House

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Written by vl

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Well, I really don't know what to call as my house ~ home for starters. I grew up in New Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune. And have since, lived and worked in Pune, Gwalior, New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Seattle, Dayton, Dallas, Gurgaon and Bonn. I actually never thought, I will own a house, that I would call my home!

As I grew up, I have fond memories of a 'house' which my Grandfather had built. It had just the rooms that were required for a family, with a driveway, garden in front and a verandah equally large in the rear side. We would often sit in the rear courtyard, soaking the winter sun and chewing on 'sugar cane'. Ubiquitous was the 'Gauva' (Amrud in Hindi) tree in the front garden area, amongst other ferns, rose & sunflower plants. And a hand pump ('Geda' in Punjabi), which we would use to pull out cold water on summer days, to water the plants and finally bathe with my Grandfather sitting right in the corner. Ah, those days of childhood carefree times!

I also recall my maternal grandparents house, a 'Haveli' ~ a large house on a sprawling piece of land opposite the 'Ram Leela Maidan (Park)' in the heart of Ram's very own Ayodhya ~ Faizabad. The terrace was so large, you could play there. And the center courtyard had a tree in it. The toilets in those good old days used to be without a flush! And so were located at the far end.

As we moved to Hyderabad from Delhi, we had moved in to a 1 room tenement. An exclusive place with a very large terrace on the first floor, which would make for many memorable evening dinners and the lush green tall 'Ashoka' trees. We would light up kerosene lamps, to have the so called candle-light dinners, while the cool breeze would fan us. On hotter days, we would water the terrace, cooling it instantly. It was also in this house, we got our first B&W TV in Hyderabad. And the Saturday evening weekly movie was seen by not only us, but all the friendly neighbors and their kids - a reasonable gathering.

We then moved in to a nicer rented place. My father always joked with the owner, that we were the rightful caretakers of the property, as the owner never lived there. The house had a parking - a garage by the side. As our new beauties rolled in - a 11b NE, it would be fondly parked under the garage. When the 2nd one came in, it took shelter under a Mango tree wer had planted by the wall.

Moving from there, I rolled in to Pune. My first stop being my local guardians abode "ArunAnjali", with Coconut groves and warmest folks I had met outside the Punjabi cult. I was not only accommodated on a nice cushy bed, but their cat ('Mowda')loved me so much, that he would snug in after his night rounds, right under my blanket.

I shunted through 2 hostels and life was different. The common toilets meant, carrying all your accessories around to bathe & wash. But when I moved in to MBA, I found for the 1st year, a semi-built caretaker room on a large plot that belonged to my best friend in Pune. One could hear all the nature's creatures in this place. For my 2nd year of MBA, I had moved in to an Apartment initially and then a Bungalow, with the "Rao" family. Again, this had a sprawling garden and it was fun to be there.

I returned to Delhi, after many years and stayed with my Grandparents in the same house I was born and brought up in. But when I tied the knot, I had the chance to take the terrace accommodation. Wow, those were some days!

Then when we moved to Nasik, we first rented the ground floor of a nice house. There was enough parking space to allow me to sneak in 4-5 Ford Escort cars. And everyone in the neighborhood thought I was some lord and master, with more than one luxury car at my disposal . We had the ubiquitous front and side entrance and plenty of kitchen garden and space to hang clothes outside to dry!

During the nomadic life through US, the carpeted rented apartments were a mixed comfort. The walk in closets were a different joy. We managed some Ikea furniture for the first time. So when we moved lock-stock-n-barrel, we did bring along some of it, to Delhi. The re-start phase was tough, but we soon moved in to a nice first floor rental place in the heart of South Delhi ~ Jangpura Extension, a place I had grown up in, while going to school in Delhi.

So as luck had it, and the inspiration of my partner then in 2005, or perhaps driven by her tiring delayed drives back-n-forth from Gurgaon to New Delhi, we were inclined to move bases. Her dad had nearly shifted 12 times in her 12 years of schooling and moved to Bhutan, while she was still finishing her Master's in Chandigarh. So while technically she had been more nomadic than me, I guess, she was determined to find a permanent parking lot, to make her 'home'. My only fear was - how would we manage the exorbitant spiraling prices of the homes?

Nevertheless, we met a gentleman officer (formerly in Army) and owner, who was keen to move from the "White Town Houses". To cut the long story short, we got lucky to strike a deal and moved in early 2006. I couldn't believe we had become owners of a house, which my partner would make our 'home' for a life time! But sometimes, all good things don't last a lifetime. And this one was not to be…as time passed. Even though I had paid for it, nearly 96% of it from my hard earned savings (mostly Euro cents), while maintaining two households et al. And this is what someone close to us, had to say…

“You guys have got yourselves a GREAT place.” – Late Madhav Shenoy

But what do you do, if your stars plan it differently? For all love's labor lost in making the place worth every visitor's envy. But with time, all things change. And you learn to make a home, of where your house is... even if its a bit messy!!

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