My friend comes to my home, and asks me for help. He wants me to count people in my neighborhood whom i know. I struggled to name any at all, but eventually 3 people came to my mind in a town of of over a lac people, i presume, at least! I said to him that i'm in trouble. I ain't no good at knowing my neighbours, this is a serious lacking from Islamic perspective. So i asked him, how to penetrate and break the ice with these people in this modern town.
Remember, its a characteristic of modern cities, according to sociologists, that communal life doesn't exist there. In modern cities, neighbours usually don't know each other much, but people are very active socially on networking platforms (offline it mentioned, but online as well). What a paradox.
He suggested me a tested tip: Send a formal letter with minimum words, in most elegant manners, to your neighbor calling them on a tea. This is a practice of many an Army people who do this when they come into a new place.
I'm writing the letter as a BETA version here.
______________________________
House # ABC
Street # Alif. Bay. Pay
Mr/Mrs _________
Assalamualaekum!
I'm Muhammad Umer Toor, a business student at a university in Lahore. I'm living in ______ with my father. I'm new here, so I want to have chat with you over a cup of tea at my home.
This is mobile # ________. My notify me your arrival date and time, and we'll catch up anytime of your choice.
Regards
Muhammad Umer Toor
[university name]
External Researcher @ R&D Labs,
Kirana Bar School.
I'd also mention the reason why you choose to write the letter in the first place.
ReplyDeleteThe word 'chat' can refer to anything from "I want to show off my new tea set" to "Can I marry your daughter"...
How about a 'hearty chit chat' !
ReplyDeletebut i get your point...