THE HOUSE

When seen from the sky it began to appear like a small speck. As the sky vehicle neared it came closer into view. It was a hillock.Ranjani matched it with the map in the vehicle. That is the hillock. She has to go to the house atop this hillock only.

Actually, Ranjani is a resident of Mayur city. She has come to this coloba city to stay here for a short-term course. Coloba is an unfamiliar city and she needed a known person to arrange for an accommodation. The rare guy who has built a house on this hillock away from the hum-drum of the city is the one known to her professor. Her professor has directed her to approach this hill-guy.

The hillock was exactly below her now. She searched for the house atop it’s head. The house came into sight. When she flew down to land the space available appeared inadequate and she veered away and flew up again. When she came down again, her eyes were riveted to the spectacle below.Was this the same house she saw a while ago? The house’s shape seemed to have changed vastly when she saw it last.
The professor had given her the details of the house. She has made a sketch of the house by computer graphics. As doubts began to surface she switched on the image processor in the sky vehicle. The shape of the house came into view. She matched it with the house seen below now. No. This is not the house. This is different. Whether she is searchingthe wrong place for the house? She looked at the map of hillock. This is the right place.

Musing about this, she flew away, came close again and had a look below again. The house appeared to have changed again! When she matched it with the shape in the processor this is yet another different one.
Even while she was eyeing it, what is this? The broadened house shrank inside!It’s sides too began to shrink inside and transformed into a dwarfed house! Even a house is changing it’s shape.!Weird indeed!


Now she was afraid. Whether she has to go to this house? Why not fly away from it? When she began to pull away something inside her told to keep watching. She pulled away a little and kept watching. The house’s front broadened as before and even the sides expanded and the house came to it’s original shape!
Aside from a fear about this weird house curiosity to know about what actually is special about this house kept her in the spot now. The doubt whether this was the house surfaced once more. Why not contact the phone in the house? Her professor had given her the phone number of the house.She had a videophone in her vehicle. She can very well contact the phone in the house through the satellite link. She checked the number available and rang in.

The bell rang. Immediately the phone was lifted and the guy’s face appeared on the video screen. Oh, this is that Mr.Rare?

"Hello."

"Yes. I am Narayan”

"I am Ranjani. I have come from Mayur city. My professor has informed you?”

"What name you said?”

"Ranjani”

"Oh, Yes, yes! He informed me. Where are you now?”

"Right above your house in my sky vehicle”

"Come down please”

"I am scared to look at your house”

"Why whathappened to my house?’

"It is changing shape even as I am looking at it”

"Hahaha” He laughed boisterously. " Oh, that one? There is a small catch in it. But nothing to worry about. You can land without any fear’

"If something happened after coming to the house, what will I do?”

"The house will behave now onwards. I vouch for that”
"……………….”
"Why u r hesitating? Come down boldly”

Only then Ranjani mustered some courage, tookthe vehicle down and landed.
When she began to walk towards the vehicle Narayan welcomed her from the door.

"Come. Come. My house must be lucky to have a beautiful girl like you as a visitor”

They entered the house. Nothing seemed unusual about the house. When they seated in the reception room, she broached the purpose of her visit.

A robot came with cool-drinks in a push-trolley. Narayan took one.

"Please have "

Only after Ranjani took the drink the robot looked at her. It eyed Narayan mischievously smiling,winked at him and pushed away the trolley!

Mischievous! Narayan was blustered but quickly gathered himself.

"What course you wantto study?”

"It is rangoli drawing course’

"You mean drawing pictures on the soil”

"Yes”

"Ok. You have a course even for rangoli drawing and you have come to learn it. Why even a robot can draw
 a beautiful rangoli”

"Will the robot’s drawing will match ours? Even in this we can create new designs by computer. Butthe computer designs will look very machinic. We will perfect it and then only begin drawing.

"Anyway you are drawing and there is a course for it. Ok. Leave it. When you have to go?”

"Tomorrow. Ok, you said there is something in this house what is that? May I know what it is ? I am curious”

"Oh! Generally in a house there will be open space in front, garden and plants, the front room, reception room, office room, kitchen room, bath room all should be there, right? They will build a normal house
keeping this in all mind. After building this shape stays put. What is notable about this house is,always there will be some vacant unused space in any of these rooms. We cant change the shape of the room dependingon the vacant space in the rooms. I built this house keeping in view this shortcoming with provision for altering the shape of the rooms. yes it is an interchangeable house”

"Interchangeable house? How?”

" I have constructed the rooms in a movable manner where they can keep moving with respect to other rooms by an interconnectivity. Supposing there is no work in the


office room, We can reduce the sizeof the office room and enlarge the reception room to be more spacious.See there are buttons on the wall and on the table for changing the size of the rooms. If we press the buttons after selecting the measurements the office room will reduce and the reception room will enlarge. Let me demonstrate:

The button panel on the table appeared like a zig-saw puzzle
.
Narayan,selectedand adjusted measurements:-
Shape no:3

Reception room length: Increase; Breadth: Increase

Office room length: Decrease; Breadth: Decrease

and pressed the switches. The reception slightly invaded into the office room and enlarged itself!

"wow! Brilliantidea. We can change the shape of the rooms by this. Can we change the shape of the house also by using this?’

"O, yes! Supposing the swimming pool is outside the house and let us assume it rains. At that time, we can bring in the swimming pool inside the house itself. Normally, I check these shapes in the morning. I was doing that only when you had a look at the house from your sky vehicle.”

"Yes, yes. I was scared after seeing the house changing it’s shape fearing it is some witch craft”
"Now your fear must have cleared”

"Yes. If you don’t mind I am planning to stay here itself”

"You want to stay here with this bachelor? No objection but I shall be gazing at the stars most of the time.
 This place is ideal for that”

"It is ok. I believe you can look after me for the rest of the time atleast. Ok. can u take me to the training institute tomorrow?
’
"It is only tomorrow only, right? I can very well take you. Today we can even go for a shopping and purchase things needed like cosmetics and daily usable materials for you”

That evening, they went to the city down the winding road on the hillock by electro-car.
It was highly deserted upto some distance from the hillock. As they neared the city drawing away from the hillock, gradually buildings and traffic began to fill the scene Soon it became all dense making them feel as if they are entering a different world.

"There seems to be cent percent difference between the hill side you are living and the city we are going into now”

"Exactly. The place we are going into is a hell called city. The hell will be like that only with high-rise apartments to live in. Free air and breathing space is unimaginable here. That is why I built my house on the hill away from the maddening crowd and city”

"Ya, ya, the unapproachable ghost house!”
Both of them laughed.

Ranjani purchased an overcoat and rangoli drawing equipments in a super-complex. When they were about to start the journey back home, it started raining.They waited for the rain to subside and started off after the rains stopped.

"Heavy rain"

"Will it be 100 kilos?"

"Must be 100 thousand tonnes"
 
As they reached the hill-top climbing the winding road conversing about the rain,

"Oh, my God! What is this? Yelled Ranjani”

The house had collapsed like a pack of playing cards!

Narayan got out of the electro-car hurriedly and ran. He knelt down and swiftly moved into the maze of card-like jumble even as Ranjani was watching and disappeared!

Ranjani was eagerly waiting for him to emerge. There was no sign of him! Whether something happened to him? She knew none in the city. If the only know person this Mr. rare is gone what she will do? She was fearfully watching the gaping hole through which he slid inside when he came out of another hole. He had the switch-button panel in his hand.

He took it to the electro-car and linked it to the battery. Took a lead from the panel and plugged it into the gaping hole in the collapsed house. When he arranged the buttons and selecting the measurements pressed the switch-butons, the collapsed house came alive and sat up with every part falling into place perfectly!

"What everything alright now?”

"Yes everything is alright”

"Why it has happened like this?

"Don’t know. The buttons were arranged helter-skelter. You see there was rain and during lightning some might have been a short-circuit”

"Yes. Was there not a robot…..
”
"I am here” the robot emerged from behind a rock laughing. "hahaha!”

"Where have you gone?”

I was hiding behind this rock. How is the house? Hahaha!”

"Don’t laugh. So this is your work?”

"Yes boss. I wanted to entertain the boss madame. Don’t get angry”

"Boss madamme? This gal? She is a guest”

"Guest can become boss”

"You, you…..Narayan raised his hands to slap it.

"Let me prepare food” the robot ducked away and ran into the house.

"Good house. Good robot” remarked Ranjani.

"Good house or a mischievous one, you have to remain here only but not as a boss.”

"Good house, Good robot and Good Boss” said Ranjani laughing.
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