Home Run!

ek ghar banaaoongaa, tere ghar ke saamne
duniyaa basaaoongaa, tere ghar ke saamne

ghar kaa banaanaa, koi aasaan kaam naheen
duniyaa basaanaa, koi aasaan kaam naheen

Sounded easy enough (and pretty romantic) when Dev Saab was singing it, but Nutan, I'm sorry to say, had a better grip on the facts pertaining to the obstacles that Dev saab might encounter in this project. Getting a house constructed is tough work(especially in Delhi/NCR- dont know how badly they try to rip you off in other places), its a bit like juggling 3 balls with your left hand while operating on an aortic aneurysm with your right, all the time of course, trying to balance yourself on a unicycle.

This is a song i hum to myself(cant do it loudly, the neighbours'd kill me) very often these days. My dad's retired now, and for the first time in our lives, my family actually has to worry about things like kitchen and bathroom fittings for a house of our own (while the government does provide very good accomodation to doctors in service, the same facilities are, however not extended to those who superannuate).

From not even bothering to know how much our phone/electricity bills for a month are, i've suddenly been catapulted into a world of wood margins, door handles and PVC pipes. Just about everyday i'm running around like crazy, learning some new lessons, and I suspect am paying quite a lot more than i should for some of them!

Sometimes I wonder whether Dev Anand in his quest for a house across that of his beloved's would have faced quite the same problems that I (well, my dad more than me, but I'm also getting used to 'em) am facing these days. The whimsical carpenter, who thinks of himself as an artist and not a labourer, and whose petulance is getting on our nerves day by day. The almost paranoid contractor, who's just worried abt getting paid ASAP. The compulsively lying idiot, from whom we have unfortunately purchased out kitchen fittings (i use the word "purchased" in its loosest sense, as we're yet to receive some of the stuff).

We're a long, long way from completion, and its going to take every iota of our patience to get this done, but i swear the next time i hear the carpenter querulously complaining and asking me to go and change some of the material that I had to go and buy in 45 degree heat in the first place, i shall scream.

What is with all these people? The more naive among us would say that they're getting paid for their job, so why dont they do it?(thats how i used to think just 10 days back) But now i've begun to believe that they're just lazy oafs who also unfortunately happen to have a rather sadistic streak in them.

I can also now understand why Shahjahan cut off the hands of all the dudes who built the Taj.

PS: If any of you need any tips for a modular kitchen, u now know whom to contact.

PPS: There is a green belt across the street from where i'm moving, so dont go getting any ideas from the song.