Still a Social Animal?

There is this big billboard across the road from my office that reads something like this:

BACK BY PUBLIC DEMAND
THE GIRL NEXT DOOR
EVENING SHOW ONLY
PARENTAL ADVISORY
DON'T BE ENTERTAINMENT FOR YOUR NEIGHBOURS

XYZ JHAROKHA - THE NO NEIGHBOUR APARTMENTS
CONTACT: **** ***** ******* *****

This words were accompanied by a photo that showed the shadow of a girl quite well endowed behind a window screen, i guess taking a bath.

It got my kinda thinking. I was reminded of the good old days of my early youth when I used to have a huge crush on the girl next door. Years later, i came to know that her younger sister had a crush on me, but then, I had expected that all along. Infact, I used to try hard to impress her (the elder one, that is) by riding my cycle real fast in the lane that separated our houses.

Our family always had very good relations with the neighbours, and that used to be a common trend in all the smaller cities of India during those day- the early and mid nineties. Lots of infants from the neighbours' homes virtually grew up in our house, coz my mother was a housewife and had loads of patience, the latter quality she swears came from her experience in raising me. These kids used to adore me, and at the risk of being called immodest, i claim that i used to be their hero.

Now, we have a bigger house back home, the city itself has developed into a fast bustling one, and i have been out of my home since mid 2004. But today when i visit home for a week or so once a year, i can feel the change that has come about - culturally. I hardly get to see the people who stay next to us, all u get to see is a door close shut with a video camera enabled calling bell staring at ur face.

I guess this is a fall out of the way our country has moved forward economically. We work hard, spend more time in office, and for the homemakers, the daily soaps that run on the idiot box are more important than socializing. Is man still a social animal?

And in many ways, i have become a product of the same environment. I spend almost 14 hours out of home on weekdays, and out of the remaining 10, prefer to sleep 7 hours. The office is the new home, and relationships and crushes develop here now, and not in your neighbourhood. I wish my kids could know how i feels to have a crush on your next door neighbour... after all, its all a part of your growing up.