Whatever the British may have done or not done, they left behind beautiful bungalows. The Secunderabad cantonment has many. There is one in which Winston Churchill lived as a captain.
Most cantonments have these wonderful old houses with huge gardens, high ceilings. They all have ventilators high up near the roof which really keeps the house cool in summer.They are maintained fairly well by the army. Consequently, what an army officer calls home can range from a single room in a converted barrack, housing the officer, his wife and two kids, to a 10 roomed bungalow with outhouses, stables and a garden big enough to grow wheat and rice. But one adapts. One enjoys both-- though I must say the one-room barrack comes when there are dozens of nappies to be dried and the 10 roomed house comes when the children are away and the officer and his wife are the only occupants.
The hill stations have different kinds of bungalows. These are not high ceilinged. They look like large cottages and usually have an attic on the roof. They usually have climber rose or nasturtiums growing up the front. I love these bungalows. I lived in one in my childhood. Inspite of the scorpion that fell from the roof on to my mother's bed, and the loose floorboards, I loved it. One monsoon, a spring sprang up behind my bedroom and every night, I would listen to its gurgle before dropping off to sleep. The spring dried up after that year.
Most cantonments have these wonderful old houses with huge gardens, high ceilings. They all have ventilators high up near the roof which really keeps the house cool in summer.They are maintained fairly well by the army. Consequently, what an army officer calls home can range from a single room in a converted barrack, housing the officer, his wife and two kids, to a 10 roomed bungalow with outhouses, stables and a garden big enough to grow wheat and rice. But one adapts. One enjoys both-- though I must say the one-room barrack comes when there are dozens of nappies to be dried and the 10 roomed house comes when the children are away and the officer and his wife are the only occupants.
The hill stations have different kinds of bungalows. These are not high ceilinged. They look like large cottages and usually have an attic on the roof. They usually have climber rose or nasturtiums growing up the front. I love these bungalows. I lived in one in my childhood. Inspite of the scorpion that fell from the roof on to my mother's bed, and the loose floorboards, I loved it. One monsoon, a spring sprang up behind my bedroom and every night, I would listen to its gurgle before dropping off to sleep. The spring dried up after that year.
4 comments:
Your post took me down memory lane. I have lived in all the types of houses mentioned in your post (except that our hill station houses did not have an attic). At one time, we lived in a converted barrack, where each family occupied two rooms (a door was made to connect these two rooms). Each family could hear whatever was going on in the neighbouring house because they were separated by very thin, wooden walls.
The ceiling fans used to be very old fashioned and would make a loud noise
I have memories of my mother cultivating a garden around every house that we occupied, in whatever little space was available. So would other families and we would share the produce with each other :)
@Kaneenika: In the barrack, did you also have a Signals telephone that had to be cranked every time you wanted to make a call? That was my favorite in that station! It felt like we were living in history.
Yes, we did :) I remember using it once while the CO's wife was visiting us. "Exchange, get me so and so." She reprimanded me and said, "learn to say please."
:) Army life is similar in most stations. Also you understand what JCO MD ACCN or 3trg bn means, which no one else does!
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