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Rajnish Dhawan awoke about 8 a.m. Sunday and sat to eat a bowl of Cheerios inside his house in Chilliwack, B.C. As he ate, he seemed out the window and noticed the close by pickleball courts — a reminder of why the cereal could be his final meal for the foreseeable future.

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For almost a yr, Dhawan has complained to metropolis officers about high-decibel noises from the three pickleball courts which might be about six metres behind his property. He mentioned he and his spouse have endured auditory hallucinations, coronary heart flutters and insomnia since gamers began flocking to the courts in 2021. However Dhawan, 52, mentioned little has modified.

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Since pickleball started exploding in reputation in 2019, individuals have griped concerning the noises close to their properties, inflicting neighbourhood disagreements, calls to police and lawsuits. However Dhawan and his 51-year-old spouse, Harpreet, took a brand new stance. Impressed by Indian activist Mohandas Ok. Gandhi, the Dhawans determined that, beginning at 9 a.m. Sunday, they wouldn’t eat till the noise improved.

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“We would favor to undergo quite than proceed to reside the lifetime of Second Class residents,” the Dhawans wrote in a letter to metropolis officers on July 20.

The Dhawans moved from a Chilliwack townhouse to their present five-bedroom house in February, 2017. They loved sitting on their deck to look at kids play on swings and neighbours stroll their canines on the park behind their house.

Then, within the spring of 2019, Chilliwack added pickleball courts which might be seen from the Dhawans’ home. The courts grew extra standard when the town added a brand new floor within the spring of 2021. The Dhawans tried to disregard the popping noises, even enjoying pickleball generally themselves to see what the hype was about.

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However final summer season, Rajnish mentioned the sounds turned insufferable. He mentioned he slept poorly, and when he did relaxation, he awoke in the midst of the night time hallucinating the noise of a ball putting a paddle. Rajnish, an English professor at a close-by college, and Harpreet, a dental hygienist, fell behind on their work and began to see therapists for the primary time.

The couple’s 23-year-old daughter lives in Vancouver however not often visits house due to the noise, Rajnish mentioned. The Dhawans generally depart their TV on excessive quantity to muffle the sounds.

Final October, Rajnish despatched his first of many letters to metropolis officers to complain concerning the noise.

“You’re feeling as if somebody is constantly punching your head,” he advised The Washington Submit. “It’s actually like dwelling subsequent to a gun vary.”

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A spokeswoman for the town of Chilliwack mentioned in a press release that officers “have commonly responded” to Rajnish’s grievances and “have taken substantial motion to assist mitigate the scenario.”

As an example, the spokeswoman mentioned the town solely permits pickleball play between 9 a.m. and nightfall, and has really useful that gamers use apply foam balls after 4 p.m. Nonetheless, Rajnish mentioned individuals play every day till 9 p.m.

In March, he wrote an electronic mail to the town’s pickleball membership that mentioned enjoying on the courts close to his house was “an act of aggression dedicated in opposition to me and my household.”

The courts reopened in April this yr — a month later than ordinary after a winter hiatus — due to Rajnish’s complaints, the town spokeswoman mentioned. Town lined the fence with black tarps in hopes of lowering the sound.

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Nonetheless, Rajnish mentioned he canceled his two summer season programs and flew to his birthplace of Amritsar, India, to stop his anxiousness from worsening. He hoped the scenario could be resolved by the point he returned.

Harpreet, who stayed behind in Chilliwack, developed related signs as Rajnish, and gamers yelled at her when she requested them to cease enjoying at night time, Rajnish mentioned. On Rajnish’s flight house on July 20, he drafted one other letter to metropolis officers.

“As staunch followers of Mahatma Gandhi, we have now determined to observe the trail proven by him to take care of systemic injustice,” the Dhawans wrote — utilizing the honorific by which Gandhi was popularly identified meaning “nice soul” — earlier than signing the letter “the much less privileged residents of Chilliwack.”

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The couple hung a red-and-yellow banner exterior of the pickleball courts asserting their “DAILY HUNGER STRIKE AGAINST HARASSMENT AND DISCRIMINATION BY CITY OF CHILLIWACK.”

After consuming breakfast Sunday, the Dhawans started their starvation strike by sitting on the pickleball courts, whilst some individuals performed close by. Harpreet felt lightheaded that night time and broke her quick, however Rajnish, who felt nauseous, continued.

The couple returned to the courts about 5 a.m. Monday, holding umbrellas within the rain. Two males determined to not play after talking with the Dhawans, Rajnish mentioned, however a girl complained the couple was stopping individuals from competing. The Dhawans juggled their protest whereas working from house.

By Monday night time, Rajnish mentioned his nausea had grown worse, and his coronary heart charge had elevated. Town had not taken motion and, fearing long-term well being results, Rajnish ended his starvation strike round 10 a.m. Tuesday, after 50 hours.

“I’m not Gandhi,” he mentioned. “I don’t have thousands and thousands of followers.”

He drank a glass of sharbat, a drink made out of flower petals and a sweetener, and deliberate to eat snacks — fruit, cereal, nuts — all through the day.

The Dhawans’ drawback could be solved in just a few months. Town is constructing an indoor pickleball facility and plans to shut the courts close to the Dhawans’ house in November. However for the Dhawans, that’s not quickly sufficient.

“We shouldn’t be pressured to maneuver,” Rajnish mentioned, “simply because a mistake was made by the town.”

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