Vacations do this thing to us- It puts us in a surreal state of mind - It makes us fancy things which we would never do in a normal state of mind- A sense of euphoria - This time, some friends and us were were suddenly caught up in the whim of buying a beach house. It is a romantic notion- to wake up up to the sound of waves in the morning, to go to bed listening to the rhythm of the ocean, endless sunsets and sunrises to enjoy, your own private beach to loll around…too many episodes of two and half men promoting the idea of a beach house on Malibu…why not in Singara Chennai – our very own beach house on the untamed stretch on ECR, all the way from Chennai to Pondicherry… take your pick depending on how much you have tucked away.
So we embark on this ‘land seeing’ venture- in the broiling sun- when we could have paid Rs. 600 per person for a day on the beach complete with a welcome drink, lunch, snack, pool access, private beach – instead we chose to look at beach-front properties, back-water properties, towing our kids along listening to the endless “ when are we going to the beach?” and answered with the same “ Just one more place to check out “- we looked at everything from plots on the ocean front in a fishermen’s village to swanky villa layouts on private beaches- it all promoted some fantasy image in our head of good times ahead while we squandered a whole day in the sun dragging our grumpy kids and a clueless agent along. Multiple questions swam in our heads- will we really use this far away beach property? Can we afford to build a house? Will it be a good investment? What if there is a Tsunami and everything is wiped out – lakhs under water in one day…Who will maintain and manage? What about safety? What about zoning legislations which everybody is merrily violating?
We returned home from vacation with these thoughts still swimming in our heads… evaluating.. crunching numbers… deciding on probabilities and possibilities, laws and violations… I thought it might be a good idea to recall what I had read a long time ago about what Khalil Gibran said about houses- Here are a few excerpts that I enjoyed…
“And tell me, people of OrphaIese, what have you in these houses? And what is it you guard with fastened doors? Have you peace, the quiet urge that reveals your power? Have you remembrances, the glimmering arches that span the summits of the mind?
Tell me, have you these in your houses?
Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host and then a master?It lulls you to sleep only to stand by your bed and jeer at the dignity of the flesh.Verily the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul, and then walks grinning in the funeral.
It shall not be a glistening film that covers a wound, but an eyelid that guards the eye.
You shall not fold your wings that you may pass through doors, nor bend your heads that they strike not against a ceiling, nor fear to breathe lest walls should crack and fall down.
We might buy that Tsunami prone ocean view plot that violates half a dozen regulations because analysts said it is a good investment idea- while images of the post tsunami newly emerged shore temple and images of submerged houses keep popping in our heads questioning our sanity- but for now maybe we should just invest in TNagar, rent it out and use the money to rent a weekend at a beach resort – with room service and house keeping included and probably a Tsunami warning system installed!!
So we embark on this ‘land seeing’ venture- in the broiling sun- when we could have paid Rs. 600 per person for a day on the beach complete with a welcome drink, lunch, snack, pool access, private beach – instead we chose to look at beach-front properties, back-water properties, towing our kids along listening to the endless “ when are we going to the beach?” and answered with the same “ Just one more place to check out “- we looked at everything from plots on the ocean front in a fishermen’s village to swanky villa layouts on private beaches- it all promoted some fantasy image in our head of good times ahead while we squandered a whole day in the sun dragging our grumpy kids and a clueless agent along. Multiple questions swam in our heads- will we really use this far away beach property? Can we afford to build a house? Will it be a good investment? What if there is a Tsunami and everything is wiped out – lakhs under water in one day…Who will maintain and manage? What about safety? What about zoning legislations which everybody is merrily violating?
We returned home from vacation with these thoughts still swimming in our heads… evaluating.. crunching numbers… deciding on probabilities and possibilities, laws and violations… I thought it might be a good idea to recall what I had read a long time ago about what Khalil Gibran said about houses- Here are a few excerpts that I enjoyed…
“And tell me, people of OrphaIese, what have you in these houses? And what is it you guard with fastened doors? Have you peace, the quiet urge that reveals your power? Have you remembrances, the glimmering arches that span the summits of the mind?
Tell me, have you these in your houses?
Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host and then a master?It lulls you to sleep only to stand by your bed and jeer at the dignity of the flesh.Verily the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul, and then walks grinning in the funeral.
It shall not be a glistening film that covers a wound, but an eyelid that guards the eye.
You shall not fold your wings that you may pass through doors, nor bend your heads that they strike not against a ceiling, nor fear to breathe lest walls should crack and fall down.
We might buy that Tsunami prone ocean view plot that violates half a dozen regulations because analysts said it is a good investment idea- while images of the post tsunami newly emerged shore temple and images of submerged houses keep popping in our heads questioning our sanity- but for now maybe we should just invest in TNagar, rent it out and use the money to rent a weekend at a beach resort – with room service and house keeping included and probably a Tsunami warning system installed!!
