The house of dreams that sees its occupants fly away one by one

The house of dreams is a place where we can all live peacefully under one roof. Grandparents in one and kids in the other with a master bedroom reserved for parents. Each bedroom with an attached bathroom that opens into a spacious balcony. The drawing room big enough for as many guests as our heart can accommodate and a dining room that can satiate the taste buds of all the occupants of the dining table. Located in a secured housing complex the neighbourhood should be of cultured people so that kids get an opportunity to grow in a proper environment.

The search for the house of dreams begins

In life, everybody aspires to a secure and comfortable life. We work hard and save enough to have a shelter over our head and bread for the family. When we are young, we stay with our parents. The responsibility of providing shelter is on the parents. But a time comes when we become independent and start a family. This is our first step towards looking for the house of dreams.

In the initial stages, funds are limited and a family stays either in rented accommodation or a self-owned house inherited from parents. As members of the family increase, the need for space grows. As a result, the family starts looking for a bigger spacious house.

The husband looks for a house that fits his budget while the wife prefers having a three-bedroom apartment. The kids want a separate bedroom for themselves while on the other hand, the grandparents need one where they can relax peacefully.

The family settles for their house of dreams

The family moves into the recently purchased house of dreams. Kids are happy to get a bedroom of their own. The elder daughter has already hijacked the bigger wardrobe while the younger brother is only concerned about where to keep his lego game set and the skateboard. Mom notices the attempts by her daughter to capture the entire storage and gives her a warning.

The kid’s bedroom is tastefully decorated

Mom has plans to decorate the walls. A look at the ceiling and you get a feel of the Milky-Way with stars glowing in the dark. On one side of the wall is a green coloured board with a timetable of Class 8^th and class 3^rd pinned to it. A greeting card made by son to wish mom a very happy birthday hangs on it. A lady carrying a handbag colored with crayons looks like a mirror image of mom. Well, mom is not the only favourite with kids. A greeting card made by the daughter wishing father a happy father’s day also finds a place on the board. The card has a pencil sketch of dad. The picture doesn’t resemble dad at all except the white flock of hairs.

There is a study table with a chair in one corner. On the other corner is a wooden cupboard for the school textbooks and notebooks. Trophies won by kids in sports tournaments and academics decorate the top of the cupboard.

The Grandparents room is full of warmth

Mom has taken extra care to do the kid’s bedroom. On the other hand, the grandparent’s room has been planned by dad. He has gifted grandpa a 50-inch LED television that hangs on the wall facing the bed. Two side-tables have been placed on each corner of the bed for their medicines, water bottle, and a glass. Grandpa has been insisting to hammer few nails in the wall for hanging his jacket and towel but dad said no. He has got a special wooden stand for this purpose.

Grandma is thrilled as dad has got a beautiful pooja house (prayer room) made for her in the new house. She can devote most of the time there. Earlier she had a makeshift pooja table in the old house.

The Parents room

Mom is no less than Bollywood’s designer wives when it comes to interior designing. She has done the bedroom very tastefully. The wardrobes are huge though mom feels she is still short on storage space. She was damm against television in the bedroom but dad also has equity in the room. He has got a big screen for all his Netflix shows. The kids often jokingly tell the parents that it would have been better if they could have soundproofed their walls.

Life moves on and the house is now old

It’s 10 years since the family moved into the house. The kids have moved on in their academic life. The daughter is now studying law from Bangalore and is in her final year. Son has recently moved to the US for his graduation. He was lucky to get admission at Georgia Tech University and flew just last month.

Now the kid’s room lies vacant. The picture in the hanging frames reminds the parents that this room once had occupants. The border disputes between the son and daughter have settled peacefully. The skirmishes between both have died down. Everyday mom makes it a point to enter the room and glance through the photos. She ensures that all the trophies retain their shine. After all, it reminds her of the shining achievements of the kids.

The table and wardrobe in the bedroom are standing in the same position as the kids left them. Mom remembers that she used to be in a line of firing from kids whenever she attempted to organize their room. She is dying to hear the same voice but alas the room has gone silent.

There are no more crushed bed-sheets and pillows lying all over the bed. The floor is no more flooded with shoes and heels lying all across the place. Dad also visits the room but occasionally. He tells mom that every time he enters the room he wishes that kids had not grown old so soon.

Even though the kid’s room looks so much organized but this was not the room that parents had dreamt about.

The Grandparent’s room has become vacant.

It is 5 years since grandpa left everybody but still, it seems it’s just yesterday. He went in for a knee replacement surgery at the age of 82 and was looking forward to resuming his morning walks with friends. However, destiny had a different plan for him and he left peacefully after a cardiac arrest.

His walking stick stands in one corner as if waiting for him to come back. The arms of the wooden stand on which he used to hang his jacket are no more burdened with the weight of his clothes. The side-table on dad’s side of the bed has been cleaned of all the medicines. His favourite Swiss wristwatch has run out of battery and the two needles have stopped moving as if saying that time does stop once in a while.

Just 6 months back even grandma also left for the heavenly abode. Her health started deteriorating the day she lost the company of grandpa. She had become very quiet ever since her partner left and used to spend most of the time in the pooja room. Her spectacles are still lying on the table. Once in a while dad enters the room and wraps himself in grandma’s shawl just to feel her presence.

The cacophony of the news channels playing round the clock on the TV has gone silent ever since grandpa left. The taste of the mutton cooked by grandma and the achars prepared by her are now only in memories.

The bedrooms in the house of dreams have gone silent.

Seeing the picture of grandma and grandpa hanging in their bedroom one day dad tells mom that this was not the house of dreams that they have dreamt of. Probably they needed a one-bedroom house only and not a three-bedroom one.

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The Grandparents and their walking stick standing in a corner

In the Journey of Life it is always difficult to say goodbye