Places where we live
When I was 14 I wanted to live in an apartment* with large windows. I had an image of myself reading lying down on a diwan put right next to a big window. I was tired of living in a house. The picture I had in my mind of the diwan against the window must have been subconsciously and loosely based on some indi-pop video I am sure, for it was black and white and all the images I had of my independent-apartment-life were disconnected. Around that time my parents talked about buying a flat in the city and sometimes associated with my doing well in my SSLC (10th std public exam). I did not do that well in my exams. Anyway my parents don't take their parental roles very seriously and never really remember to keep promises, so it wasn't as if there was a chance. (I remember buying a promised walk-man by myself. Again there was a scooty if I get into MEC, which I did, but conveniently for them did not really want. In fact there are innumerable instances of parental amnesia and negligence but it would be a major digression to go into all that).
Then later I was 21 and went away to a bigger city and lived in an "apartment". And several apartments after that. Being older, less bored, and never ever needing my imagination for anything, I never ever had any more images of what I want. In reality, that was the easy contentment of a person who got lucky with friends and circumstances, but in my more imaginative moods I like to see it as a loss of innocence.
Today I decided to stay home and get some rest. I had a whole spectrum of ailments this last week from muscle sore from too much yoga to a boil on my leg which doesnt let me bend or walk fast. And the rexin curtain doesn't stay up because I had tugged at it too many times the wrong way and it had come off from the rod at both ends and hangs from the middle. It is the type that rolls down the rod when you tug it once and roll up if you tug it twice. My way of tugging was a bit violent for it has 3 big tears- 2 on either end of the rod and one at the bottom end of the curtain where the tugging string is supposed to be. So today morning, after calling in sick and settling down under covers I realized the sun was creeping on and will reach my pillow fast. More limping across and fixing the loose ends of the "purdah" (When we first came to see the apartment, the window was bare and Saurabh said- "I don't use the purdah, but it is there in the corner, you can put it up if you want") and finally sitting up with the laptop and leaning against the wall I suddenly remembered that old image I had in mind. And how life when it gets on it gears moves faster than the images you have of it and how it sometimes slows down, slow enough for you to think fondly of innocent images.
This was not really about apartments or windows, though I am sure with my rambling skills I need to state that explicitly. It was about feeling comfortable in small spaces and the bliss of staying under covers and how memories are delicious when they come back when you least expect them to. And how you can ruin the feeling by writing about it (Check funny incident #1 below). sigh. :(
Having said that I still want to say something about my love for houses. For changing apartments. I have written a lot about new apartments on LJ. I like everything about a new cosy apartment. I like the idea of a new start. I like the fresh paint and new furniture. I like the tiny switches under kitchen sinks to grind the waste that gets stuck in the sink drains. And I love small details like cute nightlights. When I am hunting apartments (which I have had to do atleast every year after I left home), I do that with a lot of passion. I go into every room (check funny incident#1 below), try all the switches, try the shower and taps, check the closet space. And this is not just for inspection, it is more because I have to. Not all apartments are inviting though. Two months back when I was apartment hunting in Philly (for the fall semester when I go back to school) I was shown one which had glass walls on one side (no grills) with paper pasted on it to make the light stay out. (I took a good look inside the smiliar glass apartment opposite this which did not have paper on it, and it looked like a vandalism practice spot or something. )The bathroom was a small square and the kitchen was almost invisible. Everything else was pretty spacious.
The one bedroom I shared with vibs last semester was also nothing to write home about. Yet it was so much home. I remember the blizzard which made us stay home. We stopped working on our homework at around midnight and went downstairs to sit in the porch with mugs of hot coffee. About 2 feet of snow on anything that you can look at in any direction. An added depth in dimension. Now home is a new place. And next week I'm shifting again. And the month after to the new apartment in Philly..
I need to go fix the purdah..
Funny incident #1
About experiencing an overwhleming feeling and voicing it and ruining it in the process..
We were climbing up the steps at Pathalganga in Sreesailam. 555 steps or so. We had climbed them up and down once already earlier that day. I had the least stamina of all of us and was behind everyone else. Girish was trying to give me company by matching my dragging steps. I stopped to buy a bottle of juice and felt a surge of energy on drinking it and went back to climbing, this time much faster. I was really pleased with it and wanted to share the experience. Girish normally responds to whatever you say with "Etha?" meaning what or which depending on context. And I am used to repeating whatever I have to say several times over with him.
I: Aliya, that drink was too good. I can really feel the energy..
G: etha?
I (Still climbing on fast): That drink I just had..
G: what about it?
I: It was really good.
G: eh?
I: The drink that I just had felt really good.
G: What?
I (stopping to make myself heard loud): I can really feel the energy and climb faster, see..
G: eh?
I (sitting down): NOTHING!!! I had a drink and it WAS very energizing . But not anymore!
Funny Incident #2.
Vini and I are house hunting in Madhapur, Hyderabad. Sreeni the broker had already shown us an independent house which looked shady and where the tenant whispered to us in English that the bathroom floods. We had also been to the local Hitler's house (The landlord, he called himself Father of Madhapur, being an early mover in the cyberabad real estate business and lectured us for an hour in his verandah about the importance of being disciplined tenants which was enough for us to decide against the house without even seeing it). Sreeni sees our desperation and makes a few quick calls to schedule immediate apartment visits. Some background info on where we lived then would help here.. We were living in one half of the ground floor of a two storeyed apartment at that time and called our landlords Aunty and Uncle. Aunty sent her daughter to us on weekends with her Maths notebook and Uncle stopped us to talk about work and his scooter and loans whenever he could. When they were not around we called them "Parvah ledu" (trans: No problem - her favourite phrase) and umm I am not sure now, but I am almost positive it was "panchara uncle" respectively. They were nice people but not good landlords for they never really fixed problems around the house. The other half of the ground floor, built as a separate unit was occupied by "bachelors". Some of whom were Malayalees, which was quite a bit of fun initially when they would discuss us when we passed their door before they caught on that we were Malayalees too. We used to generally pretend the bachelors did not exist.
Sreeni looked like he fixed up an appointment and quickly look a side lane and walked purposefully into a building. While we were waiting outside he managed to get a key and led us up the stairs and into an apartment, the doors of which were open. He hadn't told us the deal, so we assumed it is another apartment to look at. Vini and I walk in and then notice there are two guys inside who are staring at us in surprise. Both of them look like they just stopped mid-sentence. Since one of them is a bachelor from next door, I assume he is surprised to see us house hunting the same time he is house hunting and go into all the rooms and inspect cupboards and everything. When we are back in the living room, we notice Sreeni is still on the doorstep, and the two guys have not moved from where they are or stopped staring. Then it became clear. Sreeni meant to knock on the door and ask if we can take a look at the apartment. The apartment that was actually free was downstairs, and he did not have the key to it. He figured since it is built the same way as this one, we could take a look at this one for now and meant to ask permission before going but forgot to tell us about it. "Bachelor" was here not on a house hunt, but was visiting his friend's place. No one explained it to us, but the tableau explained itself in a second. Vini and I quickly walked out with a lot of assumed dignity and left Sreeni to explain and apologise.
*apartment- I mean the single unit here. Though in India we used it to mean a block of such units.
Then later I was 21 and went away to a bigger city and lived in an "apartment". And several apartments after that. Being older, less bored, and never ever needing my imagination for anything, I never ever had any more images of what I want. In reality, that was the easy contentment of a person who got lucky with friends and circumstances, but in my more imaginative moods I like to see it as a loss of innocence.
Today I decided to stay home and get some rest. I had a whole spectrum of ailments this last week from muscle sore from too much yoga to a boil on my leg which doesnt let me bend or walk fast. And the rexin curtain doesn't stay up because I had tugged at it too many times the wrong way and it had come off from the rod at both ends and hangs from the middle. It is the type that rolls down the rod when you tug it once and roll up if you tug it twice. My way of tugging was a bit violent for it has 3 big tears- 2 on either end of the rod and one at the bottom end of the curtain where the tugging string is supposed to be. So today morning, after calling in sick and settling down under covers I realized the sun was creeping on and will reach my pillow fast. More limping across and fixing the loose ends of the "purdah" (When we first came to see the apartment, the window was bare and Saurabh said- "I don't use the purdah, but it is there in the corner, you can put it up if you want") and finally sitting up with the laptop and leaning against the wall I suddenly remembered that old image I had in mind. And how life when it gets on it gears moves faster than the images you have of it and how it sometimes slows down, slow enough for you to think fondly of innocent images.
This was not really about apartments or windows, though I am sure with my rambling skills I need to state that explicitly. It was about feeling comfortable in small spaces and the bliss of staying under covers and how memories are delicious when they come back when you least expect them to. And how you can ruin the feeling by writing about it (Check funny incident #1 below). sigh. :(
Having said that I still want to say something about my love for houses. For changing apartments. I have written a lot about new apartments on LJ. I like everything about a new cosy apartment. I like the idea of a new start. I like the fresh paint and new furniture. I like the tiny switches under kitchen sinks to grind the waste that gets stuck in the sink drains. And I love small details like cute nightlights. When I am hunting apartments (which I have had to do atleast every year after I left home), I do that with a lot of passion. I go into every room (check funny incident#1 below), try all the switches, try the shower and taps, check the closet space. And this is not just for inspection, it is more because I have to. Not all apartments are inviting though. Two months back when I was apartment hunting in Philly (for the fall semester when I go back to school) I was shown one which had glass walls on one side (no grills) with paper pasted on it to make the light stay out. (I took a good look inside the smiliar glass apartment opposite this which did not have paper on it, and it looked like a vandalism practice spot or something. )The bathroom was a small square and the kitchen was almost invisible. Everything else was pretty spacious.
The one bedroom I shared with vibs last semester was also nothing to write home about. Yet it was so much home. I remember the blizzard which made us stay home. We stopped working on our homework at around midnight and went downstairs to sit in the porch with mugs of hot coffee. About 2 feet of snow on anything that you can look at in any direction. An added depth in dimension. Now home is a new place. And next week I'm shifting again. And the month after to the new apartment in Philly..
I need to go fix the purdah..
Funny incident #1
About experiencing an overwhleming feeling and voicing it and ruining it in the process..
We were climbing up the steps at Pathalganga in Sreesailam. 555 steps or so. We had climbed them up and down once already earlier that day. I had the least stamina of all of us and was behind everyone else. Girish was trying to give me company by matching my dragging steps. I stopped to buy a bottle of juice and felt a surge of energy on drinking it and went back to climbing, this time much faster. I was really pleased with it and wanted to share the experience. Girish normally responds to whatever you say with "Etha?" meaning what or which depending on context. And I am used to repeating whatever I have to say several times over with him.
I: Aliya, that drink was too good. I can really feel the energy..
G: etha?
I (Still climbing on fast): That drink I just had..
G: what about it?
I: It was really good.
G: eh?
I: The drink that I just had felt really good.
G: What?
I (stopping to make myself heard loud): I can really feel the energy and climb faster, see..
G: eh?
I (sitting down): NOTHING!!! I had a drink and it WAS very energizing . But not anymore!
Funny Incident #2.
Vini and I are house hunting in Madhapur, Hyderabad. Sreeni the broker had already shown us an independent house which looked shady and where the tenant whispered to us in English that the bathroom floods. We had also been to the local Hitler's house (The landlord, he called himself Father of Madhapur, being an early mover in the cyberabad real estate business and lectured us for an hour in his verandah about the importance of being disciplined tenants which was enough for us to decide against the house without even seeing it). Sreeni sees our desperation and makes a few quick calls to schedule immediate apartment visits. Some background info on where we lived then would help here.. We were living in one half of the ground floor of a two storeyed apartment at that time and called our landlords Aunty and Uncle. Aunty sent her daughter to us on weekends with her Maths notebook and Uncle stopped us to talk about work and his scooter and loans whenever he could. When they were not around we called them "Parvah ledu" (trans: No problem - her favourite phrase) and umm I am not sure now, but I am almost positive it was "panchara uncle" respectively. They were nice people but not good landlords for they never really fixed problems around the house. The other half of the ground floor, built as a separate unit was occupied by "bachelors". Some of whom were Malayalees, which was quite a bit of fun initially when they would discuss us when we passed their door before they caught on that we were Malayalees too. We used to generally pretend the bachelors did not exist.
Sreeni looked like he fixed up an appointment and quickly look a side lane and walked purposefully into a building. While we were waiting outside he managed to get a key and led us up the stairs and into an apartment, the doors of which were open. He hadn't told us the deal, so we assumed it is another apartment to look at. Vini and I walk in and then notice there are two guys inside who are staring at us in surprise. Both of them look like they just stopped mid-sentence. Since one of them is a bachelor from next door, I assume he is surprised to see us house hunting the same time he is house hunting and go into all the rooms and inspect cupboards and everything. When we are back in the living room, we notice Sreeni is still on the doorstep, and the two guys have not moved from where they are or stopped staring. Then it became clear. Sreeni meant to knock on the door and ask if we can take a look at the apartment. The apartment that was actually free was downstairs, and he did not have the key to it. He figured since it is built the same way as this one, we could take a look at this one for now and meant to ask permission before going but forgot to tell us about it. "Bachelor" was here not on a house hunt, but was visiting his friend's place. No one explained it to us, but the tableau explained itself in a second. Vini and I quickly walked out with a lot of assumed dignity and left Sreeni to explain and apologise.
*apartment- I mean the single unit here. Though in India we used it to mean a block of such units.