09/06/2026
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Childhood afternoons of joy and sorrowâĻ
Almost every afternoon in our home, especially in my motherâs room, it felt like a small âgathering of lifeâ would naturally begin. Neighbouring aunts would comeâsome holding betel leaves, some carrying the tiredness of the day in their eyes, and all of them bringing countless untold stories.
While chewing betel, the conversation would beginâabout family matters, life struggles, and everyday realities. Someone would talk about their sonâs studies, someone about a daughterâs marriage, someone about conflicts with a husband, and someone else about small pain related to their daughter-in-law. Everything was shared openly, without hesitation.
And the most beautiful thing wasâĻ those stories never remained just stories. In the middle of conversation, solutions would quietly emerge. One would share experience, another would smile through tears and feel lighterâlike, âI am not alone.â
Back then, âneighbourâ was not just someone living next doorâĻ they were a hand of support, a name of trust, and a sense of belonging.
A wedding in the neighbourhood? The whole area would take responsibility as if it were their own home.
Someone ill? A neighbour would take them to the hospital without even being asked.
If there was no elder at home, a neighbour uncle or brother would step in like a guardianâselflessly.
There were no expectations, no calculationsâĻ only an invisible bond from heart to heart.
But today, times have changedâĻ and that warmth, that humanity, that feeling of âneighbours are familyâ is not easily found anymore.
A neighbour is not just someone living beside usâthey were once our safety, our support, and another family to rely on. đ¤