My Neighbour
Essay No. 01
Love your neighbour said Jesus Christ. Yet how many people do really love their neighbours ? Usually there prevails a great tension among the neighbours on some point of dispute or the other. Many people just tolerate neighbours because there is no other way to get rid of them. Here and there people change their houses, if they are tenants and cannot pull on with their neighbours. Some people even sell their houses because they find their neighbourhood is not congenial to their tastes.
There are very few neighbours among whom amity prevails. If there is love among the neighbours, it is like something out of paradise, because your neighbour is nearer to you than your kith and kin. He can always be helpful to you when other people cannot reach you. There is a romantic possibility of boys and girls playing together in their childhood getting married ultimately. Such a marriage is likely to be the happiest because its attachment goes back to infancy.
It is usually for boys and girls next door to peep into each other’s courtyards and admire each other, even if they are not on speaking terms. Neighbours are thrown together by God like two fellow travellers in a bus or a train and it is best to be tolerant of each other even though true love and admiration may be lacking. That is why Jesus said, “Love thy neighbour.” If you do not love even your neighbour how can you love rest of the world?
Women admire men in the neighbour and men admire the women in the vicinity if they have nothing unpleasantness about them. “My neighbour is a sort of husband my wife would like to have”, is a famous proverb. The same may also be said about the neighbouring wives. “My neighbour is a type of wife my husband would like to have.” After all the things work out both ways. What is true of men is equally true of women. What is goose for the one is gander for the other.
There is no doubt that the neighbours take keen interest in the affairs of each others even when they are not on speaking terms. They want to know all that is happening in their close neighbourhood. They peep through hole and even hear whispers to find out what is happening on the other side of the wall. They engage even maid servants and sweepers to inform them about all that is happening in the house of the neighbour next door. If the neighbours are rich and affluent they want to know what prestigious gadgets the other party possesses, how much money it spends, what kind of furniture it has in the house, what are the kind of people who come to meet them and what are the kinds of friends and foes they have. In case of any feud between them, they at once carry the tables to their friends and foes and try to alienate their neighbours from their friend and sow seeds of bitterness among foes. In any case of trouble, they align themselves, with the foes of the neighbour and make a common cause with them.
Your neighbour has claim upon privacy and your time. It is best not to deny such claims but willingly accept the exigencies of the solution. Why resent something which is inevitable ? Neighbours are people like fellow travellers life is nothing but a short journey. Let us live it as happily as we can. Why make it more miserable that it really is ?
Essay No. 02
My Neighbour
Blessed are those who have good neighbours, I am lucky to have Mr. Ajay Gupta as my next door neighbour. He is young man of forty-two. He is every inch a gentleman. He is very helpful to all.
Mr. Ajay is a wealthy businessman. He is very intelligent. He has two pet dogs. In spite of being rich he is not arrogant. He speaks to everyone and is generous and kind.
Mr. Ajay has two children—one son and one daughter. His son is of my age and studies in a public school. His daughter is student of class nine.
Mr. Ajay is noble, polite and soft-spoken. He is the President of the welfare society of our colony. He always talks in sense. He is the well-wisher of one and all. He is ever ready to help all his neighbours in need. He follows the principle of ‘service before self.
All the members of his family are good. His father is very kind and religious. His children are good natured and have good manners. They are good at studies too. His wife is a simple house-wife.
We mix freely with them. Sometimes Mr. Ajay gives us a lift in his car. We exchange sweets and presents with them on festivals.
Mr. Ajay and the members of his family are very cooperative and helpful. They have forged a kind of family feeling among the neighbours.
