Good fences make good neighbors

"Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence." 

"He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'."

It’s anyone’s wish to have a good neighbor. In a dire situation one would always run to one’s neighbor irrespective of whether he is a friend or a foe.

A good neighbor can make your stay at any place an unforgettable experience. I have enough friends whom I keep troubling any time of the day or at night with my ravings. But unfortunately, I never had reassuring neighbors except in three places of our nomadic life.

When we moved to the capital city I was well briefed by my friends about the hostility of the city and its people. When someone asserts that a thing is bad, I have this odd habit of wanting them to be proven wrong. I was keen on making friends. So, even when there was no sign of my neighbor, after three days of our moving in, I went and pressed their door bell. My fair, plump, bespectacled and ‘colorfully’ middle aged neighbor was all smiles and promptly offered all help along with coffee which I never let her make.

After that once in a while she would ring my door bell with a bowl or plate in hand filled with one of her gastronomic researches. After tasting her cooking once or twice, my elder son concluded that she was trying on us what her family was refusing to eat. Still, she was a sweet soul, always prompt in offering help.

When we shifted to the new house, I was hopeful, but my hopes turned soggy when I saw that my beautiful neighbor would jerk and retract every time she saw me. I heard they were moving out and thought that she did not want to make any new friends as they were to shift soon. I crisped up my hopes again.

I waited with anticipation for an amicable neighbor. The day arrived. I saw three gorgeous looking young girls in the house and was excited. Their mother would definitely be an elegant woman and would make a very good neighbor. I waited and waited to have a glimpse of the lady of the house so that I can befriend her. I could not see her and wondered whether she wasn't alive. Finally I saw her after a month’s expectation.

It is painful to see estranged parents fight for the custody of their hapless children; I saw it today, when I opened my door hearing loud admonishments in front of my neighbor’s door.

Good fences make good neighbors. Sensitivity and expectations don’t. I closed my door.