Are Guests welcome always?

I find a sea change in attitude of people welcoming guests from yesteryears to now. In madurai in our house there used to be a steady stream of guests both from local and outside Madurai. People used to say ' I was going to temple, on the way I thought I would say hello to you', or ' I was just passing by I thought I would peep in'. They used to come and sit and gossip. Once one lady came to our house in summer saying 'even if I am given a lakh of rupees I will not go outside in this hot summer, but to your house I have readily come'. Summer comes Madurai will have lots of festivals. Relatives from other towns will come to our house saying ' I have not seen madurai temple festival at all ' and they will rediscover the long forgotten relationships. My parents were excellent hosts. My father will go to market and buy costly 'English Vegetables' (Carrot, cabbage, noorcose etc.) and I had to act like a guide to the people taking them to temple, Naickar Palace, Vandiyoor Tank etc. We really enjoyed entertaining the guests.

Once we moved to Mumbai there was a change in the attitude of people in receiving guests I noticed. You have to give a ring first and inform and if they welcome you then only you can visit. Even then, in most houses people will be busy watching TV channels and there will be minimum talk. My sister once told me ' don't come often. Your nephew is preparing for his +2 exams. If you come and start talking it will be disturbing his studies'. In western countries, you can't ring after 9 P.M unless it is an emergency. They do not entertain calls.

You can please share your experiences here.