Speakerphone circus

Trains to planes, public transport these days can feel like a maniacal OTT experience. Someone’s watching a C-drama and a belligerent TV anchor by turns, someone else raucous standup comedy, a person is abjectly face-timing their annoyed client in front of you, and another giving long-winded gyan on the magic of aloe vera , and he’s behind you. Those afflicted with ADD alongside exhibitionism, are scrolling through 25 reels a minute. There is a curious disappearance of embarrassment among these folk. No personal detail, medical or sexual, emotional or financial, is too personal not to be shared loudly. This is very much a minority of commuters, but they hold the rest of us hostage to their fancies.What explains their aversion to earphones and speaking softly? Maybe they think they’re doing some kind of social service because their taste is so ‘trendy’. Or they’re oblivious to the implicit social contract in public places. Or they’re too unimaginative to worry about what would happen if everyone behaved like them. For the sake of the rest of us, and the principle of mutual consideration, something does need to be done. Fines are a good idea. Whether it’s Singapore or Chennai, even implementation is what’s needed. UK is pursuing both fines and a “Share the journey, not the noise” campaign. Jail, however, as accented by Southern Railways, feels like a step too far. Every discord in ordinary public life shouldn’t be turned into a police matter.Weird thing is how long earphones were a settled part of public culture, before they became disputable. When the Walkman ruled the 1980s, or the iPod the 2000s, people walked down streets with their personal soundtrack, without imposing it on everyone else. We need to bring back that considerateness and impersonal civility. Civilisation, it now seems, is the slow process by which we relearn not to make strangers listen to our favourite songs.Disclaimer: Views expressed above are the author's own.