A Dinosaur House

You and I probably didn’t go to the same school but the first ‘house’ we drew has to be identical. Wasn’t it a triangle roof, with one door and two windows? It had a big tree behind the house and a flower garden upfront? Yes yes, it’s all the same. I’m born and brought up in suburban Bombay. It wasn’t until my eighth birthday that I actually saw a 'house' like that. Pity me? That’s fine; but please help me understand what kind of house should a four year old be drawing.

As a student of Class I-A, I once drew a ‘house’ which was the aerial view of our 2 BHK apartment. My teacher wasn’t amused but sitting on the third bench in center row, I couldn’t possibly fathom what was wrong with my drawing. After many years of drawing the “ideal house”, I realized that those art lessons were instead a lesson in Geometry. Angles were more important than aesthetics. Lines were more important than landscapes. It bewilders me why kids are taught to draw this “ideal” house even today. I wish they are explained that they aren’t drawing dinosaurs and such houses do exist. 


Curious to know more I grabbed my neighbours’ three year old daughter and ask her what the drawing (above image) was. She promptly replied “House”. The mother shifted in her place to look proud while I felt both sad and relived at the same time. In Bombay, anybody who stays on the ground level (in a setting like that) is either a multi millionaire with a huge ‘bungalow’ or a daily wage labourer in a makeshift ‘hut’. Having seen more huts in suburban Bombay than bungalows, I am going to teach the little girl to call this a ‘hut’. Add a gate to the same thing with a security guard outside and I’ll show her a ‘bungalow’. 

Ting Tong! That’s my door bell. In ten paces from here I will reach the door of my 7^th floor 2BHK apartment. I hope it’s the kid next door because I also want to show her what sunrise behind brown-crayoned triangular mountain actually looks like.