I live on the third floor of our building. Most of the houses in the neighborhood are either G+1 floor or G+2 floors. As a result, I can get visibility of far more buildings and terraces than if I were living on the first floor. One the results of the COVID19 lockdown is that the terraces of the buildings in my neighborhood have become relaxation/ socialization spots for people in the evenings. I live in a densely crowded part of the city and going for a walk on the streets is not advisable. Since its peak summer here and staying indoors for an extended period of time is extremely suffocating, a stroll in the terrace is a welcome break or rather an unusual luxury during these extraordinary times.

The terrace of the apartment complex immediately behind my house gets converted into a cricket field @ 5.20 pm almost everyday. A guy in his fifties comes to play with his two sons, one probably in his late teens and another in his preteens. They look like Tamilians but the boys talk only in Hindi. As is usually the case with boys of this age and age gap, they keep quarreling a lot about a potential catch, wrong delivery, bad shot and on and on. The dad is an extreme contrast to his sons, he rarely speaks and the look on his face resembles that of a Zen monk. After the match and on days when his sons don’t come to play cricket he goes for a brisk walk on the terrace. I think the elder son goes for cricket coaching and I have seen him do exercises (similar to the ones done perform cricket coaching sessions) on the terrace. 

I have seen a couple of ladies go for walking or do warm-up exercises in the evening. But they never interact and one of them is always wearing a earphone connected to her mobile. Around 8 to 8.30 PM a couple of college guys come to the terrace to talk on mobiles. Sometimes they also do group study on the terrace. The terrace of the building beyond this one gets converted into a playground for less than 10 year olds. They are mostly accompanied by their grand parents. Sometimes I see these kids lean on the parapet wall and talk to kids in the next terrace or kids standing in their balconies in the next building. 

On the terrace of the house immediately to the left of my house an elderly man and an elderly lady (most likely a couple) go for a walk in the evenings. The lady goes for a very brisk walk while chatting on mobile phone; Abishek Bachan would be proud that she is following his maxim: Walk & Talk. The guy generally strolls slowly with the look of reluctance in his face. The house and the apartments next to this building also  have someone or the other in walk & talk mode. The family in the house immediately in front of my house never venture to their terrace or their balconies in the evenings. However one of the persons who lives in the house aging about sixty comes to his balcony in the mornings and chants come mantra while holding a little bit of water on his right palm. 

On the terrace diagonally in front of my house, there is a very small roof garden with flowering plants. Every evening a guy in his forties or a lady in her sixties are either watering the plant or doing some sort of attending to the plants. There is a railway line of Elevated Metro Train Service very near my house. In normal days you could see and hear the sound of the trains. With the lockdown in place, the trains have gone silent. Despite all these people that I have described doing some activity or the other, a vast majority of the people still do not venture out to the terraces. Not sure, what do they do keep themselves occupied and remain sane.