Episode 378 : Personal space

personal space
noun
the physical space immediately surrounding someone, into which encroachment can feel threatening or uncomfortable.

For the longest time, I have had plenty of personal space. I think I was 10 when I got a room of my own. I remember being cooped up in my room, hunched over a keyboard either writing code or playing a computer game when I wasn’t reading a book. And when I moved to Bangalore, I had an entire apartment for myself until the arrival of Anna.

Initially I wondered whether my ‘personal space’ would diminish, but like so many of my needless worries this was unfounded too. We had an entire apartment to ourselves and it seemed odd only when the other person was not around.

The mutual in-laws never stayed more than a few days, so it was easier for us to adjust.

The months of September and October this year will prove to be different, with my folks staying for a couple of weeks and hers staying for a month. And I was surprised to note how I felt my personal space had reduced considerably now that there were twice as much people in the same apartment. I suppose it is a lot easier to adjust when it’s one’s parents. Anna might have something else to say about it.

I will know when my turn comes the following month.