नमस्ते

Current Location: Jodhpur, Rajastan INDIA

In India, noise is something that you just get used to. When you first arrive, a car horn blaring behind you startles you and makes you jump. But after over three months in India, you don't blink an eye anymore. Same thing happens at nighttime. You get used to sleeping with your windows open and hearing the loud rickshaws drive by and temple bells ring during a late night pooja. I was sitting and chatting one evening with some of the women that manage our guesthouse. The sun had finally set and we could feel the cool refreshing breeze washing over the city. Suddenly, temple bells and chanting over a distant loudspeaker filled the air and disrupted the peace. One of the women rolled her eyes and said, "This will be going on all night! I won't be able to sleep now!" She explained that this was a pooja (or prayer ceremony) conducted at a temple for a person who had just died. Although this is something that I have gotten used to during my stay in India, I inquired, "Why don't they do this during the daytime when people are awake?" Her matter-of-fact response was, "Because during the day, everyone is at work. No one will be able to hear it."