Changes In My City

 

My school was far away, just about a few kilometers from my house. In those days, there were no rickshaws or ching chee (motorcycle rickshaws) in my city. Most people used tanga (carriages) as public transportation. There were mostly tanga that ran in different areas of the city. There weren't many people with motorcycles or cars in the whole city. People used bicycles for personal transportation. There were a lot of bicycles in those days. I likewise used to go on a bicycle. But mostly, I preferred to walk on foot. I like to walk. Nowadays, though, I have no need to go on foot anywhere because I have a bike, yet I love to walk, so many times I walk to get somewhere. In those days, walking on foot felt good too because there were not so many vehicles on the roads. Many people used to walk on the footpaths. There was not so much dust. The roads were somewhat clean. Along both sides of the road, many beautiful large trees stood. In those trees, countless beautiful birds lived; I used to see them daily when going to school. Their chirping felt very amusing. In my house and street, there were also beautiful and large trees in which many colorful birds lived. In those days, there was a custom of sleeping in the courtyard or on the roof in the summer. Sparrows used to wake me up in the morning. Our courtyard was very wide where there was a charming mulberry tree. I used to swing on it and sit under its shadow in the summer. A very large tree stood outside the house, but one day it was cut down. I don't know why. I felt sad. I couldn't do anything about it because I was so young. Due to this incident, many birds also became homeless. They moved from here.

Nowadays, there is not a single tree in my street, and similarly, all the trees have been cut down from the roads. Many plazas and shopping malls have been built, which replaced the trees. Traffic has become very high, and you can't walk easily on the road. A large number of shops and many people can be seen on the roads. A huge number of vehicles are running on the road, and not a single bicycle is even visible. Everyone uses a motorbike or other transportation to go anywhere. Shopping malls are full of people. Everyone is seen going shopping in the malls. But on the other hand, the number of beggars has increased. In those days, just a couple of beggars were seen, but now everywhere you can see them, in front of the shop, in the shopping malls, or on the roads. Even some of them knock on your doorbell to beg.

Numerous things have changed from my childhood to today in my city. At that time, there were very few restaurants in our city, and now not a single street can be found without a restaurant. People are hurrying around everywhere, and there is a surge of individuals. A lot of good and bad things have changed in my city since childhood.