Namboodiripad house: The lost gem

Losing or misplacing something can be frustrating. Losing something forever is more difficult to come to terms with - be it the loss of a loved one, a prized possession or anything that is close to the heart. I had not realised how much this quaint cylindrical brick tower, which my Dad referred to fondly as the “Namboodiripad house” had become an integral part of my being. I had taken for granted the fact that this would always be there, along with the memories of an architect who always put his entire being into designing and making the dreams of his clients come true. Driving past this tower almost every day as a child and later on as an adult, I never in my wildest dreams thought that one day this would vanish completely from the landscape.

Located just near Ulloor Bridge, this three-storied building stood amid coconut palms, majestically in its own unique manner. This was one of my Dad’s favourites. I remember him describing how he had enjoyed designing this house. The challenge was to provide a room each for all the members of the family along with a kitchen, store, dining and living area, bedrooms and a toilet on each floor.  All this, on a very small plot of land and on a very tight budget. Every single space had to be thought out in terms of its utility. Built-in furniture and brick jalis helped cut down the cost.  I guess, it was the ability to totally empathize with his clients that helped him in understanding their needs and the way in which they lived and functioned.

I remember he had taken special care to choose bricks with burnt ends, which had a blue-black colour. These were placed in the wall so that they made a distinct pattern, alternating with the other normal bricks. In the early days, the masons had to be shown how to place the first line of bricks in a wall. This would be done by my dad who would painstakingly space out the bricks so that they need not be cut and wasted. This was the kind of care and attention he put into every building that he designed and built. These small details mattered when it came to building within a very limited budget.

The amazing fact is that this house cost only Rs 10,000 in the early 1970s. This included plumbing, electrification and all the finishes. Watching such an intricately planned and fully equipped building being demolished and pulled down recently was really a painful and disheartening experience. However, times have changed, people have changed and moved on, and as Tennyson so aptly puts it, “Old order changeth yielding place to new.”  The only saving grace is that the “Namboodiripad house” will still live on in our memories and no one can prevent us from that!

(The writer is publication officer, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram)