HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS.

It’s been a long while since I last wrote on my blog.

There have been many enquiries on my long silence.

I haven’t been writing for many reasons; prominent among them being:

1. I just could not bring myself to write – writer’s block or plain fatigue?
2. I was anxious to finish, furnish and move into my new apartment

Since March 20^th, we have a new address:

402, Shivadeep Residency,
Shivabagh,
Kadri,
Mangalore.

We moved into our new apartment, after a delay of approximately 6 months & we are loving it!

There is a popular saying in Kannada:

‘Maduve maadi nodu,
Mane katti nodu.’

Loosely transalated, it means ‘get married and see, build a house and see’; literally it means that the two tasks are difficult, complicated & frustrating!

It was an experience for my wife and me as we watched with a feeling of helpless ness as all dates & deadlines that we had set were systematically demolished by labourers, carpenters, painters and their ilk.

And I learnt that in the ‘unorganised’ sector of building construction, ‘anything’ is possible.

The labour class in our country has been exploited. But slowly and surely, they are striking back, not by negotiations to improve their lot, but by sulking, absenting from work & bullying the contractor/building in parting with more wages. They are breeding incompetence and bleeding the contractor/builder. Does one deserve the other?

Ultimately it is the user - the apartment/house owner, who suffers with the delay & at times the poor quality of work.

It’s been a month since we moved in. The builder has yet to hand over the building; his gang of incompetent supervisors are scanning the building for defects to rectify & while at it they are taking their own sweet time!

We are still looking forward to having all our friends over for a celebration.

Meanwhile I plod the steps to the builder’s office to enquire as to when he & his ‘gang’ would quit the building so that we could have a celebration with our family and friends.