Securing Homes

During our elementary school days back in India, in history, we studied about the life of people in the Vijaya Nagara Empire in South India during 14th and 15th century. We were enamored by the life led by the people of that kingdom, their prosperity, the country’s governance and the security they enjoyed.  We read that the people never locked the doors to their residences, no one coveted for others’ wealth even when it was left out in the open, so there was no need to secure homes. There was justice, fairness and plenty everywhere; there never was any need to steal and snatch from others – a key characteristic of security.

Applying it to the present age – we previously lived in Ottawa, Canada for about 10 years before we decided to move to US about 24 years ago. We had felt our neighborhood in Canada was very safe and secure. We wanted to live in such a secure neighborhood here in the Bay Area. We felt particularly lucky to find such a place, in a secluded community. We could leave our belongings outside, leave garage doors open, cars unlocked, etc. It was truly safe and secure. After a few years we started seeing many trespassers, solicitors, and then cars started getting broken into. This is when we started securing our belongings and paying more attention to better securing our homes.

So, what did we do? Is security system the first option to pursue?

The answer is – maybe, probably. But before we get to a ‘system’ to provide security, we can take many common-sense measures to ensure basic security. No system can work well if the foundations are not well addressed.

There are various aspects of ensuring security – personal security, home security, job security, etc. We are concerned about residential home security here. As we know, security always involves securing against someone else, and in the home security case, the protection is against the intruders. Our focus is on how to provide such a protection.

Keep tuned-in to see some common-sense practices that can provide some basic home security from intruders.