The Ever Eluding Extra Room

Seeing me and my brother take turns in increasing our decibel levels on the pretext of studying, I heard my father worriedly say, 'If only we had one extra room.' The Government quarter we were staying in then was a very modest one-bedroom house. Hot-desking was not for my father who preferred everyone having their own cupboard, desk, boxes, etc., This left little space for free movement.

With Father's transfer, the quarter had to be vacated. "He's sure to look for a bigger house with an extra room,' said my brother. But with spiraling rents and demanding house-owners, compromises had to be made on space, facilities, and convenience. 'If only we had one extra room,' was the line we got to hear even more frequently.

Finally, came our Home Sweet Home. Everyone chipped in with their ideas on planning and designing. But with the house becoming bigger, the pocket seemed to become smaller and a balance had to be drawn between comfort and resources. Finally, the house took shape with 3 bedrooms, hall cum-dining, kitchen, portico, and a small garden around. Things seemed to fit in neatly. Even Uncle's visit with his wife and two children did not bother us at all. All our space problems seemed to have come to an end, or so we thought...

With the arrival of two of my brother's friends for an examination at a center close to our house, crowding and congestion started showing up again. 'If only we had one extra room," murmured my brother as he moved to the hall with his bed that night. 'Does every house have such a problem?, I wondered. "Rubbish, Celebrity and designer houses will have rooms unused for months," he replied.

But Mom disagreed. 'The more we have, the more we aspire for. It is only the circumstances that alter the cases. To worry about what we don't have is to waste what we do have,' she went on philosophically.

Her words set me thinking. This extra-room seems to be ever-elusive. Will we ever have all the extra rooms to our hearts content? Are we confusing luxuries with needs and wants? Or have these one-time luxuries become necessities in today's world? Is it called avarice or is this the aspiration that pushes man forward in life? Nothing concrete seemed to emerge from this soul-searching exercise.

With ten people now, the uneasiness in moving around freely was palpable. Everyone appeared to be confining himself or herself to one place. I seemed to be the odd one loitering around. I left for the library, venting my anger at my Mom with the standard line, "If only we had one extra room."

As I uninterestedly flipped through a magazine at the library something highlighted in red caught my attention. It was an excerpt from Javed Akhtar's collection of poems titled,'Tarkash.' It read,

'Sab Ka Khushi Se Fasla Ek Kadam Hai
Sab Ke Ghar Mein Bas Ek Kamra Kam Hai.'

(Everyone is just one step away from happiness. Everyone's house has but one room less)

I rushed back home to share with my family what seemed to me like 'A Universal Phenomenon.'