Yeah, silence that annoying ring

I felt like doing a little jig this morning when my bleary eyes spotted a front page news brief saying the Maharashtra government was thinking of slapping an entertainment tax on downloaded mobile phone ring tones and caller tunes. I hope it's steep enough to pinch. Maybe that'll silence the excessively annoying and shrill blares of music that regularly penetrate the air in public places and even at private events.

I suspect I'm in a very, very small minority here, but I just can't stand it when musical ringtones keep interrupting conversations at lunches and dinners. Somehow it doesn't bother me as much if it sounds like a good old-fashined telephone ring. I mean here I am having a fairly impassioned argument about politics or whatever when suddenly my senses are mercilessly assaulted by a few bars of "Livin Da Vida Loca" or "Roop Tera Mastana" or "Majua Mauja".

The most bizarre ringtone I ever heard almost had me leap out of my skin. I was riding the elevator up to my apartment and the only other person with me was a man in his 30s. Suddenly I heard a child's shrill voice scream, "Papa, papa, mummy ka phone hai; Papa, papa, mummy ka phone hai; Papa, papa mummy ka phone hai"! For the first couple of seconds I couldn't figure out where the child's voice was coming from. And when I did, I was praying for it to stop screeching because my head was pounding. Unfortunately the father made a complete hash of his first attempt to answer the phone. (I don't think he was too happy about being shaken to his very core every time the wife called. His trembling fingers hit all the wrong buttons). So it happened all over again. All this took place in a matter of half a minute, but it seemed like the longest, most agonising half a minute of my entire life!

I'm not sure the proposed tax would cover wierd personalised ring tones like that one, but even if it manages to silence a few, I'll be thankful.