Dreams are the most beautiful creation of humans and I have got it in plenty. This is about not only my dream; it is about my family’s dream. During childhood, I read in books that humans have some basic needs – Air, food, water, clothing and shelter. And during childhood I counted each one and realized I am quite equipped with the requirements. As I grew I found that we (family) had everything yet didn’t have something very specific to be called our own and because we didn’t own it, all other things were achieved well by us and stayed yet with lot of difficulty.
It was in 1966 when my grandfather along with my grand mom and their children had moved from a respected job in Delhi to a small district of U.P. called Azamgarh which is near Varanasi. He left his job and went down to this district to handle his family spread business, based out of Varanasi. The reason why he left Delhi was more personal than professional, rather to my sense it was only personal.
With a family of 7 people including him and 5 children and his wife he went down to Azamgarh to start his new life for a mere emotional reason. As I grew I always use to wonder why somebody would leave his nice paid and settled job in Delhi and live in that place! I never got an answer. My maturity told me that probably it was his ethics to value relations over profession, relations which gave him nothing to settle, except a running business, which of course had to be managed not for his happiness or aspirations rather for the sake of someone else’s growth.
Though I use to have an agony towards this move, I also use to plan in my mind secretly as to how to bring everything back on track.
Life in a small city is unlike metro and more than money he earned respect and lot of respect. He was not only a great man; he was an amazing artist, a carpenter, an Ayurvedic consultant and a business man. I still remember the way he used to treat people for free with his given, Ayurvedic medicines.
And then was his wife, my grand mom, my ideal. She's the best creation of God that I have witnessed. There were times when the business was not really going great and she use to make sweaters and stitch clothes and earn money to make sure all her kids go to good school and complete their education.
My grandfather passed away when he was 74 years old.
My mother died after 3 years. I was eight then.
A time of great suffering had come. Forget about owning a house, regular earning was at stake. There was emotional turmoil. No matter what, the great members of the family made sure always that food and education is provided to the best.
Though everyone in the family was working, the money was never enough because we were many for the needs.
We (family) spent 50 years in 4 rented houses, one after another. I live in Delhi in a rented apartment on my own. I am into service and so it still sounds okay to stay in a rented apartment in a metro city, but 50 years ago, when there was nothing and for the continuous years of living, slowly and gradually life became difficult.
If you have stayed with your entire family in a rented house for long, you would understand these points - - Concern on water supply, almost every day - City where electricity power was less, for few hours, water supply a huge huge issue - After few years, every land lord wonders, when would you vacate the house - Water is a basic need and when that is not on mark, other problems arise
My grandfather had bought a land in the city and thought to get a house built someday. While the emotional state in the family was at its worst swing, the so called friends of the family took advantage and the land which we owned was bought forcefully by someone at 1/6th the price. No one could do anything. Peace mattered over property pleasure. I was eight years old when this happened and I realized how strong was the bond amongst the family members that for the sake of each other, not at all for money they let go the only property we had.
Life gave some chances to buy the land but every time even in that small city, sometimes bad luck stroke and sometimes fraud.
Years went by, we all members progressed in life, but the dream of living in your own house was unfulfilled. It was my grandmother’s last wish to live in our own house.
How important is to own a house? Own house is everyone’s dream. Trust me; it’s the people and the family who creates home. It’s because we stayed strong and bonded in the tough times that made us to make this dream come true.
The joy of owning a house was felt after 50 years of hardship on 14th August 2016. We were standing under the roof which was our own. The air around us feels so fresh now. There are birds which visit us every morning, they chirp and make us welcome the day with them. It’s a well-planned vastu oriented house.
If you have stayed with your family in a rented house, you can definitely relate to the struggle the family goes with and that day when you finally achieve goal of owning a house, it’s an ineffable state.
Many people ask me “what would you guys do with your khandaani house in Azamgarh?” I smile and say “We own our’s now.”
Belonging to small city was never a bane to me because I was groomed with love and freedom of thoughts. I live in a metro city and my strength in this city in comparison to others majorly lies in the city I belong to. I feel sometimes that I would have been smarter if I would have grown in a big city and would have learnt a lot of other things, yet I feel many times that the hardship and the small city living has taught me lessons of valuing the relationships, the small things, the family bonding, the intent to spend money on what’s required than lavishly spending on what doesn’t matter. It has made me a person who tries and thinks about others before self. And I believe dreams and intent to fulfill rise every day. Living in a metro city teaches much much more, yet I guess one's ROOTS matter so much. :)
