SIRENS

The different bird calls are part of the daily sound scape of India - they are loud and unequivocal - I have also heard monkeys and occasionally the raucous call of a peacock; mingled with these sounds are the cries of the hawkers, who bring their produce round on carts.  During the wedding season, you hear fireworks and drums and loud music, as a procession passes.  The one sound that you don't hear is a police car siren or ambulance.  In London, the sound of screaming sirens is part of daily life and in Italy it was the roar of motorinos tearing down the road at full throttle and the sound of a police car or ambulance shrieking off to some emergency.   An ambulance just didn't exist here in Vadodara until about three year's ago and even now, it's rare to actually see one...if you are unlucky enough to need one, you're more likely to hope someone comes to your aid and pays a rickshaw to take you to the nearest hospital - so the sound of sirens is missing here....!