Home sweet home

I love the view from our house. In all the nitpicking about the inconveniences associated with the house, I had not realized one of the simple joys of life is waking up to a nice view. Our apartment faces a school and a bunch of short and beautifully built buildings and houses. These are set in a carpet of green. This is a bit unusual since most apartments we saw faced other tall condos and hence did not provide much of an incentive to stare out of the window.

Just outside the condo is a canal and a small, well-laid out park. Beyond that is a girl’s high school. Most people say that schools can be very noisy but being on the 16^th floor we don’t really hear much. Except on that one Saturday morning, when we woke up to noises that sounded like an elephant in heat. I peeked out of the windows to see the school band, practicing bright and early. The sound was thanks to the trumpet player, whose skills still had some catching up to do. Clearly she realized it too since she diligently played (?) the trumpet the whole morning.

The girls also play a lot of sports, mostly soft ball. However, there was a particular day when I noticed two lines of girls practicing shaking hands with each other the way they do before important football matches. I watched fascinated as they did the same thing over and over again for almost an hour. Even if they turn out to be the least competent team when they play a match, no one can ever accuse them of not being able to give a firm handshake.

Despite these minor distractions, sleeping-in, however, has mostly been an easy exercise. The curtains that came with the house are made of some super-thick material that does not let light penetrate easily. So we are usually blissfully unaware of the fact that a bright morning lies outside. Bliss.

About a month into our stay, D made an interesting observation. We had not got any bills so far. This was a bit strange. In Bombay, the bills were normally slipped under our door and we had subconsciously assumed the same would happen here. Then D decided to check our mail box in the basement, and sure enough everything was there. Some dangerously overdue. The water bill (yes, the government charges for water. So the beautiful tub in our master bedroom will have to be used judiciously), the electricity bill, gas bill, cable TV bill, internet and phone bills. Whew.

The house is still work-in-progress while other priorities dominate. One disappointment has been the amount of dust. I had assumed that living in such a clean country, I would be able to display my books in the open bookshelf or put out our souvenirs in open shelves. Unfortunately, while dust does not gather in the prodigious amounts it used to in Bombay, it is still disappointing. However, as the mater pointed out, it is impossible not to have dust. So for now, everything that is purely decorative has been kept inside and will be hung up or displayed when the time is right.

We are also slowly beginning to use the condo facilities. D went to play a spirited round of tennis and then came home and panted and rolled in front of the fan in the manner of someone poisoned in Bollywood movies. Clearly, we can both get more exercise.

Our settling in is slowly turning into a much more stable phase. Things are growing more familiar on the house front. I have still not been able to explore the world outside our four walls. I guess slowly that should also come to pass…