'Give me space'

 ‘Har taraf, har jagah beshumaar aadmi
(There are numerous people around us)

Phir bhi tanhaiyon ka shikaar aadmi’
(Still then, each of us is alone) I

s this a cry or a howl? May be a request, from all of us nowadays!!! Everyone is in a mad rush for the space, an entity almost scarce. Microeconomics describes it to be one of the major factors for it being elusive and expensive, and available only to the affluent. Don’t faux pas it for the 'realty space'. I am referring to the ‘personal space.’ It was not so long time back when we did this to/with our friends and neighbors: …attended to their brand new home appliances opening ceremonies; fiddled with the handsets of a newly-installed telephone; took the charge of a new scooter kicking and gearing; proudly getting sweets on the kids leaping into the next class; exchanged new audio cassettes and played them loud for the entire block to hear (requests poured in to keep the volume at its summit); kids studied in the balconies listening to the latest bollywood numbers; uncles and aunts educating ANY ruffian on the street on the importance of values, studies; neighbor’s visiting natives being invited for dinner; lunch being arranged for the neighbor’s kids going abroad for higher education; getting/giving financial support whenever required; mothers alternating between the neighborhood homes helping prepare sweets at the time of festivals; reaching out to each other’s house at hearing about them being unwell; assisting students around in understanding the complexities of mitosis, algebra, Differential calculus, essays and what not; passing on the love letters for and to our near and dear brothers and sisters; asking and getting drinking cold water from the nearest house to the playground after hours of play under the scorching sun; agreeing to be with the old parents of neighbors, friends for days if their ‘natural’ sons and daughters were out of the town; getting the home work and class work copies from friends to complete the task; finding shoulders to cry in case parents weren’t pleased with the grades; outstation students calling their parents on neighbor’s phone…   It is now a gaga as it has been completely supplanted by several modes. Loneliness is on the road to become a major pandemic in the years to come. A recent study in India shows that 45% of the respondents feel lonely and isolated because of the absence of interaction with family members, or society at large. 40% of the respondents from nuclear family felt lonely and only 10% from the joint family felt isolated. There have been cases of suicides because of very less or no interaction with near and dear ones. ‘Social networking sites’ also haven’t been spared even. Respondents said that they feel lonely even if they have thousands of friends on many social networking sites. Some new websites are trying to foray into India to take advantage, proposing the concept of ‘friends on rent’. People prefer talking to strangers, even if they ignore their own people around. Interested to invoke the change? Start from your nearest neighbor. 1. Pick a day when you watch your favorite not-to-be-missed TV program. 2. Miss that program and visit them. 3. Give your introduction and have theirs. 4. Try to know at least one node of connect that binds/can bind the two families together. 5. Try to instill confidence in them on you. 6. Invite them to visit your place anytime. 7. Start sharing home-cooked delicacies. 8. Don’t miss any chance of helping them, from sharing the onion, capsicum, tomato, sugar, etc to lending them money. 9. Don't hesitate to seek help from them. 10. Make this regular. Owning a space is as important as having stuff to fill it... Extend it to your friends and relatives…  

Have a happy neighboring…