Co-existing

I grew up in a central suburb of Mumbai, called Dombivli and spent 23 years there. I went to school in Dombivli and later to college in Mulund, and for post-graduation, I went to Mumbai University at Kalina, which was manageable by train. The formidable years of schooling and college were spent studying in one of the two bedrooms in the house. We stayed on the first floor. The society, next to ours was very close and we could almost hear the arguments, discussions, television noise or arrival of guests in the houses on the first floor and they could hear everything that happened on our first floor. During the Ganpati festival, there were always elaborate rituals and aarti sessions that even we enjoyed listening to from their end. Still, there were also bitter arguments between family members that left us sad and fearful.