Sounds Of A Parking Lot

On listening and capturing the sounds of a parking lot in Yelahanka New Town, Bangalore

(00:00) Friday mornings are slow at NES, Yelahanka. As the early morning rush fades at around 11 AM, I weave in between vehicles on my scooter and make my way to the NES parking lot. The lot is a public off-street parking facility owned and maintained by the BBMP. It is located in a busy area with many restaurants and small stores. The parking charges at this lot are Rs 20 for two wheelers and Rs 30 for four wheelers. This lot has been designed to hold about 50 four wheelers and 80 two wheelers. 

As I park my scooter, the tires run over the fallen crunchy leaves that have been collected into neat piles along one side of the lot. (0:45) The crunching of dry leaves, though under the tires of my vehicle, manage to escape and travel to my ears. I get off my scooter, get my parking ticket and start walking around the lot, intentionally stepping on the leaves to hear the satisfying crunch and feel the tingles my skin feels when it hears the sound. The parking lot attendant looks at me curiously as I stand still, unmoving. 

I have no intention of leaving this place. This parking lot is my destination; I am here to explore its sounds and rhythms and to spend time in this place that people usually only visit for a very short while. I find an empty spot to sit down and just listen. The parking lot is sandwiched between two busy roads – on one of which, a flyover is being constructed. The sounds of drilling machines and vehicles zooming past each other on the other side constantly fill the air. I hear a deep rumble in my stomach.

It is a slow day in the lot. Vehicles do not come in very often. Besides the barely distant noise of vehicles, there isn’t much. I roam around the parking lot a little more, hunting for sounds. About twenty minutes pass by – and still nothing. It’s a calming sort of silence, distant from the hustle and bustle of the main road, yet close enough to feel the noise permeating from across the fence. (2:30)  A swift, sharp sound cuts through the air. It’s screechy, a kind of sound that travels through your ears into your bones – it’s the sound of water running from a hosepipe at a strategically placed car wash across the street. The whizzing sound is sharp in the air, at times it even cuts through the noise of screechy buses. 

As lunchtime rolls around, the parking lot is not as stagnant anymore. Vehicles slowly start to trickle into the lot, making their presence known. (2:50) Car doors thud as people walk out and chatter, creating a symphony in the lot. Then the sounds die down as people begin to vacate the lot, I make a pit stop at a burger king nearby. 

As I make my way back to the lot, I see people coming back to their vehicles. (3:20) Some cars beep – once, twice – signalling to their owners that they are now unlocked. Scooters on ignition let out a sharp sound to indicate that the stand has not been removed. 

(3:30) Bikes sputter and come to life as their owners kick start the engines. So do the cars when the key is turned to ignition. As the vehicles leave the lot, I notice a small patch of the area is making a clacking sound when driven upon (3:45) – some tiles of the lot appear to be loose.

As the afternoon rush receded, I thought to myself that it would be fun to produce a couple of sounds myself. (4:10) I thus run my hands on the ridged, metal sheet of the parking kiosk, my fingers slightly drumming its walls to produce a soft, uniform thumping sound. A chain used to close one of the lot’s gates catches my eye. I rattle it to create a high-pitched sound, a sound that is, in some sense, restricted, just like the chain that is attached to the gate. 

As sounds in the lot subsided, I realised it was time for me to leave. I had spent about three hours in this parking lot already which was going to cost me 30 rupees at the gate when I left. As I exited the lot on my scooter, I was welcomed with the sounds of loud vehicles. 

In retrospect, I realise that the lot is like an island in a sea of noise. It has a tranquil environment, with its stationary vehicles and people coming and going out at their own slow pace. This lot, located in between two busy roads, is like an oasis of stillness and peace, its sounds of which only add to this feeling.