where has all the silence gone

Yesterday I stood for fifteen minutes trying to cross the road near my house.The traffic wouldn't stop and I am not surprised as it was the festival season,but this is a road in a residential area where I have lived for some thirty odd years.
My mind went back to the time we had arrived at this part of madras.My dad had paid the advance for a house here and my mom and I had come to check it out.In this very same street which was deserted at that time,with not a soul in sight.It was a road dotted on either side by quaint houses with gardens.My mother took one look at the house and burst into tears.She had hoped to move into a nice house with bright colours and a modern look but here we were in an independent house that looked in need of care with an overgrown garden.Tears of rage and frustration and many a fight with my dad later we had no choice but to move in.Over a period of time she made friends with the neighbours,brightened up our environment like only my mother can do,adopted a dog and cleaned up the garden/We lived there for years and had some happy times,I finished my school years from that house and had many happy holidays with my friends coming over,We roamed the streets around the house playing on the road and meeting people.
All this ran through my mind as i stood there on the same street trying to cross the road.The housed have given way to high rise buildings,the road has become chocked with traffic,the old neighbours have all sold out to upcoming builders and long since gone,the real estate prices have skyrocketed and the once quiet street had become impossible to cross.I finally cross the road and check out the other roads,Almost all of them have met with the same fate.I came back to live in this area because of the peace and quiet and wisely choose a street that is so narrow that it can never become a big traffic road.The only remains of my childhood are the grocery shop owned by a boy who went to school with me and I continue to shop at this place despite all the new ones that have mushroomed around.Everything else changes every day and i have to wonder what will this place be like five years from now.
This area of madras however will always be home and despite all the congestion we are lucky to have four parks around our home and plenty of greenery.I walk around and count my blessings and stop to smell the roses.