BEYOND THE REALMS #wattys2018

Chapter 26

Author's Note: Finally, Alisa enters the  Hafeez Manzil!!! :D

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Finally they reached the front foyer of the house when the sloping walkway ended gracefully in three steps,that led to a narrow verandah. There were three arches on either sides, each wide enough to let two people pass through them at a time. The arches were built apart with intricately stone carved columns. The verrandah was narrow and was meant for the family members to sit there in the evenings or for informal guests. In the middle of the Verrandah, there was a huge,antique and an extremely heavy door with a metallic handle which was hanging in the centre top of the door. Vishwanath held the handle and banged it to the door and Alisa realized that it was a doorbell, meant to alert the occupants inside the house. The door opened with a typical creaking sound coming from its hinges, and the lady who had opened the door, came in view. Vishwanath introduced her as his wife, Radha. Nazifa and Zayn greeted her with cordial familiarity. She welcomed Alisa warmly and linked her hands in front of her in the typical Indian gesture of greeting. She was wearing Sari and her head was covered with the free end of her Sari. Radha was beautiful, fair skinned, her forehead was adorned with sindoor (vermillion) and after greeting Alisa, she bent and touched her husband's feet. Vishwanath laid his hand gently on her head and then both of them gave way to Alisa, Nazifa and Zayn to enter the house first. Zayn had already stepped in while Alisa was a little hesitant, so Nazifa took Alisa's hand and brought her inside too. Radha and Vishwanath also joined them.

The front door had led them to the massive courtyard that Alisa had seen from the Azmis terrace. In the centre of the courtyard was a small orchard, with a Basil (Tulsi) plant in the middle of the orchard which was meant for the Tulsi worship. There were traditional woven beds (charpais) lying on either sides of the orchard and some plastic chairs too. The rear end of the courtyard was lined with plant shrubberies and like Azmis, there was a big cage that had different types of birds in it.

The courtyard was like a circle, lined with a colonnade on both sides, dividing the house in Eastern and Western wings. The columns on each side were built in a semi curvature, each series of columns led to a verrandah or foyer which seemed to run all along the house. The verrandahs led to arched entrances through which one could walk inside the double storey buildings. The curved colonnade on both sides merged in the south, but the two wings were still separated from each other by a narrow alley that led towards the rear gardens of the house. Standing in the courtyard, Alisa felt that it somewhat looked like the smaller and Indian version of St.Peter's Square in the Vatican City, which she had visited as a child with her parents. The floor and the walls were made of red-baked bricks, just like the Azmis house. Vishwanath and Radha took them towards the Eastern wing, crossing the narrow foyer verrandah which was lined with plant pots and a comfortable and beautiful canopied swing, which was easily able to accommodate three adults, with carved arm rests and a back rest, suspending with iron cords, they entered through one of the arches and came in a large hall, on the left of which was the sitting area, or the drawing room. The roof was really high, built with cement and supported with wooden beams, and antique ceiling fans were suspending at equal distance,covering the expanse of the roof.

Radha and Vishwanath led them to the end of the hall, where in one corner, a wooden dining table was lying, and on the other corner, cozy sofas and a centre coffee table were lying ,with a television set lying atop a wooden divider. On one side of the lounge were three rooms. Two rooms were adjacent to each other and Radha told Alisa that one room belonged to Mrs. Tripathy,while the other room belonged to herself and her husband. The third room belonged to their kids and it was slightly at a distance from the other two rooms. Radha told Alisa that she had readied that room for her.