I have stayed in 3 different houses at Mangalore in my 2 year stint there,and none could be exactly called a home. Though the first and the last ones were a close call. And when i moved to Durban with Gin, it was to be my first home. Which Gin and me would set up to our hearts content, decide where the sofa should go and which color curtain should match for our bedroom. Though Gin had done all the baisc purchases i still had room for a lot of changes. I enjoyed moving the sofa to this angle and the other, stocking the fridge and making lists for stuffs to buy when we go out.
I was totally cut for this new role- though it lasted only for a short while in Durban. We had to move back to Chennai on a short notice. Though the time we spend there after the news, were nerve-wrecking, tension filled days we managed to find fun in that too. I mean, today we laugh at all that we did then due to sheer desperation!!!!!!! But isnt there something special about that first house. You tend to remember the look and the feel of every room, the smell that assosiated with it. How you beamed like a proud parent when someone complemeted on some aspect of the house. And how you and your spouse broke your head over buying a particular merchendise and the satisfation you got when you reached at a common decision..Since then we have stayed in 2 other houses,still I miss 1602, Kensignton Heights very much, because it was cut just for a couple. Sweet and small and comfy and that was to be the first home i set up with Gin.
And back we came to Chennai after 3 months of Durban stint, to start house hunting ,because that was where the husband was posted. It was me who zeroed in on the house that we finally decided on,still i never got attatched to that house. Now thinking back, i am glad that we got off from there. The house was too big for the 2 of us and it didnt have a homely feeling. It still felt like we lived out of suitcases. It must have been pure hormones too... I found fault with everything. The road, the dogs, the stray cows and even the frogs that used to crock non-stop in the nights. I hated the smell of the house and every thing associated.... After 2 months of staying there i left for Mangalore to join back at work and to get a transfer to CHennai... Though i missed Gin by the gallon, it was good riddance to the house. I came back for a week in between for a bewak and then after a month or so i got transfered to Chennai from Mangalore.
Finally for the sake of my travel to office we shifted house in mere 4 months. And well, all the packing, shifting, unpacking and cleaning was done by Gin alone. He really needs to get all the credit. And a wonderful job he did.
The new house we are in now is one i can call home after 1602. The place is small. The little stuffs we have perfectly fit into every nook and corner of it- but the husband has cramped 80% of the furniture into the bed room in the name of summer. We no more live out of suitcase, there is place for everything-the keys, the socks , the footwear :) And yes, we have started to frame photos too!!!!!!
In March i was scared that we lost all the Durban photos which was on my phone- some smart-dude decided to run away with my bag from the train and hence lost the phone too:(, but it was not to be. Thanks to my compulsive backing up of the phone. So here i leave with snaps, of the view from our home there... 1602 - you are thorougly missed
