THE DREAM HOUSE

The dream house

Rooma is in the study room in her mother’s house. It is a small room with shelves standing on two sides. They contain hundreds of books. At the centre of the room there is a work desk on which is placed a reading lamp and a chair.  

One week ago, Rooma left her mother in a residential care home. This is  a decision that she had taken after much hesitation and thought. Her mother was an Alzheimer patient. Her condition has been worsening over the years. She could no longer be allowed to live on her own. She has had several accidents. She often forgot to close the door at night or she let the oven on, with food burning inside. She had grown weaker in the recent months and could hardly walk.  

It is with a heavy heart and tears in her eyes that Rooma bid her mother  goodbye at the residential care home, promising her that she will visit her ever week end. Sometimes one has to take hard decisions even if they entail heartbreak and pain.  

Rooma decided to donate all her mother’s books to the neighbouring school. It meant  a lot of work for her to sort out and classify all the books and documents which her mother had collected for over four decades.  

All of them had been kept with care and in an orderly manner. No torn pages. No dust on the shelf.  Rooma randomly removed some books and while perusing some of the oldest ones, she noted that pages had become fragile. She opened one book, which appeared to be among the most ancient of her mother’s book collection. She noted an old photograph. It was  black and white and had a yellowish tint. The corners of the photo were slightly dinted.

Rooma could distinguish a house. The features were not too clear. It appeared  like a farm house with tall trees in the background and ivy covering the wall. On the verso, there was a  handwritten note, which had become pale with time but was still legible. The words in italic were – ‘ One day a person with a golden heart will own this dream house.”  

Rooma was intrigued. What a puzzling note. Did her mother have another house somewhere in the village? She had never mentioned anything about a farm house.  

The photo aroused her curiosity. For days, she kept thinking about the house and the meaning of the message on the photo. She searched for other clues in the study room. She could not find anything that would elucidate the  message.

“ I will ask mum. Maybe she will remember. Even in her condition, she sometimes recalls memories of the past,” she said to herself.

When she called at the residential care home to meet her mother, she was told that all was well. Her mum had settled quite satisfactorily and was getting used to her new environment.

She said, “Mum, I found an old photo among your very old books. It is a photo of a sort of farm house. Do you remember anything about the house? ”

Her mother looked at her, somewhat perplexed, “You have been searching in my library? Please do not mess with my precious books. The oldest books are the most valuable ones. They are my treasures.”

She paused and then said, “I remember the photo.”

Rooma asked her “ Is it the photo of your farm house?  You never spoke to me about having a beautiful farm house.”

Her mother remained silent. She nodded her head as if asking Rooma to leave.

She looked blankly at the floor and said “Who are you? Why are you here?” Her eyes were blank. She was sitting in her wheel chair, motionless and silent.

Rooma left her mother with a feeling of pain and sorrow. She had no cue of the secret behind the photo. Her mother had no siblings and had separated from her husband, that is Rooma’s father when Rooma was still a child. She had been in touch with her father occasionally. He was a well to do entrepreneur in the textile business. Despite his age, he was active and sportly. 

She thought that maybe her father could know more about  the photo. She asked for an appointment and called at his office. He greeted her warmly. Her father was a stout and cheerful man. He had white hair, a greying moustache and beard. As usual he was neatly dressed with a neatly ironed white shirt and black trousers. His face showed a lot of joyfulness at meeting his daughter.

“Sit down, my dear. How is your mother? I am so happy to see my pretty girl. What brings you here? Is there any problem with your mother? ”

Rooma explained that her mother’s condition had been deteriorating and she had no choice than to place her in a residential care home.

She said “ Her condition does not allow her to stay lone. She almost put the house on fire, hurt herself several times and once even got lost in the neighbourhood as she could not remember the way back to her house. I believe that staying in a place where health care professionals will look after her is the safest option.”

“Oh so sad. You know that you can count on me for any assistance. What is it then  that brings you here?”

Rooma said, “ You know that Mum has a library full of books. I have decided to give away the books to a school. I have to take some decisions about the house too in future. While scanning the books, I found an old black and white photo, with a strange note written behind. I thought that maybe you know more about this photo.”

She took out that photo which she has preciously placed in a wallet in her handbag. She handed it to her father.

“Read the note on the verso,” she said.

He read the note. He frowned.

“ What is this funny message? It seems that your mum had a deep secret, which she shared with no one,” he exclaimed. “I have never seen this house. She never said anything to me about this house. I do not recall any visit to a farm house or any of her friends having such a house.

He said. “Anyway stop tormenting your brain about this. I believe that it may be an old photo which she collected from an archive. All this is senseless.”

He handed the photo back to Rooma. “ Let us change topic, my dear. How are you doing at  work?” They then engaged in a conversation about her work, her plans for further studies and  her travel plans.

When she was back home, she put the photo back in the library. “I guess that father was right. I have made an obsession of this photo. I need to shift my mind on other things and forget this photo. Let it remain as an unsolved mystery.”

She got back to her routine of going to work, visiting her mother and dealing with daily chores. Two months went by. She had already packed the collection of books and handed them over to the nearest public school. The head master thanked her for the donation and a group of students event visited her mother at the residential care home.

After about six months, Rooma received a letter, which emanated from a legal office. She was convened to a meeting .  She was surprised by this letter.

Two days later, she drove to the city and located the legal office. She entered into the office of the person who had convened her. It was a tall white haired man with a black suit and navy blue tie, wearing heavy eye glasses. He had an austere look. It was quite disconcerting to be facing this man, who did not even raise his eyes to look at her.

“Good Morning, Sir” Rooma said. “Sir, why have I been convened to your office. Is there something wrong that has happened? All this is worrying and stressful for me.is it something about my parents? ”

The man had his eyes glued on the papers in front of him. He did not reply. He was concentrated in verifying the papers and was reading every page.

Rooma was feeling extremely anxious. She kept was fumbling her fingers. Her thoughts were going in all directions. She was on the verge of tears.

The man finished reading the papers and looked at her. His face was stern and grim.  

He said “ I have called you here to inform you about some property matters. You may not be aware that your mother’s grandfather had an aunt, who had no children. She left no testament. After her death, many searches have been carried out on her lineage.  After examining the ancestral lineage, it has been found that you are the only beneficiary of her property.”

Rooma was relieved but she was staggered. “Is this a dream?” she thought.  She was so astounded by the statement of the notary that she had no words.

 “What property is he talking about?”she thought.

The notary said,” I know that you are under shock. Good news can sometimes give shock to people. You will be more surprised when you will see the property of your ancestor.”

He presented a recent colourful photo of a house. It was a lovely house with a beautiful  green scenery. The house, however  looked dismal with overgrown plants wrapping it.

Rooma immediately took out the old photo from her handbag. She compared it to the new one. It was the same house. She now understood the meaning of the message in the old photo.

She was delighted, almost euphoric. She warmly thanked the notary.

On her way back, she was wondering how her mother got hold of the old photo. She remembered that her mother mentioned that the oldest books were the most precious ones. She understood that those were the books that had passed from generation to generation, each one having its own history and ….secrets.