December 09 was hectic, with running around looking at apartments that could suit both our taste and budget. This turned out to be a stressful ride. But finally one house, 2 streets behind the old, greeted us with some sort of an unexplainable serenity.
One of the most irritating task of living in a rented house can also be one of the most exciting one’s – changing homes. It gives one a chance to re-create things, add or subtract some. With help of my friend Bat, cousin N and watchman Prathap, I shifted most of the stuff on the last week of January, before P and I could re-arrange things in our new home.
While moving my TV stand, I recollected the pages from a novel (A Home at the end of the world)-
(Clare watches the street from her apartment window as people take away the furniture’s discarded by them)
“So long, treasures,” Clare said. Her breath made a spool-shaped flicker of steam on the glass.
“So long, old garbage from thrift-store bins,” Jonathan said. “Honey, there are times when nostalgia is simply not called for.”
“I dragged that sofa down here from Sixty-seventh Street,” she said. “Years ago, with Stephen Cooper and Little Bill. We’d carry the damn thing a few blocks, stop and sit on it, then walk another few blocks. It took us all night. Sometimes bag people would sit on it with us, and we’d all have a beer. We made a lot of friends that night.”
Well I dint make any friends, instead got several staring eyes wondering what lay beneath the blanket I had covered the television set with. :-)
Feb and March has gone by with decorating the house, inviting a group of friends for dinner, watching plays and Yakshagana along with friends, few travels, visiting a neighborhood temple, adding new plants to the garden and few new creative ideas of which I shall write in a future post.
Most important, the new home is far away from main road, unlike the old house which was bang next to the busy main road and at nights it felt as though vehicles passed over our heads. :-)
On the contrary the new house balconies are frequetly visited by lots of pigeons, eagles and squirrels.
On the contrary the new house balconies are frequetly visited by lots of pigeons, eagles and squirrels.
I agree changing houses has its advantage, since we stopped doing that I think we have accumulated a lot of junk!
ReplyDeleteI liked the thing about carrying sofa and how she made friends that night, Quite interesting! Gardening literally grows into you and you are always looking for some new plants to add to the collection. Our parents too live away from the busy streets and thats peace I tell you. Thanks for visiting me :P
ReplyDeleteOh yes, i can very well relate to ur dilemma. My house is near to the airport and very next to a busy main road. At times, my daughter wakes up to the sounds of zooming cars and airplanes. To make our shifting more comfortable we order our food from outside for a day or two and that ways we get to know the near by eateries and dhabas :)
ReplyDeleteMridula- :-) True...
ReplyDeleteSrivats - Yes it is a quite interesting writing there...I agree on your thought on Gardening. Very true. And my folks live away from the street and its surrounded by fields and trees, i so much miss that here in Bangalore, but this house is better. :-)
Anu - Oh thats a lot of noise then! True, we tried a new hotel nearby on the day of shifting and it turned out to be so good that we frequently visit there now. :-)
Hope you have a nice time at ur new place!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your new place. I hope you'll have lots of fun there. :)
ReplyDeleteReading your post, I miss Bangalore. But then I was there just 3 months back!
ReplyDeleteAll the best at your new place and wishes for many many happy times there Ajeya.
Congrats on the new place Ajeya!
ReplyDeleteTake some pictures of the balcony visitors and show'em to us when you get a chance :)
Rakesh & Ajai - Thanks
ReplyDeleteCelina - Oh we could have had a blog friends get togehter while you were here. :-) Thanks.
Edmund - Sure...I do have few already. :-) Will do!