Moving house

After nearly 29 years, shifting to a new house was a major job.

Actually the old house was ideal: compact with a spectacular view of surroundings from the terrace and the kitchen window. These made up for the isolation of the house. Its terrace was facing West. I have found that the wind always blows from the West. So just sitting on the terrace every evening, taking in the breeze and drinking the vistas were an important part of everyday routine. Every tile, every bit of the walls in the house had become a part of me. And leave it all behind?

Well, reasons both within and without made the move necessary. Older residents had left one by one and the society had been hollowed out. Others were talking of redevelopment which would have necessitated a move anyway. So why not move on my own, at my convenience?

Outer factors included the 24 by 7 traffic. 11/13/17/26 storey tall towers are in demand and small, cozy societies are a matter of the past. Distant interpersonal relations have become the norm. And there is no going back. So I must make mental adjustments to be with the times and that is better done now rather than sometime later.

Thus I decided to look for a new house. In the same locality. Going somewhere else with everything different would have been too much to take. I spent unquiet, anxious moments to reach this decision. I also realized that I required help in both reaching a decision and then executing it. I asked family members just once and good advice and all the practical help just poured in.

House hunting began in real earnest and then in order not to lose the momentum, we decided to act and a flat for resale was booked. For the same reason, shifting also began soon.

For me, it meant bringing down all the stuff in the lofts of the old house, sort it out and then discard it or pack it in cardboard boxes. Believe me, for one month, I was doing the job. A reverse and easier process had to be carried out at the new house.

So much of our old stuff was useless or redundant. It was out of sight and so was forgotten year after year. I hesitated before discarding things. Soon however, it became a familiar matter and I gaily gave up books, greeting cards, buckets, shoes, files and diaries, mattresses, clothes, woolens, glass and plastic bottles, utensils, earthen lamps et al.

The new house became familiar and started feeling like home after paintings and framed art works were put up on the walls. It took a few days to remember the places of things in the kitchen - my own arrangement but still!

At last, now a routine has developed and memories of the old house are receding.

I lost 2 kgs. of body weight in the process!