Shout out to all those who read this first on Women's Web
We are the smart couples, the ones who inhabit the skyscrapers
one’d have been amazed looking at back in 90’s. These imposing edifices reflect
not just prosperity on the owner’s part for they are no cheap, but also a sense
of equality – living amongst the equals.
NCRs, or national crowded region, would consist of hundreds of ‘mini’
societies, which would boast of giving you a life you would have only dreamt
of. True, back in 90’s, society only meant one, huge area, Punjabi Bagh West,
for instance, where everyone would know who lives next door and, also, what
happens in their lives. For now, several modern ‘mini’ societies have
mushroomed around us and have changed the lives we have ever been living.
Coming to this second just passed, and this one I am
trying to hold on to, I am looking outside of my balcony on the second floor in
one of the poshest societies of Indirapuram. It’s been close to 10 months since
we have shifted to this house and made it our own. This house and the society
gives you a life which takes time to sink in, to get into your lifestyle and
makes you alter your living habits as per its rules.
True, this is a society, which boasted of luxurious living
on its marketing paraphernalia, and true that it takes care of all the tags you
might want to console yourself with for having spent lakhs buying a small space
in it – sprawling gardens, huge community hall, basketball, tennis, badminton
courts, swimming pool, gym, kids’ play area, senior citizens’ club and
everything else. But in the 10 months passed, I have only seen Mondays turn
into Fridays catching up with work and the rest two days catching up with home.
The web we have intertwined ourselves in doesn’t really
let anyone to sneak out and seek life. Husbands work, wives work, kids either
confine themselves to schools or crèches and the rest, the stay-at-home lot –
the retired or the housewives or a few like me working from home stay back and
let the ‘society’ life make you solitary despite sensing the worlds living
beneath, adjacent and above you.
There’s a home beneath me, a home above me; there’s a
young couple living beneath and an elderly couple living above of me. The only
connection I have with them is through our balconies – no I don’t see them
there, I either drop clothes below or receive some from above. Balconies were
only meant to dry out clothes – weren’t they? Soaking in the sun, savoring
oranges, guavas or peanuts while basking in the sunlight are all passé, right?
While buying groceries one day, I ended up bumping into
the girl who lived on the first floor, right below my house. I was amazed to
know how she, too, dreamed of a friend in this vast society. It was impossible
to have a life sans one’s work and home in this setup. But, what really stopped
us? Well. Nothing.
Why don’t we step out and talk to each other? Why have we
stopped passing smiles and exchanging pleasantries? Why do we no longer get
together to celebrate mini victories or major losses? Why have we turned into
the new-age zombies, who go to work, obey every duty and sleep in their
pigeonholes? Why don’t we learn skills from each other or rather just talk and
learn? Why don’t we make a first move for a friendship or a relation? Why is
this ‘equality’ not helping in breeding friendships? Well, they didn’t
guarantee a great social life in their marketing campaigns, they only did a great society. Pretty well, they have delivered.
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