If Houses could tell you Stories

 

The other day, we had gone up to the terrace to bring in the clothes that had been hung on the clothesline a while ago. I bundled up the clothes on the staircase and just sat down on the stairs near our puja room for a while because there was such a pleasant breeze and it was a really hot day. And just like that, I had this random memory.

When I was small, we had rented the lower two floors of our house to a Korean family. We lived on the upper two floors, then. During Tihar, when there would be fireworks in the sky, my brothers would be lighting up fireworks like gamala and chakkar and rockets on our terrace, my mother would be in the small kitchen we had, that is now the puja room. My father would sit near the entrance of the terrace and I would sit on his lap and look at the fireworks in awe. Pleasant memories. And it made me think, this house has seen me grow up, it must hold a lot of stories of me, a lot of memories of me. And not only me, but my family. Many families move houses and children are deprived of the home that they spent their childhood in. However, I am lucky enough to live in the house that I grew up in.

My father always tells me that his soul resides in each and every brick of this house because he built it with his hard work and sweat. Each brick in this house is a witness of our story. And it made me think: what if houses could tell you stories? Sure, you can hear a lot of stories from your parents and your siblings, but don’t you think your house has held in so many of your secrets?

If houses could tell you stories:

It would tell you stories of how happy your parents were when they first brought you home from the hospital

It would tell you stories of that forgotten scar you got from that table corner

It would tell you stories of all the family dinners it has been a part of

It would tell you stories of all those times there was hushed crying on the pillows when everyone was asleep

It would tell you stories of the times your guests have been obnoxious

It would tell you stories of the many fights that have happened with your siblings

It would tell you stories of the hours you spent on the landline talking with your best friend

It would tell you stories of all the times it laughed along at the jokes being shared when there were many load shedding hours

It would tell you stories of how scared it was when someone broke in whilst everyone was asleep

It would tell you stories of all the bathroom singing it has had to become an audience to

It would tell you how it has watched you grow into the wise person you have now become

I bet our houses have a lot of stories to tell, if only houses could tell you stories. Would you listen to them?