Urban Soundscape

Khush Raho with Sangeeta

A jackhammer was drilling into the floor above. Its harsh, grinding sound filled my room with the energy of twenty saws going at once. Then a hammer, probably breaking or dismantling a wall. Then the jackhammer again, this time grinding into more than concrete and stone, having hit metal somewhere. The sound of metal against metal at full industrial power. I put my hands over my ears. It did not help much. Construction, demolition, renovation; it is a constant in our urban spaces. There is no getting away from it.

But it got me thinking about why it felt violent, and why it left me immobile, paralysed, unable to think clearly or go about my daily routine. Sound is energy in motion, and the way sound comes to us impacts our physical, emotional, and mental state. Sound vibrations travel beyond our ears into every layer of our being. While our physical ears register the notes, our entire aura and chakra system absorb the resonance, and are either strengthened and vitalised, or thrown out of balance. This was the latter. There is much more to say about sound as energy. More on this another time.

As I waited for 5 p.m. when the construction work would stop for the day, thankfully our building management follows fairly strict rules for construction crews. I tried to distract myself by listening to music. It made things worse. The overlap of electronic media and the construction left me feeling even more uncomfortable. Sometimes silence is the only answer. But silence, in a city, has to be waited for.

At 5 p.m. I sat in quiet, looking forward to it washing over me. Through the silence came unexpected sounds. Birds chirping in the trees, transforming the heaviness into lightness. The wind picking up, and the susurration of the leaves as they danced about energetically, like a giant brush sweeping the city clean of the debris of a whole hectic, noisy day. Children laughing, playing, shouting joyfully. The monsoon is almost over, and sadly no rain fell. So I played Raga Bhairavi. In our ancient tradition of Raga Chikitsa, music therapy, and Nada Yoga, the yoga of sound, Bhairavi is considered among the most deeply healing of all ragas. Using all twelve musical notes, it creates a deep sense of surrender, encouraging us to release suppressed emotions, dissolve restlessness, and move to stillness. It calms the central nervous system, soothes physical tension, and has been described as a quiet prayer at the end of a long day. That is exactly what it was.

As I let these sounds wash over me, I could feel their healing. Slowly, gently, like feathers from nature, these earth rhythms brought my entire energy field back into harmony. To round off the restoration of my equilibrium, a prayer of gratitude. Then drifting off to sleep, anticipating the morning birdsong, before the you know what starts again.

(Sangeeta Bhalla

 is an Energy Healer, Instructor, and Therapeutic Aromatherapist. She can be reached at www.sangeetabhalla.net )