Writer’s Life
Through The Windows And The Doors
The lights I’ve seen, a reality revealed.
Strolling along my usual path, I plugged in my earphones. The song played, the melody flowed and the symphony danced. And so did I.
“Chand taaron se chalna hai aage
Asmaanon se badna hai aage
Pichhe reh jayega yeh zamana
Yahan kal kya ho kisne jaana"
Walking around I came across many small bushes, colourful flowers, you know.. the usual things that are highlighted as soon as a song about 'life' plays. You would never notice that pale white-coloured flower otherwise. Would you?
Well this time, I noticed a huge 5-floor flat system that was built recently across a street or two. No sooner were they out for sale than they were sold in a split of time (Thanks to the huge population of the country. Sigh).
The building was coloured in the most recently popularized gen-z colours. White, a lightish hue of brown and a darker version of it. All the rooms had balconies and large windows.
The longer I gazed, the broader I observed.
Each window had a different lighting. Some pale yellow, some bright orange, some colourless white.
The lights differ in their intensities and so did the people living there. Most of them had a Tulsi sapling planted in a pot kept neatly on the balcony which represented their Indian roots and ideologies.
As the sun set, the kids rushed behind their mothers who were placing a diya near the Tulsi plant. The mother and the kid joined hands and chanted:
“Shubham karoti kalyanam aarogyam dhana sampanda
Shatru buddhi vinashayak dipak jyoti namastute…”
I shifted my view from the 3rd floor to the 1st floor. I noticed an old, gentle lady seated on a chair on the balcony. Wait a moment... Is she gazing at me and waving her hand? Umm, clueless, I wove back. A huge smile occupied her beautiful and bright-wrinkly face. A few moments later, she was accompanied by a white Labrador puppy that came wagging its tail and sat beside the lady quietly. The lady stroked the puppy with her hand, wearing a single pair of green glass bangles. Though I wanted to initiate a conversation somehow and ask her about her health, I walked forward.
Next, I saw a window with flickering red, blue and green shades. Saw a few people dancing. A party maybe?
The adjacent house had greenery on its balcony, from climbers to potted bonsai plants and from the leaves of different patterns to flower-bearing plants. The tiny balcony space was utilised to make a green corner. Perhaps to sip a cup of tea during the twilight…
Hmm. Each person living there has a life of their own, their favourite people and the dreams they long for.
Some have ambitions and are yearning for those to come true while others are done with the major chapters of their life.
Some are struggling while some are living their best possible times.
Some are accompanied yet lonely and some are lonely yet surrounded by their loved ones.
Some have moved forward, while others have moved backwards.
Some are stuck while others have moved on.
Some are crying while the ones in the adjacent rooms are enjoying.
These walls of bricks have differentiated lives. People live together yet know nothing about one another.
They are close but still far apart. They are united yet falling apart.
The strings they are holding onto are not reliable but their relations are. The walls even with the brightest colours are pale and blank.
People have resorted to living in their limited chambers. No one knows even the names of the same people they have been residing for years. Same building, same floor yet have never talked or wove at each other’s.
Not socializing is considered a cool thing as it makes you look mysterious and smart. It is dangerous. It really is. Human is a social animal and that’s a fact. Not socializing will either turn you into a weirdo or a psychopath. Worse than that, it would turn you into a sad sloggy creature lacking life in it.
So get out of your comfort zone PLEASE!! And try walking around and talking to the people that you know. Share the world and laugh together. Make friends and be happy together.
