Bizarre House - I

Of all houses where I have lived and I have lived in many of them, 14 Mumfordgunj was quite intriguing and bizarre. It was built like a child adding parts to a sand castle, sneaky narrow stairs, and suspended in air crossover ramp. Pillars rising from nowhere and stairs going on and on without fold leading to a large terrace. “Lois Kuti” was the name of that formidable building, underneath that name was printed H Williams. Façade did not open to a regular road instead a brick paved gully lead to it. The approaching end from the main road was neat but that gully ended in crossing where tabellas with buffaloes and cows, their muck painting it into a dismal gloomy locale.  Right across the gully there was a large open space and beyond that was another locality funnily called Balrampur House a posh colony of collages. From our perch we can a standalone house belonging to “Pahadi ji”. Some guy Rama Prasad Ghildiyal “Pahadi” who wrote children’s book.     

We lived on the upper floor, H Williams downstairs in dark chaotic section. His wife an absentminded frail lady and occasional visitors to his home, a spinster daughter, a choleric limping son Vimal and another estranged son and his wife. It was an interesting household.