There is no elbow room anywhere

Modern lifestyle has everything one can aspire to. All the amenities one can dream of is a reality now. Banking has never been so easy. ATMs and digital currencies for financial transactions are available 24/7, Chemists and hospitals are open all day and night, communications are faster than ever before, nights looking like broad daylight, travel is faster and easier. A smartphone is enough for everything. Cabs and autos are just a call away.

With advanced technologies used to optimal levels, lives have taken a bigger leap than what it was a few decades ago. Purchasing power has increased, awareness has improved, and lives are lived on a fast track.

However, one thing that can bother everyone is the lack of ‘space’. Space has become a premium and a luxury as well. Space constraints are not just restricted to outside alone, it starts from one’s home. Gone are the days when household essentials and articles were heavy and known for durability. Durability was the main requirement. The huge cupboards, dining and dressing tables, the cots and wooden furniture. Those were the days which could house huge and heavy household needs. Rooms were big and huge, a big storeroom which could hold items that would be sparingly used. Each house would have a sit-out where people could sit and chat comfortably.

Today a 2 BHK is a classic example of lives being lived in shrunken space. Two cots leave the bedroom with no space. The second bedroom would be even smaller, congested since balconies would occupy the space. Worse still if a bedroom has projection of beams. The hall meant for living space would necessarily be compromised for the dining space. A dining table, sofa and some furniture would leave the hall with no space for anything else. Bathrooms and balconies small and smaller.

From the huge and heavy household necessities, the light and smaller commodities are preferred, though the shelf live even with advanced improvisations are short lived. It’s use and throw these days. Dining tables are lighter, sofas are sleeker.

Parking woes: A parking place in an apartment allotted can hardly be adequate enough for parking a four wheeler. There can hardly be any space to even add a two wheeler in the allotted Car parking space. Most people have more than one vehicle and parking woes start there. Expensive vehicles are parked outside the premises, occupying a part of the public road. To park a four wheeler outside can be cumbersome. The business establishments have their own constraints in space management as well. Leave alone parking a four wheeler, it’s tough to even park a two wheeler. Crossing a road comfortably is a real challenge.

While the population has increased by leaps and bounds, the fact is that luxuries are becoming a necessity. A moderation that will help is grossly missing. Isn’t it an irony that despite huge advancements in lifestyles, lives are lived for survival and not peacefully. Playgrounds and open spaces are a rarity.

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