The Volume You Choose Is Not the Volume You Hear
The average Mumbai local train runs at around 90 decibels of ambient noise. A Delhi metro platform during peak hour sits between 85 and 95 decibels. When you plug in earphones in that environment, your brain does not register the background noise as separate from your audio, it registers the gap. So you turn up. Most people on a loud commute are listening at 95 to 105 decibels without realising it, because the volume feels normal against the surrounding din.
