Ulhasnagar: The sprawling tent at Gol Maidan is bright and festive. It is Day 26 of the 40-day Amrit Vella Kirtan that has been a part of Ulhasnagar 's social calendar for the last three years in a row, drawing thousands of Sikhs and Sindhis on the eve of Guru Nanak Jayanti. Almost everything is as you would expect at the gathering. Yet something is conspicuous by its absence-the music. On closer look one would notice a very obvious accessory that all the attendees have: portable headphones. They're sitting, swaying and singing-all in silence.If music can make a celebration, it can break one too, especially if it disrupts your neighbour's sleep. Since the ban of loudspeakers from 10pm to 6am, Amrit Vella Trust has thus come up with a novel way to keep the kirtan going without rousing the neighbours. The organisers have distributed around 10,000 wireless headphones to devotees who can come and listen to religious songs without a thought for noise deadlines. The Amrit Vella Kirtan usually starts early morning at 3.45am and goes on till 5.30am.The introduction of headphones comes in the wake of activist Sarita Khanchandani's fight against noise pollution in the city and her objections about early morning kirtan at Gol Maidan disturbing the peace in the neighbourhood.Clearly, for a phenomenon that began as quiet clubbing, this use of headphones for collective listening is a growing trend. Noise ordinances and awareness drives have encouraged party-goers to groove to music streamed through headphones instead of being blasted from megawatt speakers. This year, Mumbai introduced 'silent garba' nights too for revellers who did not want the festivities to end. Now with Ulhasnagar riding the glorious sound wave of silent music, the spirit of the idea has been accepted even for spiritual activities.Due to Khanchandanis complaint, the kirtan had moved indoors for the first 20 days at a gurdwara in Ulhasnagar. But since the arrival of the headphones on October 12, it has returned to Gol Maidan, but minus the decibels.Hoshiyarsingh Labana, spokesperson of Amrit Vella Trust, said, "We respect the court's decision on noise pollution and since some people have raised objections we decided to use headphones and put it to use immediately after delivery."Rinkubhai Sahab, an organizer, said, "Earlier it was organised inside the gurdwara at Ulhasnagar number 4 but as the crowd kept growing due to participation by people in Ulhasnagar 1, 2 and 3 we had to move the kirtan to Gol Maidan. Devotees are trooping in from outside the city too."During the session, Rinkubhai sings into a microphone attached to his headphone while his followers listen to it on an imported earpiece connected via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and delivered through an amplifier.After the kirtan ends, volunteers collect the headphones from the devotees. These are distributed again the next day. The headphone also has a system by which the listeners can connect their cell phone to the network and listen to the kirtan. Devotees have been appreciative of the move while grateful locals in the area are sighing in relief.Manoj Lassi, one of the devotees, said, "This is the first time I've been at a kirtan in which headphones are used in such a large number to avoid noise pollution."Ambrat Bhatija, a resident from the Gol Maidan area, said, "It is really a nice step, they don't create trouble for us in the early mornings."