a sound that rattles your brain and a whistle that pierces your ears. Okay, I admit, they are not so bad. It's just that no one likes taking out the trash in our home. 

Then the woman who maintains the building, Sarita Aunty, starts sweeping and cleaning the front porch. She finishes her task everyday with a beautiful rangoli. I think she is very skilled at it but she never agrees. 

Every three days my dad buys flowers as offerings during Pooja. He sits in the little Pooja room and chants hymns. It goes on for around 15 minutes during which the entire house is supposed to be silent. Only mom sometimes takes part in the Pooja. Us kids never do. Dad is fine with it as long as we don't make noise. I recorded the sound of the woman from whom my dad buys the flowers since the Pooja time is eerily silent in our house except the hymns which understandably, I wasn't allowed to record. 

Then finally, the sound of the neighbour's really loud car starting. We always make fun of the car for it's loud sound. The owner always insists there is nothing wrong with it. 

These sounds maybe common in a household. But to me these sounds are what I grew up hearing. Any day without any one of these songs renders it incomplete. Sometimes these sounds do get to me but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.