Neighbours: great friends

With the passage of time as one grows older having lived a life full of joy and sorrow, ups and downs shifting from one place to another in connection with job commitments etc one comes across several persons who could be named as colleagues, work-partners or friends. But then, real good friends are so rare to find these days. 

Friendship has become more or less a give and take affair now. I have come to the conclusion that it is your close neighbours, finally, who are your friends on-the-spot. 

The reason is that over the years of long service, you, of course, made several friends, shared and cheered with them but eventually having shifted to some other place you were bound to lose or forget them. New faces replaced older faces at the new place and the process continued till ultimately you settled down in one place after retirement. Here you need the company of friends and they could be none other than your good neighbours.

Back in India, we have formed a small club of around seven families who are our neighbours-cum-friends. We meet every Saturday in the evening by rotation: share pleasantries, discuss the welfare of each other and even felicitate each other if there is any such appropriate occasion to do that. Matters relating to mutual interests and current political issues are also discussed occasionally over a cup of tea and snacks.

Dr Shiben Krishen Raina, Ajman