The Subtle Missing Spaces

I sometimes miss the noise of my native place.

It sounds strange to say that I miss noise. But I do. I miss the mechanic shop making sounds at the corner, children shouting while playing, someone calling from one house to another, people sitting outside and talking, vessels moving, someone cleaning the front of their house. I even miss the heat.

My native place, Pattiveeranpatti in Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu , is hot, congested and noisy. It is not the kind of neighbourhood that we might immediately describe as comfortable or perfectly planned. But whenever I think about it, I remember it as cheerful. There was always something happening. Someone was always outside.