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Moving house

We now had another worry coming. The house at No.416 in HRBR Layout, our home for the past 15 years had to be vacated. The owner of the house, Mr.Nagaraj, had requested me as early as February last to give him possession of the house as he wished to renovate and partly reconstruct the house for his own use. I had said okay but requested him to give time till June/July as I was planning Supriya’s wedding and I wanted to conduct it in the same house where Raji’s marriage was earlier performed. He agreed on the condition that there would definitely be no delay as he had already contracted a builder for the job paying him a sizeable amount as advance. It was to be a 20 to 25 lakhs job. It is worth mentioning here that Mr.Nagaraj was a considerate gentleman and did not give any cause for worry during the long period of our tenancy of his house. As I have mentioned earlier, the house was fixed through a mutual friend for lease initially for one year as is the norm at a very moderate rent of Rs.1250 and a deposit with provision for extension. Mr.Nagaraj who was a doctor in the Indian Air Force with the rank of Wing Commander was transferred and he was looking for some decent family to take the newly constructed house on rent till the time he returned to Bangalore. He had a small family of the wife and a son. He took the family to wherever he was posted. In his subsequent transfers he was not posted to Bangalore and asked us to continue staying in his house. There was a clause in the lease agreement providing for a 5% increase in rent annually. Although initially the rent was considered normal, as the area improved and more houses came up the rentals in the area had increased. A house of our size fetched a rent more than double that of what we were paying but he did not ask for more rent beyond the 5% increase. Only when he decided to renovate the house built nearly 20 years ago did he ask me to vacate. The house was the longest period we lived in and even today brings some very pleasant (and some unpleasant) memories to mind. We found a decent house in Basaveshwarnagar which lies beyond Rajajinagar for an affordable rent.

We moved to Basaveshwar Nagar in July 2005 after living in No.416 HRBR Layout for a continuous period of 14 years during which time I transformed the front yard and the right side of the vacant land into a beautiful garden. I had raised plantain trees, guva trees, lemon trees and even a mango tree all of which yielded scores of fruits during each season. I planted several flower bearing plants including roses and jasmines which bloomed through out the season. The place which once looked barren turned into something like a forest bungalow in the course of a few years. Our neighbours and many of our relatives envied us for living in such a fabulous place at such a low rent. The whole layout itself was neat with wide well paved roads running symmetrically with the houses well planned and built. It gave an aristocratic look for the entire place. Many of my relatives wanted me to buy the place but the owner Mr.Nagaraj would give his life away rather than sell the place which he acquired over two decades ago at a throw away price.

Our life at No.111, NHCS Layout in Basaveshwar Nagar started with sending Supriya to join her husband in England. Ambika had just then completed her degree in psychology and wanted to do a post graduate course in Human Resources Management in which subject she had done well in the college. She had joined HP only a month back immediately after her degree exams and after a campus interview. But we met with hurdles in admitting her for a regular course in the college for her MBA which she wanted very much to do.

Supriya’s marriage had been fixed for July 10th and we had been given notice to vacate the house immediately there after. The whole situation was in a mess and we could not come to any immediate decision. The cost of the course was another consideration coming as it did immediately after the wedding and the shift of the residence. So it was decided that she should do a course in Masters in Human Resource Management of the Annamalai University (Distance Education) by correspondence. It was to be a two year course. She quit the job at HP and enrolled for the MHRM course immediately.

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