Delhi, the capital city where the hustle-bustle is always on. Before lockdown, when we used to go out, there were so many things that were a part of our daily routine. And the most underrated thing was sounds. Sounds of different things that were always there with us, but we didn’t realise it then. But now that we are home, we are actually missing them. So let’s refresh your memory with the list of sounds that make Delhi the best place.
14 Sounds Of Dilli That We All Are Missing These Days
1. Birds Chirping At Lodhi Garden
This is one of the best sounds that a lot of people used to wake up to, right? Going on morning walks, evening strolls in Lodhi Garden and other parks in the city and listening to the chirping of birds as if they are saying something to us. There is something refreshing and happy about their sound which starts our day on a kickass note!
2. Delhi Metro Announcements
We know a lot of people won’t accept it but let’s admit that metro is an important and constant part of our daily lives now. Most of us travel by it every day and so we hear the announcements while travelling. Ask yourself, are you not missing announcements like ‘Please stand clear of the doors’, ‘Next Station is Rajiv Chowk’ and ‘Doors will open on the right’. We know no one would have ever thought that we can miss these announcements but strangely, we all are.
Also read: 11 Mumbai City Sounds You Miss During Lockdown
3. Nukkad Ki Garma-Garam Chai
Who doesn’t love ‘Nukkad ki chai’? You can’t be a Delhiite if you have never had tea at any of Delhi’s nukkads. The vibe, the feel there can’t be explained. After all, a lot of Chai Pe Charcha, and Chai Sutta Chronicles happen at these nukkads, no? While the chaiwala makes tea, we hear some pouring sounds of it and even the boiling ones. Not everything can be expressed but there is a sense of satisfaction in that sound. Tea lovers, you feel us?
4. Announcements At New Delhi Railway Station
“Kripya dhyaan dijiye! Train number 12002 Guwahati jaane wali Rajdhani Express platform no. 2 par aane wali hai” Do you remember it? This is something we’ve heard every time when we travelled via train as we ran from one platform to the other, struggling to catch a train to make it in time. Little did we know such constant announcements were a part of all the hustle.
5. Traffic On NH-8
Well, traffic is one of the most hated things about any city. But this is something we, Delhiites can’t help. And therefore, we are kind of used to it now. Also, it is definitely one of the things that makes Delhi, Dilli. The constant honking, the rash driving, and the occasional ‘gaalis’ like Dilli se hu **** from people, the sound of traffic made the city ‘lively’ as ever.
Also read: Delhiites Are Missing Momos The Most During Lockdown
6. Gurbani At Bangla Sahib Gurudwara
The sound of the sikh Gurbani and ardaas at Bangla Sahib Gurudwara and even other Gurudwaras in Delhi is one of the best thing that the city offers. This is the place where one experiences peace like no other. The music, the pravachans/gurbani and the instruments make it all a beautiful and soothing experience.
7. Prayers and Puja At Temples
When we talk about Gurbani at gurudwaras, how can we forget the sound of aarti that take place in temples every morning and evening? The enthusiam with which priests and people attend and sing those prayers is something that spreads positivity. Even when you’re not in the temple but you pass by it, the sound of bells, shankh (shell) and people singing prayers leave a very calming impact on all of us.
8. Qawwali At Nizamuddin Dargah
Well, who doesn’t know about the famous qawwali at this place? Delhiites just love visiting Nizamuddin Dargah especially to attend the qawwali. The atmosphere gets filled with music, people, prayers and above all, happiness and peace. Though crowded and buzzing with activity, the spirituality that the sound of qawwali brings is unparalleled.
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9. Delhi Airport Announcements
Delhiites simply love travel. Whether we’re traveling via bus, car, taxis, train or flights. While we miss the announcements at Delhi Metro, Railway station, there’s no way that we can skip our Delhi (IGI) Airport, right? That huge airport not only lets us fly but offers good food, shopping stores and our favorite, Duty Free deals. Even while waiting at the airport or doing some shopping at some discounted price, what we constantly hear is the announcement regarding our flights. Now, since we are home and doing almost nothing, we are missing those announcements a bit more.
10. Deals At Local Markets
Due to lockdown, the first thing that was closed were the markets of Delhi that used to be filled with crowd, noises having shopkeepers shouting the deals. Especially markets like Janpath, Sarojini Nagar and Lajpat Nagar had this. The shopkeepers used to shout their best deals to attract the customers and what was interesting was that every shopkeeper had their own style of doing it. This is definitely one of the sounds that all the shopaholics in Delhi are missing right now!
11. Ola Or Uber Alerts
Almost more than half of the population of Delhi uses Uber or Ola cabs for commuting on daily basis. Booking the cab on app, driver arriving and the start of the journey have one thing in common – the alerts. These alerts keep notifying us the updates for our trip and now that we all are not travelling at all, we miss the sound of those alerts also.
Also read: Delhi’s Gurudwara Bangla Sahib Is Serving 40,000 People Each Day Of The Lockdown
12. Making Of Street Food
The street food vendors have their own way of preparing the food. Around the nook and corners of every busy street, we can find many street food vendors making chole bhature, pav bhaji, chowmein and many more things. Do you remember those larger-than-life tawas, kadhai in which they used to fry bhaturas and make chowmein etc and also the sizzling sound that it all made was simply music to the ears. The sound was of splashing the water, sizzling of oil, frying pakoras, spreading of dosa batter and so on. Don’t you want to hear those sounds again?
13. Autowallas Calling Out People
Along with Metro and buses, we also travel via auto and e-rickshaws in Delhi. Remember going to office via metro, when after the deboard, we used to get out of the metro station and there they were – Autowallas calling out people. Like – “Batra, 50 rupee, 50 rupee“. Even their voices became a part of our day.
14. Nightlife And Music Events
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Delhi has got everything – food, restaurants, religious places, movie theatres, monuments, grand stadiums and huge auditoriums for concerts and live events. Delhi is the capital city where every day sheer number of musical events and concerts take place. And Delhiites used to leave no chance to attend them. It’s great to explore Dilli’s nightlife after all. Before lockdown, we all used to wait for our Friday and Saturday nights to attend those thrilling and fun events. The artist on stage singing and performing something, the excitement and madness among the crowd and repeating those lines loudly were some of the best things and sounds that we all miss right now. And we just can’t wait to hear them all again!
So these are the sounds that we miss every day since the lockdown started. Did we miss any? Drop your thoughts in the comments section and tell us which sound are you missing the most?