Place where I belong

It’s been almost 25 years that I have been staying in the same locality. The place where I have grown up playing cricket, the place where I have cycled through the streets all day long and the place where I have taken my first steps. The place which made me run towards it is now making me run away from it. Yes this place is located in the suburbs of Mumbai and needless to say is now becoming the education hub of the suburbs which in turn is growing faster day by day increasing the population and density.

Since the time I was born I have seen the place changing. The little two storey buildings now become a huge seven storey structures. My buildings been old and this two storey structure seems to be sandwiched between huge eight storey structures. My eyes have witnessed the changes since the past few years and every new building that comes up brings along new people with new faces. Before we knew which uncle use to stay in which block and which flat but these days we done even come to know whether a person by that name stays in out locality or not. Forget locality we have been so busy now that we don’t even get to see people in our very own building. I have seen many people leaving this area and shifting to some other part and many people coming in and making it their homes too, some were friends and some even relatives.

My locality is filled with various cultures. There is a Gujarati society next to my building which organizes navratri and dandiya nights and on the other I have a maharashtrian society which celebrates ganesh chaturthy and gudi padwa with great enthusiasm and anticipation. As a result I have grown up seeing a mix of various cultures which has resulted in a number of temples that have been coming up in the past few years which not only have kept my grand mom engaged in cultural activities but has also held peoples belief in god and kept religious faith alive in the younger ones.

This place once a less populated suburb is now loaded with traffic and too much pollution. The place where I stay has two schools nearby which make the mornings too noisy and the evenings over crowded. A theatre that just opened shortly seems to have increased the problems even though it adds to the source of entertainment. The lane that leads to my house passes through the theatre which has inadequate parking space as a result of which people park on the road making it cramped. Sometimes I am eager to rush home and get some sleep but the lane itself makes me go nausea tic. These are the same lanes where once I use to run behind the ball and try to stop it from reaching the boundary or hit it so hard that it crosses the line. The lanes in which once you could hear people ringing the cycle bells now are echoed with people honking over and over again.

The locality where I stay is located close to a very famous biscuit factory. The highway being a few meters away also makes traveling convenient by road. The transport services i.e. the railways stations and the bus services are also located close by. The area is easily accessible and well connected by all means makes it easy for people to travel as a result many people have started shifting in which in turn is increasing the demand of more space as a result more towers are coming up. The airport being situated close by does not allow the structures to go higher than the existing but just adds on to more traffic as well as noise pollution. The only time where I get to sit peacefully is at night but because of the load on air traffic increasing now the flights pass over my building which not only increases the sound but also disallows me to sleep.

I am tired and my body needs rest. I want to leave home and shift to a new peaceful and a much environmental friendly locality but when I turn the pages of my life and look back; I realize that this place means a lot to me and shifting to another place will not bring any change to my life as the change is now taking over every suburb and every locality. I agree that changes will come but in such a way which is making living conditions worse is just not acceptable. I feel that the kids are missing something which once we enjoyed. The same grounds where once upon a time we had been playing cricket is now occupied with cars using it as their parking space. Where do these kids go if they want to play? Where does a common man go if he wants to take some sigh of relief and breath in fresh air? Urbanization has taken over so much that the one constructing these massive structures are not only endangering human life but also changing the standard of living to worsen the conditions for the people staying here. I agree that a place has to grow with changing times but if the growth has to come at such cost then I strongly disagree. I feel the need of change and the times to reverse so as to make one feel as to what we have been missing. I feel that one should look back and get those times when children laughing out loud in the building compound use to be the only sound in the lane. The growth will come and so will the standard of living rise but that will not change my thoughts and my love for this place. It is just another locality but I want it to become the best where people don’t breathe smoke they breathe in fresh air with a sigh of relief.