A home of our own

In the meantime, to ensure safe entry, a concrete slab had to be built over the rainwater drain that ran before the main entrance. A second blueprint registering this was similarly forwarded to the municipal corporation — with an application, since the construction was outside the area of the plot.

A building inspector arrived after a month. Armed with copy of the first blueprint, he roamed inside the two-storied house for more than an hour, apparently looking for any unauthorised construction. Since he made no queries, we presumed he was satisfied. Dad led him to the drawing room for a cup of tea. While sipping it, the gentleman mildly drew our attention to the concrete structure in front of the main entrance, visible through an open window of the room. It was “irregular” he pointed out. Even as Dad showed him a copy of the second blueprint, he pleaded ignorance and left. To our dismay, a short while later, court summons was delivered to us: Dad was charged with having built an ‘unauthorised construction’.

I shouldered the responsibility of attending the court hearings since Dad was ill. The corporation lawyer placed our case before the magistrate. Studying it, he asked if permission was obtained for the extra construction. I showed him the requisite documents. Without further ado, he pronounced his judgment. It said that if he were to construct a house, he would place the concrete slab first since there was the ever present possibility of children tumbling into the drain.

As per his orders I paid a negligible amount as court fees, a norm for all. Socrates rightly said: “Four things belong to a judge, to hear courteously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly, and to decide impartially.”