It was a rare, cool May evening that saw me walk into a room that I could call my own, although it was to be shared between me and my sister. Until then, we had been quite fine decorating and redesigning our parental room as kids. For long, the thought of my own room and the things I would want to fill it up with hadn't crossed my mind. Now, as we moved into our new house, the family was welcomed to the challenge of making it a new home. Mother had her ideas, her brisk tastes and her design genius had lighted up the drawing room. Dad knew well where he would be spending most of his time in the house so he took up the living room and glamoured it up the way he had always dreamt of. There were too many things that were to end up in the parent's room and so there wasn't much point planning its destiny. But what we had at our disposal was a room that we could fill up the way we wanted to- with all those little things that make up a big life and still leave space to roam about just fine.
The definition of a dream room is a dynamic one. The first time we had to do it, I dragged up our study table with my sister and fit it with the most ebullient spirits into the most comely corner of the room. We took a step back and looked at it. It was done just fine I think. Next item in was our childhood wardrobe- something we have kept to this day because it brings with it memories so beautiful we could never let it go. I still remember the day we bought it. I had saved a little money in an empty powder can with the aspirations of buying a car with it. My sister advanced her share with the money she had collected as the cute little child she was then. And Papa and Mumma took care of the rest. Haah...nothing beats warm memories. So, the wardrobe would end up just near the study table and lo and behold, the side-space is up. Other useful stuff would be put up into the yet open cupboard space. We kind of liked it that way only.
Next, to sleep on, we bought two single foldable beds and put them close enough to allow sufficient space to walk about. To keep the love glowing, we bought identical bedsheets for the two beds though. And so it was done- our perfect little abode with the handful of things that mattered to us. In a few days, we kids would go to the market and buy some cheap posters of our favourite movie stars and put them up on the wall aligned to our beds. A cool little nightlamp was strategically placed to lighten up just the posters at night so as to create a Shawshanky aura while we listened to 'Old is Gold' on the radio set. Oh, how all too easy and how too enchanting things appear in memories.
For what it was, this was the perfect room we could dream of then. But things must change because if they don't, you will never form new memories. Quite on the same lines, things did change the day I stepped out of the room as I shifted to a new city for studies. With my sister having attained the power over things, the room took a somewhat girly makeover. She got the walls done in her own fashion, with the first moiety set of them facing each other in a sparky white tone while the other set in Relay Red. She got a tree with birds done on one of the walls putting an authoritative stamp as to who owned things in that vicinity. Her paintings and craftwork began to embellish the lonely corners of the room. She even managed to get an Air Conditioner installed for the Lucknow heat! But the story of our little room doesn't end here.
Just as we people love planning things, life has its own plans. With my sister too having left home for studies, the room looks forward to a new makeover. Who would the true owner be now is another debate but I guess I get a shot at getting things my way now that my sister has had her turn. If I were to be given complete autocracy over things, this is how I would like my dream room to be-
- First things first, the birds with the tree would be bid adieu along with the Relay Red. Instead of that one wall would sport a deep Chocolate colour with its adjacent walls white as any. The fourth wall would we tiled with the depiction of a defining point in human history.
 |
| Something like this, but better ! (Source) |
- As much as I would like to keep it, the study table cum rack has to be shifted elsewhere. Replacing it would be a shelf with the provision of accommodating a Television in the middle and some books at the top and bottom of it. Ummm...Yeah, that would be nice.
- To tell something at the outset, I love the marbled floor of my room and by extension of my entire house. But there are changes that wouldn't entirely go with the existing floor. Hence a dark textured wooden floor, preferably teak would be the best option.
- Also, remember the open cupboard space? Well we liked it that way once but now since I am all grown up ( at least I like to believe so), that has to be made into a solid cupboard with some solid oak. Yes, Oak would do it!
- Owing to little space for many things, it is best that the beds that fold up are replaced by beds that fold up against the wall. Aaah.. If only dreams weren't too expensive.
- Some things change, some don't. While I would still like to have poster sized pictures done on the wall, I no longer wish them to be movie stars or anything. The heart now has some real life photos and it would pretty much love to see the same on the walls. Yes, love. Still, the Shawshank moment is on like before so carefully placed nightlamps above those pictures are totally on.
- There are still things that you just can't let go. That said, the old wardrobe, that old little beautiful thing will stay as ever. Maybe it would get a makeover but in the same shades as it originally came into our lives.
- If possible, I would love it if the roof of the room has some mechanism that we could switch it ON and OFF to show a nightsky sort of view. I don't really know if it's possible. Films have ruined me that way.
- Lastly, the Air conditioner has to go and the window grills removed. One should learn to live with the true-ness of the outside world.
With all these wonderful things done, I still wonder if the final result would ever beat the day we shifted here for the first time and when us two tired little creatures spent that night chatting about what the future holds for us. Will this makeover be as satisfying? Well that remains to be seen, doesn't it?
0 comments