Since March 25 we have been pretty much in self-incarceration. Yes, due to the global threat of coronavirus, India went into a nationwide lockdown. As of now the lockdown has been extended till May 31, but there's no telling when things will go back to normal.?
During this period social life went for a toss, and all the more for those like yours truly, who live away from home, are not living in nor married, don't have a pet or a flatmate, it is the height of solitude. Even for someone like me who enjoys the bliss of being alone, it does get a little too much to handle at times. Of course there's books and internet to take up your time when one is not working from home, but sometimes a little company is not bad.?
One mode of talking prevalent during this time is across balconies. That's right, the verandas are proving to be the new hubs to hang out. So giving into the peer pressure, I decided to try it. It did wonders.?
Now let me make a clarification. I have been living in Delhi since 2011. At the same address too. In other words, the same surroundings for the last 9 years or so. Now believe it or not, during this time, I have hardly got to know those living in the very next building. In fact I know hardly 5 people in the entire complex and 2 happened to be office colleagues from my first job in Delhi when I shifted base for the first time. That means barring the odd look of greeting or the polite Hi, Hello, I knew nothing about my neighbours.?
Now we got talking and slowly got to learn about each other. I found out he was a Bengali like me (not that big a surprise as I live in a Bong majority locality, yes you guessed it, CR Park), an eye-specialist, married with a son and a dog named Whisky (no I am not kidding).?
The sea of knowledge proved to be a 2-way street as they too got to know a lot about me. They were shocked to learn that I lived alone as they thought I had been living forever in the area. Perhaps the main reason was they hardly saw me. That would be because my social life was either in Noida or areas like Hauz Khas and GK, along with Gurgaon. What remains went in office and sleep. So the lockdown certainly got us a lot of time to get acquainted.?
The conversations led to invitations to come over (with proper precautions of course). Since it was a matter of just going next door, not that much of an issue. I learned they were sports buffs and when they learned I was a sports writer, well you can guess the discussions that followed.?
Whenever the lockdown does end and life does return to normal, this is one habit I am not dropping. After all it's good to have good neighbours, especially in a city you have made your home despite not being born or raised in it. ??