What’s there in the backyard parks of Rohini?

Me: Ye jagah koi use nahi karta hai, hum ise apna adda bana sakte hai.

Mohak(my childhood friend, whose house was beside park in images below) : Pata hai mummy ne bataya tha yaha saanpp bhi ghoomte hai. Yaha nahi khelna chahiye.

Me:

This park is visible from my house’s balcony. The back gates of other people’s homes open to this well-shaded space. We had often heard stories of snakes roaming this park as children, maybe to prevent us from converting it into our playground. It is surrounded by houses on two sides and streets on the other two sides. Cars Parked around make it invisible to the public eye somehow and let it be the empty park it has always been.

Ever since I can remember, this rectangular piece of dirt between two rows of houses has been desolate and unkempt. As children, we were advised against using that space probably because of the lack of activity in that area and also the fear of dogs who roamed along the park edges.

Cleaned now and then, I have witnessed the park turn into a tiny wilderness/forest during monsoon. During summers it is a perfectly shaded patch with a green light in the air. In winters it is a misty land to get lost in time. The park directly forms the backyard of eighteen homes- nine on each side. People use it for all kinds of storage/garbage purposes. Some have arranged pots and plants along its boundary. Some use the area to dry clothes. A few objects that I have spotted at the park include: