N for neighbors

Yesterday when I was sipping my evening coffee looking out from the patio, my mind casually went back to my days in Bangalore. Those were the days when on weekends we would savor our morning cup of coffee (I miss that filter coffee big-time now but that's another story) out in the balcony. Appa* would be engrossed in the day's headlines, while me and my brother would be eagerly waiting to get a dekko at it, while Amma** would be busy putting rangoli. Now and then we could hear the occasional milkman or newspaper-boy cycling on the road and the flower-sellers rattling of the list of flowers they had to offer. Soon it  would be the turn of the vegetable vendors to start the day's business, pushcarts and cycles laden with fresh vegetables would ply about. One constant fixture while all of it unravelled on the street, our front door neighbors. No matter what time of the day or even night , OK not dead of the night but late in the night even up-to midnight our front-door neighbors could be found chatting amongst themselves or soaking in the sun. Their loud voices would sometimes wake me up just as I had settled into a pleasant dream. They would shout at the top of their voices even over the phone almost as if they were in direct conversation with the person at the other end without the support of the telephone network. They were friendly no doubt but quite nosy and sure enough had an enviable know-how about the neighborhood. In a way, they acted like a security system for there would always be a pair of eyes on the lookout. I used to get annoyed by their presence sometimes, but many times I even felt reassured that they were there.

In the apartments that we reside now, we do not even know who resides in the adjoining apartment. Sometimes while climbing the stairs, we see people who we know reside on the same floor as we do and we just exchange smile some times or just go about our work indifferent to human presence. I know with changing times, outlooks have changed and people realize the need for privacy. Then there is the proverbial busy life, no time for others logic. I wish there was a balance between nosy and indifferent neighbors. All said and done, man is a social animal and this means we need human contact beyond social media,  more of a face to face interaction and acknowledgement than boxed lifestyle.

This post is shared with April A-Z blogging challenge for alphabet N

*Appa- Father 

**Amma- Mother