The Park Bench

Chilly winter evenings or warm summer nights, the combination of good conversation and a comfortable bench midst the breeze at a small park in the local suburban areas of Delhi is a common and familiar sight throughout the city. For thousands of citizens across town, an hour or so they spend each day in the company of old neighbors turned good friends is the one thing that defines normality in their everyday lives. Coming from an independent neighborhood outside of Chicago, this uniformity is truly fascinating. This is the guaranteed one on one interaction that whoever partakes in can use to exchange daily stories, get opinions on important decisions, gossip and exchange laughs. This is also a very simple phenomenon that distinguishes the feel of being part of a community versus an exclusive set of activities that is contained within just one’s home and closed doors.
It is a reminder that what you do, does in fact affect others around you and nothing you do goes unnoticed. Be it the recent wedding arrangement between neighbors, or the new girl in the block that every guy drools over, or the newly wedded bride in the neighborhood who dresses less than traditional. In communities where such an interaction is lacking, there is a sense of belongingness that is absent - the feeling that no matter how happy or dire my current circumstances are, there is nobody outside of the house to share that with.
For so many old retired couples that miss the presence of their loved ones in their homes, walks after dinner with their similar counterparts makes them feel less lonely. For the housewife who feels that she has to refrain from actually voicing her opinions at home, meeting with others in her situation makes her feel less burdened with her own secrets. Delhi is progressing rapidly, and new activities and places are coming up everyday, but the continued existence of parks and fenced gardens can never be replaced with anything more spectacular than the mere idea of their presence. In other parts of the world where an appointment is a pre-requisite to pay a visit and converse, these unsaid and customary meeting places are absent in their culture.
Some locals might view these daily meetings as mildly irritating and a breeding ground for gossip, but when scratched under the surface, they are a representation of the community enveloped lifestyle that is present throughout the country and what foreigners love about India the most. No matter how different we are from one another, there are common threads that bind us together for what we do and the culture we follow. Traditions such as park bench conversations and daily walks give an excuse to come out of your shell, make yourself feel vulnerable without being stripped, and openly understand what’s accepted and expected around you without always having to put yourself on a stage for everyone to judge.