Close to two months, I, and I’m pretty sure a lot of you out
there have been home. A long, frustrating time to stay in, considering the fact,
that most of us spend our lives and money just to have that home. Quite the
irony I thought. And that’s why, I dedicate this post to homes.
My home, for which I have a job, earn money, so that I can buy
things for it, keep it cosy, keep it clean. No, think about it. If I were
living on the streets, I wouldn’t care to have a fridge or a wardrobe, or a
lamp. Suddenly, I have this newfound respect for this apartment that shelters
me from the weather, gives me a good night’s sleep, gives me the freedom to do
what I want.
I won’t get into the topic of how this phenomenon called ‘home’
started. There’s a very learned, very intellectual writer called Bill Bryson
who wrote a book called, ‘At Home’. He has explained well in detail, in his
book, the very origin of houses and homes and how over the years, people
started to take up and appreciate their own living space. Do read it if you
find it online.
What I’m going to write about is very personal, something I
felt about my own homes, and never really expressed it. I really hope with this
piece, I’m able to help you cherish that feeling of having a home, caring for it
and most of all staying in it. For, it is the one thing we can easily do at
this time of our lives.
Here it goes.
*
To begin with, I will trace my life back a little, to the
point I found my first home.
It was when I had decided to get married. Me and my wife,
opted to stay by ourselves in our own space in the comfortable quarters of
Vasant Kunj in Delhi. This place had a special connection with us. It was here
where we went to college, the place we had first met, the place we roamed
around. A nice neighbourhood, green and homely, somewhere in the middle of our
parental homes (Gurgaon and Dwarka), and amidst our friends and well-wishers.
The first home is always a beautiful experience. The joy of
living by your own rules, the freedom of doing up the place the way you want
it, exploring possibilities of making it even better. Then, to go out and build
your life around it. The pleasure of having family and friends come over. To
talk about the struggles and endeavours of getting that perfect place. The
stories and the experiences you’d like to share with others, get to know
theirs. It’s wonderful.
Then we moved. Well, to an even better place. And here’s the
thing. Quite rarely does a person move to a house he or she wouldn’t appreciate.
First of all, now he or she has the experience of living in their own space. One
becomes accustomed to certain things and would prefer to live life the similar
way. Secondly, the new place has to be in some ways better so as to make
up for the feeling of losing the first one. Frequent movers would understand
this feeling better…
So, our second home was special as well. Again, in the
quarters of Vasant Kunj, it had many fancy assets like a full roof to host our
parties, a gorgeous view for the early morning coffees, a cosy bedroom with a
wine closet, beautiful woodwork, a well-equipped society for essentials and most
of all, a peaceful living experience. I still miss it…
Then, life had other plans and it was finally time to move
from Vasant Kunj. And what a move it was. We found our new home in the busy,
yet colourful lanes of Mumbai.
**
My first home in Mumbai was in Kandivali. It was a little away
from the buzz and chatter, but that is what had attracted us to the house the
most. How I got to find that house in Mumbai is a topic of very different
discussion and something you can refer to in one of my other posts titled ‘Whambay’.
What I loved most about that house, was that it was away
from the maddening crowd. It lay on a long road that reached a dead end. On the
map, you could notice that the sea began where the road ended. I remember the broker
saying, ‘Sir aap Dilli se hain, aapko yeh jagah acchi lagegi…’
The reason for this statement was two-fold. Firstly, Delhi in
general, has bigger houses, the streets are more open and the people in these
houses are lesser. Secondly, these bigger houses are cheaper in price compared
to the ones here, being the same square foot size. Yeah, I get the standard
of living and all that. Not complaining, just stating…
So, I was sold.
This house became our home for good 2 years. It was a
spacious old den, kept clean by the owners. Had a nice drawing cum living
space, a big open kitchen and a cosy, comfortable bedroom. Monsoon here was
specifically glorious. Although there’s a thing about Mumbai windows and the cage-like
feeling but it felt good, nonetheless. Then came a time, and we had to let go
off this one as well.
My company moved location and my wives’ job wasn’t at
walking distance either. If you know or have heard of travel in Mumbai, you
might as well know it wouldn’t have been easy. We tried for a few months, but
our bodies gave up. It was time to shift again.
Now, I’m going to go a little more into detail about the rooms
in the house we’re currently in. Not because this house is the most special of
them all. All our homes had something better than the other. But the abundance
of time has finally made me realise the importance of having these rooms, how
it makes it into a complete home and how we end up taking care of it, as we
take care of ourselves and our family.
***
We stay in Goregaon now. There’s not much to say about the place.
It ain’t that big or expansive. It ain’t as loud and happening as the next-door
giant Andheri and it ain’t as envious as the fancy and flamboyant Bandra. But
it is, however, petite and pretty. Just the way, our lives have been up to now.
There are five specific rooms or spaces, counting in the kitchen and the two
balconies. I will not mention the two washrooms. That’s just too private and a
bit weird to be talked about.
The Living Room
The living room, whoever named it, was spot on. We do end up
spending most of our time here. Probably because the TV is stationed here and because
it hosts the fancier balcony. Now Goregaon is livelier than Kandivali. That’s a
given. Hence, the living room window shows an excerpt when you’re out in the balcony,
sipping your tea. Other than that, all our parties are being hosted here. In
the evening specially, music and lights from outside make the parties fuller
and more energetic. At night, the living room makes for a nice recluse to watch
your favourite Netflix shows. This is also the room we like dressing up the
most. We have movable, very minimalistic furniture and try and play with the
room’s look whenever we get the time.
The Kitchen
We were never used to an open kitchen till we landed in
Mumbai. And now being cat owners, it was something we dreaded. But it turns
out, a kitchen isn’t just a place to cook food. The open kitchen lets the body
roam freely in and out. It makes for great conversation as well. It allows us
to discuss matters, while we occupy our hands with chores. In Delhi, as far as I
can remember, the kitchen only saw one person or one person with a cook. Nobody
talked in the kitchen, not unless it was a party or a gathering.
The Balconies
Now this was a rarity. We never thought we would get a balcony
setup in Mumbai. Not for the price at least. What was a commonality in Delhi,
was privilege here. Dude, we had a roof in our second home! And we paid
half the rent for the entire house. But anyway, to get that part of our lives
back again was a treat. Our two balconies have two different utilities. The
living room balcony as mentioned, is for sipping tea, looking out at other lives
in other balconies, playing with our cats, for parties sometimes. The bedroom
balcony although, is for self-evaluation. It flaunts somewhat the same view and
is of the same size, but somehow, the connection with the bedroom makes it more
personal, more sentimental. I, for one, keep standing or sitting around with my
cat, thinking of ideas, of philosophies. I really don’t know if the cats
have that sort of distinction for the balconies.
The Bedroom
This is the final room. Like quite literally, it lies at the
very end of the house. Yes, that’s the biggest number of rooms we can afford in
a house in Mumbai, for the time being at least. But then we’re two very little
people with two even tinier cats. Most houses here, hold a minimum of four people
in the same given space. I can’t even imagine, the extent of privacy in these
households. I find myself privileged to have at least one room to myself at a
given point of time. And when I do get this room to myself, I utilise it to
write down my thoughts, read a good novel or listen to some nice music. I’m not
here to tell you what a bedroom actually means for a couple. I’m quite sure we
all know what it’s for. To fight, obviously! Lol.
****
Well, jokes apart, that is how important and necessary our home
has become to me and my wife. And the need to appreciate each and every part of
this home is something we now never forget.
Yes, we won’t spend so much time here always. Yes, very soon
we’ll be out galivanting again. Yes,
we might even shift to another house, call
that home. But what we will remember, is how our home helps us, prepares us to
go outside, makes us into the person the world knows, comforts us when we’re
angry, calms us when we’re frustrated. We can say whatever we want in here, be
whatever we want to be. And our home always
understands. There never ever can be a place, quite like home.
So, go on, start appreciating your home if you weren’t
already. Change the way it looks sometimes, clean it up more often, buy some
things for it, make it feel special.
Most of all, try to stay in it a little bit more.
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