My Neighborhood

When I think of my neighborhood I get depressed. For one thing, it is in a crowded street with many tall-story buildings on both sides. One can’t see the sunrise or sunset when one lives in this street. It is always crowded and hence noisy but for the small hours of the night. All sorts of vehicles move about the streets especially in the morning and during office hours. These vehicles raise a great din. Since the road is well tarred there is no dust.

There is a school and a bazaar nearby. The school children add to the crowd and din of the place. Very often they encroach upon the road for there is no proper playground for them. This is a bane in many towns which have a mushroom growth and population.

The town center has all types of shops catering to the needs of the people living nearby. From the small bunker selling tea to the big stores selling fashionable wares. It is very crowded in the evenings with shoppers jostling each other. Mobile shops on wheels add to the confusion of the place. In busy evenings one will have to thread one’s way through milling crowds. The shopkeepers keep up a continuous shouting out of the wares for sale. The music blaring from the shops is deafening.

The bus stand is also very near. Town buses and those going to distant places stop there. So it is a busy hub of a place. One can see stalls upon stalls laid out heavily with all sorts of things. The bus stand is busy throughout the day and night.

Because of the cosmopolitan nature of the town, all sorts of people live in the neighborhood. So much so, one can hear and see people talking in different tongues and dressing in different ways. From the simple dhoti of a South Indian to the colorful sarong and to the most sophisticated European dress. One can see all sorts of fashions. The diverse nature of the population adds to the color of the neighborhood.

The flats are not congenial for healthy living. For one thing, there is not enough space and as such the worst sufferers are the children and the old people. If free space is limited, free air is also not to be had. The air is highly polluted and so one has to pay heavily in terms of health.

Having lived in this neighborhood for quite some time I yearn for a rural atmosphere which the poets have sung so much about.