Bizarre House - II

 The house we lived in Kanpur was a soldier’s barrack turned into quarters. A long shed like structure converted into four dwelling units, may be the word “quarter” comes from there. Ours’ was the corner unit on the main road side and the far end towards MI room. A long covered veranda on the front ran through the entire length of the building.

 But the peculiarity was not the barrack like construction of the house, it was a mysterious door between our house and the adjoining unit. We had put a heavy wooden box snugly filling its frame lest no one would inadvertently open it and intrude privacy of neighbour and vice versa. A similar box was sitting on the other side of the door for similar reasons as ours. It was clear what was behind the door and yet it looked mysterious to little Babu who would often stare at it.

In summers we would take out “khatia” (bamboo cots, very light weight) put them under open sky, put up mosquito nets and sleep outdoors. Once Shubhakar told us that he saw a ghost making rounds of Ber tree in front of the house dead at night. I was gullible so believed him. From then on, whenever I woke up briefly in the middle of night, I would furtively look at the Ber tree, if the ghost was there making rounds. Once I was so much primed with fear that I actually felt a shadow like thing made round of that tree and as soon as it turned my way disappeared.

 Of course, it could be real but most likely a false visual induced by fear.

Bizarre House - I

 Of all houses where I have lived and I have lived in many of them, 14 Mumfordgunj was quite intriguing and bizarre. It was built like a child adding parts to a sand castle, sneaky narrow stairs, and suspended in air crossover ramp. Pillars rising from nowhere and stairs going on and on without fold leading to a large terrace. “Lois Kuti” was the name of that formidable building, underneath that name was printed H Williams. Façade did not open to a regular road instead a brick paved gully lead to it. The approaching end from the main road was neat but that gully ended in crossing where tabellas with buffaloes and cows, their muck painting it into a dismal gloomy locale.  Right across the gully there was a large open space and beyond that was another locality funnily called Balrampur House a posh colony of collages. From our perch we can a standalone house belonging to “Pahadi ji”. Some guy Rama Prasad Ghildiyal “Pahadi” who wrote children’s book.     

 We lived on the upper floor, H Williams down stairs in dark chaotic section. His wife an absentminded frail lady and occasional visitors to his home, a spinster daughter, a choleric limping son Vimal and another estranged son and his wife. It was an interesting household.

Kala Clan

Bala dutt

|

Kedar Dutt           Bhavani Dutt    Damodar Prasad

Ganga Prasad              Kalli            Murlidhar

Shambhu Prasad                            Revadhar

Narayan Dutt                                 Bhuvneshwari     

Kali Prasad

Buddhi ram

Swayambar Dutt

Satya Prasad

Vishwa Dutt

Beera Devi

Girja Devi 

                              Ganga Prasa

Hari Prasadi             Urmila               Shusheela

Mamta                    Mikki

Sangeeta                Nikki 

Mohita

Ashutosh

Shanbhu Prasad

Diwakar|Shudhakar|Anandkar|Om Prakash|Pushpa| Lakshmi|Ved Prakash

Diwakar -   Rashmi | Himanshu

Shudhakar

  

Story of Badolgaon House..

Pushpa

I remember her even though I had met her only on one occasion. It was her marriage and I was visiting hills after several lifetimes over……

I spent a couple of years in Badolgaon as a toddler of which I have no memory save a frozen image of a swollen river and me with Bhaskar strapped on a pony’s side trudging along the side of hill. The emotion that picture evokes is not of debilitating fear but discomfort of riding on a pony’s side.

My sister Meenakshi lived with her in Duggada but she was Lakshmi’s age so bonded with Lakshmi,  Pushpa was the mature one and very caring. Like I said it was her marriage so the house was full of relatives. Then there was this usual debate who was elder, her or me so that formality of touching feet is done with. From our side only me and my father had come to attend the marriage from Allahabad.

Before this visit I had no idea of the hills so it was exotic and exhilarating experience. I really cursed the Bus driver for speeding on the road from Kotdwar to Duggada whereas in fact he was just driving normal. A guy travelling on hill roads first time gets the vertigo. The day we arrived, in the evening I (about twenty years old) along with Murli Chacha, Bade Tauji and father went for a walk. It was twilight time we chose the road to Pauri for our walk, soon we were on empty road, gadan on one side and sloping hill on the other. First Murli chahcha said, "एक मिनट में आता हूँ" and went down the hill to gadan then one by one Bade Tauji and my father also left me they all went down to relieve themselves in open country. Left alone I didn’t know what to do so just fooled around breaking twigs and pulling at grass and then suddenly I had this stinging sensation of stung by a scorpion. I was terrified, flailed my arm in air to exorcise the stinging sensation and feared of dying there all alone on that empty road. Luckily Murli Chacha came up and laughed hysterically, “"अरे लाटे तूने कंडाली छुइ". It will be over in a few minutes he consoled. ….    

A House for Badolgaon

I used sketchup to design a house for my village. I am not a professional architect, so this design is just for amusement purpose. It borrows elements of Garhwal houses like short balcony without any railings. Glass is used to keep the house warm.

Have a look here 


or watch video