In the film, Manhattan, Woody Allen’s character first described the city as “still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin”. Then in the next revision, “He was too romantic about Manhattan, as he was about everything else. He thrived on the hustle bustle of the crowds and the traffic.” This is the more realistic soundtrack I experienced. I had not yet habituated to the cacophony of car horns just like I had not yet habituated to constantly being in traffic, whether on a bike, walking, on the subway, or in a cab.

Even the most ridiculous and superfluous honking seems to go unnoticed by everyone else – it’s as everyday as a store clerk or a phone operator saying “have a nice day”.

I think the locals can filter these sounds so selectively that they create their own curated soundtracks, sampling from so much raw material that the possibilities are almost endless. Also, there was this guy in a train station right near the World Trade Center, creating his own pointless drone of “Good afternoon, folks.” Usually, he followed it by another “Good afternooooon.” and repeated it every 30 seconds or so. The first time, I thought he was going to follow it up with an important announcement, but there was none – it was just his contribution to the constant noise, or symphony, depending on how much you romanticize New York.