A DREAM HOME FOR 40 YEARS!

It was 1980, the year when my son  was born  that we decided to buy a plot of land in Sastri Nagar, a beautiful colony where we were staying in a rented house since 1974. I had to opt out of my PF account completely and pay for my share of the cost of the plot (3000sq ft). So  when we started building the 1100 sq.ft. house in 1982 I had no money. A few  friends were kind enough  to lend me the money in  the initial stages.  The generosity of the then Manager of the Walajah Road branch of Standard Chartered Bank who offered me a revolving loan, until I got a housing loan from LIC, also helped!

 After a bad experience with an engineer, I decided to seek  the services of Sheila Sriprakash, the wife of a Tabler friend and a professional architect to give me a new plan. She is today a big name in the world of architecture. The plan she came up with was unique, making effective use of the limited space. A contractor was appointed to build the house. It was going to be the first architect designed home among my family circles.

 I remember the great joy Prabha and I felt, standing on top of a make shift  ladder to  see the roof with freshly laid  concrete by a battery of workers. A roof of our own!

 After performing the necessary puja, we moved into the house on 12^th December,1982. Exactly forty years ago. I was then forty years old. Another milestone in my life and another dream come true since not only did I have a separate room for my parents with an attached bath, but I also built extra toilets to ensure that nobody had to wait in the queue for use of  bathrooms in the mornings! The two bedroom  house had three toilets, with one of them being a common one which could also be used by guests. It was an unforgettable experience for a guy from a Chawl in Bombay who lived in a 250 sq ft room with a family of six, sharing two common toilets with 5O others every morning for 26 long years!

 Over the next 10 years, brick by brick, I added a floor and extra bedrooms to satisfy the demands of my growing children for separate  bedrooms for each of them. Keeping the future in mind  I ensured that the first floor layout was exactly as per the ground floor with provision for an independent kitchen, so that it could become an independent unit when the need arose. In the process of adding facilities, I tried to realize some of my dreams for the house.  A small terrace garden with a small fountain at the first floor level and also facilities for holding parties on the terrace on the second floor were added. The small sit out adjacent to the main drawing room with French doors was later converted into a study with attached bar. This became a multipurpose room where, post retirement, I have my office and also meet friends when they visit me.

The small terrace garden on the first floor was first converted into a study and later into a small guest bedroom. After the renovation necessitated by flooding problem inside the house during the recent rains and the elimination of  the extra guest toilet for the same reason the home now has five proper bedrooms with attached toilets

At its peak of occupation the home had seven people staying –my family of five and my parents. The first to go out was my elder daughter Kavitha  who got married in 1994. The same year, my father passed away just a month before the marriage when he was 79. My second daughter Sowmya got married in 1998 and left home and my mother passed away in 2000 when she was 82. My son Balaji also left  for USA to do his Masters in Industrial Engineering in 2002.

Now the five bedroom independent home had only two people staying– Prabha and I. It was around the same time I was going through tough times in my business. So we decided to rent out the upstairs portion  to a tenant with independent access from outside. The arrangement continued until my son who had  returned from USA  in 2008 and got married the same year to Tulse. After  a brief stay in  Trichy after marriage he decided  to shift to Chennai and set shop  on the first floor of my home. Right from the beginning Prabha and I were clear that we will not merge the families. My son would have his own space and live the life that he wants to live and we will have our own space.

I have continued the same policy even after Prabha left this world in January,2013 when she was only 61.. As of now I live alone on the ground floor and my son whose family has expanded to four members  with the arrival of a son and daughter in quick succession, lives on  the first floor

As long as Prabha was there, being a house proud woman, she would slog to keep the house spotlessly clean. Though I cannot  maintain her standards, I am happy when some guests tell me that the house, particularly the kitchen and the Pooja room  are maintained well.

In the last 40 years I have had some wonderful  moments living in this house. Apart from hosting several memorable get togethers of  family and friends. I had to conduct the engagement ceremony of my elder daughter Kavitha at home, at a very short notice, attended by over 60 family members. The house also witnessed the arrival all my 6 grand children. The four grand children  through my daughters spent their first three months in this house being looked after by their proud & loving  grandmother Prabha.

Arul, my first grand child, born in 1996, was special. I had the energy and inclination to indulge in all his games, as I was still in my fifties. I remember I even recorded his activities for a whole day on video and called it a `A day with Arul`. After the arrival of Uthara, Nila and Keshav  between 2001 and 2003 in quick succession, it was fun when all of them came on a visit during family get togethers. My big `thoppai` was their play ground. Lying on my back in my bed I would allow them to do what they want with my big madhya  pradesh! Oh what fun it was!. Unfortunately I neither have the energy nor stamina to indulge my resident grand children through my son Thavam (4.5yrs) and Bakthi (1.8yrs). At 80, while the spirit is willing the flesh has become weak.

While I have gone through the aging process, hopefully gracefully, my home of 40 years is beginning to show signs of wear and tear.  Should  we go for major repairs or go for redevelopment of the house, as has been done by many house owners in our colony, is a question that is cropping up often these days.  I will leave that decision to my son  as I am beginning to develop a detached attachment  towards all near and dear ones including my beautiful home! I can always live with the memories of this  home just as I have been celebrating the memories of 40 years of my  life with Prabha!