We stayed in a Society
flat for a while with son & daughter in law in Mumbai. The Society had more than hundred flats
& in the morning there was lot of activity. Noisy kids hurried to
schools, parents or grandparents gathered to see them off, people rushed to their
offices, ignition sounds of cars & bikes, honking of horns, maids chattering & hurrying to jobs etc. All this activity cooled down by 10 O’clock or so & for a couple of hours it was quiet. Same scene got repeated in the evening when these people started returning.
Our son & daughter in law come late from
their offices & we often had our evening tea sitting in the balcony
enjoying the evening breeze. From the balcony of the flat we could see a
lot of balconies of other flats. Out of them six were quite near & activity
in them was visible though we could not talk to occupants from that distance. We
often discussed or rather conjectured about the lifestyle of occupants in those
balconies though we had no interaction with them. We even named the balconies based on various factors.
Let’s see.
Coconut Balcony was occupied by an old couple. Old man
was occasionally seen in folded lungi & vest. He was of darker complexion
than his wife. He came out in balcony more than his wife did. He often had steel glass in hand for drinking water or coffee perhaps with a newspaper
in his hand. Sometimes both came out with mobile in her hand which she handed
over to husband after a long dialogue. We classified old man as retired civil
servant. Their kid or kids must be in other parts of the country or perhaps
abroad as there were long phone calls which were attended & shared by both.
Jaipur Balcony was so named as its female occupants wore
bright Rajasthani style Leharia sarees. Their balcony had several potted plants
including Tulsi. At about six in the morning old lady would come with a thali
chanting Arti with a small bell ringing in the air
& would offer prayers. She would be normally accompanied by daughter in law
or a little girl or both. They did pooja together sitting there in balcony. That
is a nice scene to watch three generations sitting together. Their balcony was
packed with domestic items - potted plants, a washing machine, a cooking gas cylinder, plastic
chairs & lots of clothes always hanging there. There was continuous activity on
this balcony throughout the day. Seemed to be well set business family.
 |
| Six of them |
LoC Balcony had a
middle aged gentleman who would now & then start quarrelling with his wife
especially at the dinner time. He would flare up suddenly & then continue
for may be a few minutes or an hour & sometimes even beyond that. A few
words which were audible when he shouted at his peak indicated that his wife
did not cook well. Response of his wife was never heard though. Noisy scenes
& appearance of a cluttered balcony reflected a not so happy family. This
reminded of a line of Leo Tolstoy ‘all happy families are alike & each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way’.
Tom & Jerry Balcony had a family including two boys
aged may be 5 to 10. Most of the time they were hanging on railing, shouting,
blowing bubbles, throwing paper planes, banging railings & so on.
There was never a dull moment in the balcony except when they were not home. If
nothing else they would fight with each other. We saw them being rebuked by
their mother or father but no matter in minutes they were at it again. They
will have their food in balcony, do their home work in balcony & play in
balcony. Good luck boys!
Nxt Gen Balcony had a small baby & homemaker mom.
Both made good use of the balcony all through the day. The clothes line
remained full of tiny clothes. Father of the baby made seldom appearance which
suggested his occupation had more to do with touring. The lights burnt late
whenever he was there else the lights were off early. Seemed to be a happy
little family - generation next. We had differing opinion as to baby being boy
or a girl.
Pigeon Hole Balcony was occupied by a pair of pigeons in
courtship. The flat seems to have been locked for quite some time & was not
showing any sign of activity. So the pigeons spotted this rent free
accommodation for nesting & were in process of settling down here. Male of
them was constantly seen trying to please the female with his song & dance
routine in Devanand style. Female now said yes now said no in Bollywood style.
It was fun to watch them.
Time for tea break!
