My Residential Colony

When I first saw my first rented apartment in a residential colony, I immediately liked it. It was a 50-year-old house but what I saw made me agreeable was I could connect to it. It was pretty cool from the inside due to its old strong construction. In the hot summer, it could cool two interconnected rooms with a single air-conditioner, and a big front balcony facing the park, where I spend most of my time.  Enjoying the rainy and pleasant weather, sometimes the company of my daughter, seeing children playing in the park, roadside fights etc. In winter I enjoyed my lunch in the sun. The rent was reasonable due to old construction and everything was perfect.  

After an enjoyable stay for a year or so, one day my landlord decided to demolish it and get a new house built in the same place. It was a disappointment for me to move out, but strangely, after a year I got it back with a new construction. The best interior and exterior, but it had a very small front balcony.

The backside balcony was reasonable although the view was a little different – only one backyard garden in the whole lane of buildings. Fortunately, it is just opposite to mine.

I often see Mr. Singh, of a neighbouring house, being possessive – nobody should park near to my house. One day, he placed a temporary fence outside his home over the government road, hesitantly. He thought, “If any official objects, then I will remove the fence”.

After a few months, he turned the temporary fence into a half-cemented wall with floor tiles. He thought, “It can also easily be removed if been objected, big deal. Everyone is doing the same”. 

A few months later, he covered it with a temporary roof. And after a few months, there was a well-constructed room instead. His confidence had gone to the next level. He thought, “It has been many years now, all the space I covered is mine.  I would take a big fight if anyone object now”.

A few months later, another fence…….

Mr. Singh often complains, there is no parking place in the city.  

Poem

Roads and balconies getting narrow,

Big rooms with too much furniture inside,

How to be close to nature?

How to open heart and mind?