The Ache For Home Lives In All Of Us

A few weeks ago we had a visitor in our kitchen, someone I almost missed and I’m so glad that our dogs missed him (or her) – a baby squirrel who fell out of the tree just outside our wall! I kept the dogs away, while José went off to see how he could put the little creature back on the tree. What we realized is that a big, fat cat was sitting right over their nest and there was no way we wanted to put the little fellow in danger of the cat. So we put him in a tissue box and José took off to the park opposite our house and left him on a tree! An hour later the poor little fellow was still in the same spot he had been left on. But with a little prod he took off and ran up another tree. We hope he eventually found his way home. Just yesterday, I spotted a small squirrel on the same tree and hoped that it was our little chap!

I thought of our little visitor when I saw this video, an advertisement from MagicBricks.

Home…only four letters in that word, but what a lot of emotions are packed into it. All of us have our own dreams of what home should be. I love Maya Angelou’s words on home –

The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.Click To Tweet

Yes, home is the place where you can be yourself and know that you are loved. A place you can let your hair down. A space which you have lovingly created, complete with all your prized possessions (and naturally, your favourite people!)

Thanks to my Dad’s many transfers, I have called several places home. Only these were always my parents’ space to decorate and make to their tastes. When I moved to Mumbai, post-marriage, José and I poured a lot of time, money and ourselves into customizing our flat. But we still dream of a little house, customized to our needs and taste, with a garden to add to its charm. Since we spend most of our time at home, it must ideally be a reflection of us as a couple – simple, elegant and with lots of place to cook and various shelves to store our collections of books and artifacts.

Although we are nowhere near a decision about whether our move to Hyderabad is permanent, we are looking at housing options in the event that we do decide. Living in a rented house is never fun, you just can’t completely customize it to your needs. Whenever we see a cute house, we stop and take a picture!

House hunting is a lot of work. If you like the locality, you might not get a house there. If you like a particular house, you may not want to live in the locality. Sometimes it becomes a wild goose chase and you’re left feeling disappointed and exhausted. Which is why it’s great to have someone who can shortlist places for you based on your preferences of the kind of house, the locality and your budget. MagicBricks does just that.

At the click of a button you can search for properties for buying or renting. You can refine your search to add the locality, the kind of property and your budget. You can also select a verified property. I love the fact that you can choose a place based on travel time, specifying the mode of transport, from your place of work or your children’s school. For example, I clicked the area where we’re currently staying and opted for anything within a 20 minute travel time. The number of options that came up were amazing. House hunting on MagicBricks makes life so much easier.

I’m starting to believe their promise that Property Sahi Milegi Yahin and that our dream house might actually become a reality someday soon.