A good neighbour is a great blessing.

On the other hand, a bad

neighbour is a curse. A good neighbour makes life worth living by
sharing our joys and sorrows but a bad neighbour is a source of
constant trouble and nuisance. As luck would have it, we have both
good and bad neighbours.

We live in a crowded locality. The streets are narrow and the houses
are mostly multi-storeyed. So we have quite a few neighbours. Our next
door neighbour is a poor workman. He is very hardworking. He works
from early morning till sunset and yet he can hardly make his both ends
meet. He is very self-respecting, however. His wife too is busy doing
something or the other. It is because of this that the neighbours do not
see much of them.

My next door neighbour to the left is a rich man. He has big business.
He lives in a big house. He has many servants but they are all good-fornothing. They are often picking quarrels with everyone they meet. The
rich man's wife seems to encourage them in this. It is because of this
that the neighbours do not have any dealing with the rich man.

In the top storey of the house in which we live there lives a Babooan
assistant in the Civil Secretariat. He is a thorough gentleman but his
wife is a quarrelsome lady. She very often has an altercation with her
neighbours. Their children too are spoilt ones. They set their radio at
full pitch and disturb others. It is because of this that people do not like

to have any dealings with them. They are the most unpopular ones in
the building.

Just in front on the opposite side of the street, live the Shuklas. They
have a son and a daughter. The son is of my age. We attend the same
school and are in the same class. The daughter is still a child but a very
charming one. She comes to my house and plays with my sisters.

The Shuklas have a high civic sense. They never do any thing which
might displease their neighbours. There is not a function to which they
are not invited. Mrs. Shukla is very friendly with my mother and they
pass most of their free time together. Mr. Shukla and my father are
usually together in the evenings. On Sundays and other festival
occasions both the families have lunch together. How lucky we are to
have the Shuklas as our neighbours !