The old house by the river Kathjori

“As houses get bigger, families get smaller.”
…

_Anonymous

Once upon a time, 4 of us, my siblings would share one bed with our mother.

My father was posted in a different state. My mother and four of us would stay in an old house by the river Kathjori. We all would sleep in one large bed. The bed was set against the wall blocking that edge and mother would sleep at the other edge flanking that side. All four of us would lie down across her so that the youngest one didn’t fall off the edge in night.

Those days, we had only one Latrine. As per the custom, it was built a good 100 meters away from the living room. Each time any one of us gets up for latrine in the middle of night, mother would get up. So also all others. We would go on talking to each other the whole night till every one fell asleep.

That was 1972, exactly 50 years ago.
… …

Today, all four of us have moved away from that old house by the river Kathjori. My elder brother lives in his own sprawling house in USA. His children have grown up and have moved out of his house. I and my wife live in my house alone. It has 4 toilets, but none except one is in use. Both my sisters have their huge mansions in different cities. All our children have moved out.

The old house on the bank of the river Kathjori has become a ghost house. Nobody lives there for the last 20 years.

We don’t feel like selling it, so many memories. We don’t feel like staying there, so outdated it is.
None of us has enough time and motivation to renovate it either.

Homes eventually die. Their ghosts linger on.

…

60 years ago, My father has left his ancestral place to build this house in Cuttack, the then capital city of Odisha. It was a city of happening. It seved us exactly 20 years. Then all four of us moved out of this house to build our own nests. The old nest became empty. Today, 4 more nests are waiting for their turn.

“As houses get bigger and bigger, we become lonelier and lonelier.“