Noise Pollution

 Margazhi = Hell

If Noise Is Devotion …

With the onset of the Ayyappa pilgrimage season, many neighborhoods across the region are witnessing late-night devotional gatherings and kanni pooja ceremonies. While the season holds deep spiritual significance for Ayyappa devotees the celebrations are increasingly accompanied by high-volume loudspeakers, causing widespread disturbance.

These gatherings extend late into the night, with amplified chanting and music echoing across residential areas. The devotees describe themselves as being a spiritual state (“sami”), yet the level of noise often disrupts the peace of the very communities they live in. A tradition meant to elevate the spirit ends up exhausting the neighborhood.

The noise is unbearable for school students preparing for exams, infants, senior citizens, and patients who require rest. On nights, the sound is so loud that it feels like the entire neighborhood is being pushed into a kind of hell.

Noise Pollution Laws Frequently Overlooked

Current noise-control regulations clearly restrict the use of loudspeakers during night hours. However, these gatherings operate far beyond the permitted time and volume limits, placing stress on people’s sleep, health, and daily routines.

Public health experts warn that exposure to high decibel levels, especially at night, can lead to anxiety, elevated blood pressure, sleep disorders, and long-term stress.

Faith is personal.
Noise is public.

And when personal devotion spills into public suffering, it stops being holy. True spirituality doesn’t demand loudspeakers; it demands empathy. Devotion need not come at the cost of another person’s peace. In any season of faith, consideration is the highest form of worship.

Noise Pollution and Mosques

The announcements and preaching from mosques begin as early as 5 AM, often at sound levels far exceeding the permissible limits. Such excessive amplification not only violates public health norms but also contradicts the very spiritual message of kindness and consideration.

A striking contradiction emerges when high-volume sermons proclaim verses such as “…Be good to your parents… and the neighbour who is near and the neighbour who is far…”—yet the loudness of these broadcasts disturbs the very neighbours the scripture urges believers to protect. The impact is felt most by people whose sleep and health are vulnerable: school-going children, night-shift workers, patients, and the elderly.

The Quran itself advises moderation in speech.
In Surah Luqman (31:19), it states:
“Be moderate in your pace and lower your voice; indeed, the harshest of sounds is the braying of a donkey.”

This reminder makes it clear that true devotion includes respecting the peace and well-being of those living nearby

Noise Pollution

 Religion = Noise Pollution

Aaryan – Tamil Film Review

He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
- Art of War by Sun Tzu

Who is an actor? 

The website backstage.com has a clear answer. As it puts, "Actors are storytellers who use their body and voice as tools to transport the audience into a different world. At its core, the word “actor” indicates someone who portrays a character in a performance. This could be for film, television, theater, or even voice work for animations and video games. An actor’s main responsibility is to bring a character to life by embodying their emotions, behavior, and perspective to an audience."

In Aaryan, this very essence of actor is missing. Acting too follows Sun Tzu's wisdom: knowing when to express, when to hold back, when to explode, and when to stay still. Great performers choose their battles with emotion. 

In this film, however, the performers seem unaware of this discipline. They neither fight for the character nor choose restraint. The result is a cast that appears present on screen but absent in spirit, as if everyone is in the film but no one is acting. Nothing more than to say.