It was obvious that the two- storey house had once been very impressive,but what remained of it was no more than the basic structure. It might even be haunted, I thought to myself. The name engraved on the top of the building was " Mahamaya Devi". On the long side wall the name, Satish Chandra Dubey,retired Inspector of Police (Gazetted) had still its legibility. We drove through the gate, then took the car right up the driveway which was covered with weeds and other wild plants before stopping at the rear door. There was no sign of another human being. It seemed as if no one had bothered to visit this house in the last twenty years. There must have been a large garden or a meticulous courtyard in front of the house. Now it was a veritable jungle. I thought of going inside and begun walking towards the front door.
The house looked far worse from inside. The beams of the ceiling looked as if they had no wish to go on doing their job. It would not be long before the ceiling caved in. Three pieces of broken furniture were plied in a corner. The floor had disappeared under a thick cover of dust. A veranda ran behind the front room, at the end of which stood the remains of a large hall. Pujas and similar other events used to be held here. Now it's only inhabitants were pigeons,rats,bats and cockroaches.
I would not have been surprised if a number of snakes slipped out of the cracks in the wall.
We crossed the wall and turned right. A few feet away was a staircase. We began climbing the steps removing cobwebs on our way. We continued climbing until we reached the roof.
It was the place in the house where children can have supreme command. Here, a portion of the wall had crumbled away. It seemed that this room had suffered more damage than any other in the whole house. The ravages of time had acted upon the top of the house far more strongly than the rooms below. The floor was covered with bird droppings,pieces of straw,dried grasses, and other rubbish.
In one corner stood a broken chair,a broken carom board,a broken gramophone and many of its records having photographs of Surrayya on some of them. A broken large sized camera without a lense and the piles of film fare magazines were lying stacked aswell as scattered on the floor.
Tears came from our eyes and we returned with the determination to at least get the house cleaned and make it liveable atleast to give solace and peace to our departed ancestors who had built the mansion from their hard earned money and sweat.
The house looked far worse from inside. The beams of the ceiling looked as if they had no wish to go on doing their job. It would not be long before the ceiling caved in. Three pieces of broken furniture were plied in a corner. The floor had disappeared under a thick cover of dust. A veranda ran behind the front room, at the end of which stood the remains of a large hall. Pujas and similar other events used to be held here. Now it's only inhabitants were pigeons,rats,bats and cockroaches.
I would not have been surprised if a number of snakes slipped out of the cracks in the wall.
We crossed the wall and turned right. A few feet away was a staircase. We began climbing the steps removing cobwebs on our way. We continued climbing until we reached the roof.
It was the place in the house where children can have supreme command. Here, a portion of the wall had crumbled away. It seemed that this room had suffered more damage than any other in the whole house. The ravages of time had acted upon the top of the house far more strongly than the rooms below. The floor was covered with bird droppings,pieces of straw,dried grasses, and other rubbish.
In one corner stood a broken chair,a broken carom board,a broken gramophone and many of its records having photographs of Surrayya on some of them. A broken large sized camera without a lense and the piles of film fare magazines were lying stacked aswell as scattered on the floor.
Tears came from our eyes and we returned with the determination to at least get the house cleaned and make it liveable atleast to give solace and peace to our departed ancestors who had built the mansion from their hard earned money and sweat.
