Man is a social animal. He is at his best when he lives in society. He has certain rights and duties. His rights are limited by his duties to others. According to Islam, his first duty is towards God. Then come the duties towards others (Huqooqul Ibad).
We owe our duties towards our parents, our kith and kids or relatives, towards the poor, and lastly towards our neighbors- those who live next door to us. Good neighbors are, indeed a great blessing, bad neighbors, a curse. Thank God, all my neighbours are good.
My best neighbors are Naik family. Mr Naik is an advocate. He has two daughters, Puspa and Hema, and two sons, Ganesh and Madhev. We are on the best terms with them. The girls are college students and boys go to school. In spite of being non-muslims, they eat and drink with us, and we enjoy outings and picnics. Aunti Naik never fails to treat us with special Bombay dishes. They are very loving, courteous and co-operative. Even our neighbours in faith cannot compare with them. We are proud of them. They are our best friends and share our joys and sorrows.
My locality is called a cosmopolitan society. Christians, Parsees, Hindus, and people of all the provinces, live like a big family There is a great corporate sense among the dwellers and neighbors. [the_ad id=”17141″]
My second next neighbor is D’soza family. Mr and Mrs. D’soza are old couple but they have no children. Uncle D’soza is like papa of the town. His wife and sister are kind enough to visit and felicitate us on festivals and happy occasions. We also reciprocate their gestures. We enjoy to talk to them in English.
Our right hand neighbors are from Chinoot. They have a big family like ours. We are good friends according to age groups. Aunti Asad is kind enough to give daily lift to our school going kiddies. We also play cricket on the street during holidays or in the evening. We never quarrel or backbite. I have also picked up Punjabi in their company. Next to them are Pichicos,- a devout and social Christian family. Our young friends have left for American and England. They often correspond with us and bring gifts for us when they visit Pakistan.
The above families reside in two-hundred yards bungalows, Across the street are four, hundred yards B-type bungalows No. 65 & 66. B/65 is owned by Assistant custom commissioner uncle Qazi who is a good hockey player. They are very obliging and helpful. He has also formed and promoted a cricket team of the young. B/66 belongs to Mr. Aziz a big businessman. The young couple has three school going, kids. They are newcomers and lack in social compatibility. We respect our superiors who are kind and good to us. The neighbors have sense of mutual co-operation, fraternity and goodwill. We also hold social functions and meetings to discuss our problems. It is a great fun to arrange night cricket matches with the teams of the other streets.
In a busy place like Karachi where people do not even know their next neighbors, we are fortunate enough to enjoy a good society. In this world full of complexes and constraints, pull and push, to live for others, is mark of great social awareness and unity.