We live in a flat on the first floor. There are six flats in our building. There are four other families in the building and the flat on the ground floor under us is at life in peace and harmony. All the neighbors present vacant with and relation But there is not much social contact one another. They are a bank manager, a lady teacher, a businessman, and a doctor.
The bank manager is a nice man and lives in the flat above ours. His wife is a housewife and religious minded. They have two sons. They both go to school. They are originally from Sindh but speak Urdu very fluently. The manager is also the head of the Welfare Society of our locality. He is Memon by caste. On the top floor opposite us lives a businessman Mr. Abid Ali. He is very much busy in his factory of cardboard boxes at Raiwind. He leaves early in the morning and comes late at night. His wife is not educated and comes from a village. She often throws the dust and dirt of her house out of her balcony. People have complained her about it many times. But these have fallen on deaf ears. Therefore, people have adopted an attitude of tolerance in the matter. Her two sons can be seen playing cricket or some other game most of the time after school hours. They are very noisy as well. They often throw bits of papers, toffee wrappers, orange skins etc., in the common passage and stairs.[the_ad id=”17141″]
The lady teacher opposite us on the first floor is our immediate neighbor. She is a widow and has two sons. The elder son is about 25 years of age and works in a ministry as a section officer. The other is of my age and studies with me in the same college. But he is junior to me as I am in the XII class and he is in XI class. His name is Nadeem Iqbal. He is tall, slim and smart and very much her mother in appearance. The lady teacher teaches English in a nearby Corporation middle school. On Sundays and other holidays, she ofter to my mother and they both together enjoy talking and doing things. Nadeem welcomes our house and sometimes I help him lessons and homework.
The doctor is a jolly fellow and can be often seen sharing jokes (well and pleasantries with others. He can be seen smoking sometimes.
He is also a good singer. He has a small clinic in the market and has a very good pití His wife is a fat lady and very talkative. She enjoys advising others how to prepare this dish or that. She regards herself as the moving treasury of recipes. Their daughter years of age and really lovable. She studies in a Convent school in the first standard. They also keep a dog. The dog sometimes becomes a nuisance when shut in the house alone. Then he goes on barking and barking till someone returns home. When let loose he scares the children and frightens the ladies.
On such occasions as Eid-ul-Fitr a Tid-ul-Azha etc., all the neighbors come together and exchange greetings, glad sweets and good wishes but for the rest of the year, every family is mostly confined to itself. Such occasions are essential for the social unity and harmony.
