Friday, July 10, 2009

Another Brick In The Wall

I often get nostalgic. Remembering the old times is the only source of happiness for me. And it is not out of choice, but for the lack of it. I was constructed thirty years ago. Oh! I am sorry I forgot to introduce myself. I am an average ten storey high building. Back then, life was simple and beautiful. I was young and full of life. People knew me, I was known. It was not only me, but everything surrounding me. Mornings you were woken up by the cock’s full-throated wake up call, and evenings were full of children’s laughter and bird’s chirping. There was serenity and peace. However only change is constant, and nearly twenty years back changes started to take place. They were sign of progress. I wasn’t single anymore. By and by others had started moving in. I was a little jealous initially - I was not used to sharing my space with anybody. But it was great to have companions to share my joys and sorrows with.

Time flies by, and before I could realize, everything around me had undergone a metamorphosis. Earlier I had sulked about letting anybody moving in, but now I couldn’t even feel that. Suddenly, all my space had been taken away; virtually there was no room for me to breathe. There were buildings all around me. The lawns were nowhere to be seen. Blaring horns greeted the morning and the sounds from daily living, now elevated to the level of noise, welcomed the night. Cars had come up in place of children. In all this chaos I missed out on my companions too. And just then, I felt like a stranger in my own territory, my own life. I had lost my individuality and myself. Nobody remembered me. I had become one of the lots, another brick in the wall. There was such a pouring in of people I failed to recognize my own from the crowd. I ceased to live and started to exist. Buildings after buildings had crammed into my space and I had been unable to recognize this. What I had thought of as progress, had actually taken my life into the regressive mode.

This is my sad but true tale. And if you haven’t yet woken up to the fact, unfortunately yours too.

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