The Neighbourhood of our Home
OUTLINES
1 The situation of the home.
The advantages or disadvantages of the situation in regard to —
(a) Light.
(b) Air.
(c) Space.
(d) Neighbours.
(e) Opportunities for recreation.
(i) General conveniences.
- How like to spend my time near home.
I live as you know in the Fort; but, as you have never seen Bombay and I should like you to have some idea of my surroundings, I will try to give you a description of the place in which I live.
The three of us, mother, father and myself, live together in a flat near the Secretariat, overlooking a maidan and the sea. It is a cool and healthy place and, as the flat is open on two sides, we can nearly always rely on getting a breeze. The view over the bay is beautiful, especially at sunset during the monsoon. We are conveniently situated for shopping, and we have only to step out of the house and there is a good place for us to walk in. The great drawback is that there are number of flats in one building and so there is not much privacy as we should like. Plenty of screens are required to keep people from looking into our rooms. The building is also very noisy, particularly as so Many-of the occupants are musically inclined and insist on making abundant use of pianos and phonographs. Still we ought not to grumble, as the streets are quiet; and compared with our cousins who are still living in the native town with its uproar, dust and dirt, we are very well off indeed.
We have a verandah overlooking the Cooperage, where foot-ball matches are played almost daily during the monsoon, and we can watch them without stirring from the house and without fear of being caught by a sudden shower. I always think a crowd repays observation, particularly such a variously assorted crowd as we see here, Hindus, Parsis, Mahomedans, all types and classes of people, passing to and fro; refreshing themselves after their day’s work is done.
I wish you were with me. It would be more interesting to discuss the crowd with a friend and, I am sure, you would love to wander about the seashore with me in the morning and to go shopping in the evening. After dark, the road in front or the house and the maidan are quite deserted. It is then that I like to walk on a fine evening, when the moon is shining and the water in the bay is glistening in its light. Everything is so peaceful, and as I walk. I can think over the lessons I have learnt for the next day detect deficiencies to be made up next morning and make a mental note of questions to be asked on difficulties I cannot solve alone.
