Life in a High Rise Flat

Man is the only home making animal. He alone can enjoy the warmth of his hearth and family circle. Man has evolved from tree dwelling the modem flat. Primitive man was the master of his hut and it was his castle till recently the house had been a complex affair. There were the gardens, barn poultry, cattle shed and so on. The house itself was having different portion spacious enough for all the family members to move about. These villas till recently were popular. Even today we may come across these villas in the countryside.

There was good neighbourliness. In sorrow and joy the neighbours shared. They were helping each other in many of life's needs and operations. They had enough leisure. They had time to sit over a pipe or a glass of drink and gossip. In short everybody was known to everybody and the society was in one sense sc I contained.

Hut those days are gone through there may be vestiges in remote places. The onslaught of Industrial Revolution and the growth of industries as a result have caused the birth and growth of towns and cities. Though even in ancient days there were cities, they were the capitals of kings and emperors any student of history could appreciate this point. So the growth of cities is a modern phenomenon, concomitant to die growth and concentration of industries.

In an industrial area, space becomes scarce and as more and more families pour in, they cannot find space for houses. Not only the space but also the cost becomes prohibitive. So an average office goer or a worker cannot have the luxury of owning a house. Still they want some shelter to lay their heads down when they have returned from their office or factory. The answer has been the high rise flats of several floors. They are either built by building societies or by the Housing Boards of government.

These flats are provided with all facilities like water, electricity, good drainage, airy rooms and so on. In every high rise flat, there may be even lifts to take people up and down. In die flats, the tenants may be independent.

But there are more disadvantages in living in a high flat. The movement will be restricted and conditioned according to the circumstances. One may have to live with all sorts of people, die homogeneity which was the rule rather than the exception will be wanting. One does not know who his neighbour is, so though living in the midst of many one may feel lonely. Since all facilities are artificially controlled any breakdown in them would paralyze life. For instance, if there is any defect in the water system, life will be upset. For want of space, one must plan carefully what one must own. Whereas in olden days, people had enough space to entertain guests and relatives, a modern flat dweller shuns at them. It is the children who would suffer most for there won’t be enough space for them to run and play about. Unless one has (he facility to take them out, they will develop complexes of closed space. Since they cannot easily mingle with other children, there may be blind spots in their character. Living in such artificial surroundings may even impact on their health and growth. In short they will feel like caged birds. This may be true of even grown-ups.

Further if there were to be accidents like fire or the breakout of epidemics. The high rise flats will suffer most. From aesthetic point of view also the flats do not add to the beauty of the city.

In short one may conclude that life in a high rise flat is a necessary evil in a big city.

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