Lockdown Diaries 01_ Love thy Neighbour

I read somewhere that in some neighborhoods, the houses are so close to each other that if you open your window, you can ask your neighbor to pass the salt from his window. I have never experienced this first hand (fortunately or unfortunately, I am not sure!) but I have experienced some healthy neighborhood  culture when I was growing up in Goregaon, Mumbai. These are my childhood memories way back in the 80s. Yes, I am that old! (or that young, depending on your age as a reader).

These were the times when Ramayan and Mahabharat were telecast for the first time on Doordarshan, unlike the reruns in the current situation. We would gather at a friend’s home, around 10/12 kids to watch it as he was the rich guy with a color TV and a home on the ground floor, where we could head out to play immediately on the Sunday morning!!! Convenience, really!!! Needless to say there have been umpteen times when his mom or grand mom used to cook some nice breakfast for the entire gang or at least hand out some toffees/ biscuits. Summer vacations we used to just land up at some friends home and we all would be served lunch without anyone’s parents batting an eyelid. I remember going to the neighbor aunty to borrow salt, Curd, milk at times when we were suddenly out of it and my parents had forgotten  to buy it…and vice versa… If any special meals/ cuisines were prepared at home, one bowl was always reserved for the neighbors. The favors were returned as well, on more than a few occasions.

And good neighbours make a huge difference in the quality of life.

Robert Fulghum

Well to cut a long story short, this culture slowly weaned as the Society cultures started booming, people started getting busier with life, priorities in a neighborhood started changing, lifestyles started altering. Neighborly relations became more formal; everyone got their own TVs, telephones, so going to each other houses was restricted during certain festivals, and so on and so forth. With more and more high rise buildings, meeting your neighbors in the lifts has been a standard meeting place or during an early morning walk or an evening stroll.

We have been fortunate to have developed a nice friend circle in our society who met initially as neighbors but now are really close friends. This lockdown has got back some old traditions!!

Neighbours by Chance… Friends by Choice!!

Anonymous

We as a group of neighbor friends have started pooling in resources. Earlier when we use to have parties at homes, ice trays were filled and kept ready at each ones house, there were always extra bottles of soda in each other’s fridge. During this lockdown, in case anyone wants to buy some supplies, we always make it a point to ask each other (of course on our whatsapp group!!) and then one of us buys them for all. Currently there is a trend (Social media calls it a ‘challenge’) of trying to cook some different recipes so there is always an extra bowl now again for the neighbors. The other day one of us wanted a few slices of bread to go with his breakfast. Earlier you could have just walked down and bought an entire packet, but in the current situation, a whatsapp message asking for extra bread slices solved his dilemma!! In this lockdown talking to each other not on the media phone calls but across the balconies has started seeming fun. To see the entire society gathering in their terraces, to applaud for the doctors, police force and other task forces fighting against the covid 19, was a fun experience.  Getting together in the common lobby, wearing masks and standing apart 3 feet for a 5 min talk is a luxury and we have started looking forward to those 5 minutes, which were so taken for granted few days back. Just knowing that in case of emergencies at such times, someone is there to help you just a floor away in itself is reassuring.

As they say, every cloud has a silver lining, this Lockdown has brought people closer ,not physically for sure but emotionally. This neighborhood bond has developed stronger and everyone is waiting to meet up each other without any masks, physical or social!

A good neighbour increases the Value of your property.

A Czech proveb.