The voice in the din: Why Vidyanand Bapat is making noise about noise

On September 3, as Pune resident Vidyanand Bapat was being interviewed by a TV journalist on the busy Tilak Road, a man stepped up and slapped him.

Bapat had been talking about the problem of noise pollution during the Ganesh festival – the city’s most enthusiastic public celebration. Even as the cameraperson and others tried to pull the attacker away, he broke free and tried to hit 37-year-old Bapat again, abusing him for “speaking against Hindu festivals”.

Days earlier, on August 24, Bapat – a resident of Narayan Peth in the old city area – had expressed the same concerns at a public meeting called by the municipal corporation on preparations for the Ganesh festival. Members of some of Pune’s hundreds of Ganesh mandals were also present.

Bapat told Scroll about his concerns. “Festival enthusiasts should ensure their celebrations should not become a punishment for citizens who just happen to reside in the vicinity,” he said.

His remarks about high-volume sound systems and the dhol tasha – a traditional part of the celebrations, involving large groups playing huge drums – sparked such an outcry that the police had to escort him out of the premises.

Bapat told Scroll that the furore was not unexpected. “Festival enthusiasts don’t have any logical arguments,” he said.

Even as his...

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