Moving In Your Dream Home!

by Divya Srivastava

The exciting, exhausting and interesting journey begins from the search of a new house. I would prefer to call it a house until you move in and make it a home!

Before you go looking for a house, I am sure you have different aspects in your mind. So did we. After living in our current home, we were used to certain things that we thought should also be available in the new house. Certain things you find essential only after experiencing them. Moving in the third house after living in this country for almost two decades now, meant it should be perfect for us; it should have everything that we ever wanted to be in our new home!

Challenging though. It is worth mentioning that as my current house was on market at the same time, at least twice a day we had to rush out of the house ,to let in the prospective clients to inspect the house. To further add to my stress, my father would keep us calling from India and advising me on ‘Vastu Shashtra’. So I dutifully scribbled notes on the perfect ‘vastu’ to look for in the house and carried that piece of paper with me whenever I went for house hunt. During our exhaustive search of the house, we realized that no house can have it all. To find the perfect layout was not getting even close to it. For us the main priority was Master suite upstairs and a bedroom for parents downstairs. Next, I wanted the open foyer and Grand room, whereas my husband wanted a private office area and my son wanted the entire basement for him !.

One after another, we looked and inspected many houses without luck. But then one day, our stars seemed to be aligned! We walked into this beautiful red brick beauty set deep in an acre of land surrounded by tall pine trees and a lake at the back with a floating dock on it. It was a breathtaking view! That was the moment we realized, that we finally found what we were looking for all along, that was what we wanted! It felt as if we were in woods in our own backyard. The basement was with high ceilings and with all amenities that you could think of for recreation- table tennis, pool table, gym, wine cellar and fishing equipment. Furthermore, all our top priorities also matched. A bedroom on the main level for parents, the North east corner of the house for my husband’s office and the stairs turning towards the right to the Master suite on the upper level. Wow, I couldn’t believe my good fortune ! My dad’s instructions about vastu were already in my head and I was very happy to find everything was in order in this house!

Then began all the formalities .Paperwork relating to closing of the house where we were living, closing of the new house, planning the move, etc and all this during the most busy and stressful time of the year for me… ie my dance school’s annual show!

We moved into our dream home by the end of May. A fully furnished home with window treatments, each room telling a story with it’s own theme. However, I had to give it my personal touch. So I sat down for the most interesting part of the move, decorating our new home the way I wanted to! Picture frames on the walls, ‘Ganapati’ in the welcome foyer, flower vases and candles almost everywhere and Wow! I was ready for the house warming party!

Divya Srivastava

It is a different story that I forgot to light the candles for the party. Before the official house warming, our new home was warmed up and blessed by the visit of my in-laws from Ohio and cousins from California and Texas.

Finally it was time for the party with friends, who are like my family here! Party at our place and no music? Not possible. Music is the inseparable part of our lives. The gem in my life, my husband’s soulful singing livens up our home. His cheerful habit of humming keeps us going even in the toughest times of our lives. Soon the ‘Home Sweet Home’ was filled with joy, laughter and music. The evening was graced by some eminent community leaders, talented singers of Atlanta and of course friends. The basement that looks over the woods and the lake reverberated with some melodious voices. The guests were treated with ‘lassi’ the cold yogurt summer drink, followed with delicious three- course dinner of authentic north Indian vegetarian cuisine!

We didn’t want the evening to get over. Few friends stayed back late for the second and third round of the dessert, their favorite ‘ras malai’ very lovingly prepared by myself for my dear friends. We are deeply grateful for all the blessings expressing loads of happiness and joy in years to come!

It was an unforgettable evening of ‘Geet-Sangeet’ ke saath ‘Grah Pravesh’. For us this was far more meaningful and precious than the customary congratulatory wishes.

Divya Srivastava & Pankaj Bhargava are the owners of Geet-Rung School of Dance and Music