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Holi at Ratnakara

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Jaya, Sulochana, Dr Vishwanath, Balakishan, Pradeep, Srikanth, Ramesh, Ashok Foreground: Sadhana and Gautham Ratnakara's vast open space and the pond in the garden meant a large number of people could gather and have fun. My parents were gregarious people and Holi began to be celebrated in a big way since it was a festival loved by everyone in the family. In fact, we used to play Holi in our old ancestral house in Brahmanwadi also.  My parents' friends and colleagues, my uncles' friends, our own large family...we all gathered to play. Once the excitement began, whoever entered the gate was chased, picked up and dunked in the pond! I remember Seenu uncle once walked in through the gate, and when he realised he would be lifted and taken to the pond, he ran, escaped the crowd and jumped into the pond, to a huge uproar! We children stayed in the pond for a while enjoying the coolness, a comforting relief from the just-starting summer heat.       Left to right (foreg...
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Butterflies in the dining room!

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Some months after we moved into Ratnakara, one afternoon, we were having lunch when suddenly about 20-30 butterflies flew in from outside and were all over our dining room. They all had the same pattern - I think that they were blue tiger butterflies ( Tirumala limniace) that are common in these parts. There were a lot of people in the room and everyone was perplexed how the butterflies came in, all at once. Butterflies are nice, but to have so many flying all around you is a bit unnerving. The reason was obvious - the open place before our house was built had belonged to butterflies, insects, frogs, birds, snakes, etc to lead their lives and now we had claimed the land and built over it in the way only humans can - with a piece of paper handed down from generation to generation or acquired after a sale. I will never forget the visual of the butterflies flying around the room - it was fascinating and creepy at the same time!    Blue tiger ( Tirumala limniace )   ...
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Construction of Ratnakara - 1968

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It was in 1968 that 'Ratnakara' was constructed. Home of Jaya and Vemuganti Harihar Rao, Advocates, this building housed at least 15 people and a floating population. A shuttle court was part of the plan.  Construction of this beautiful house started in February 1968. Ailaiah was the contractor and Veeranna the carpenter. Jaya's brother Seetaram (Ramu), a young Engineer working for Burmah Shell, designed the building  Hari and Jaya, then 35 and 33 years old, got into it without a major financial plan, not even sure where the money would come from. The land was there - bought by Hari's father Ratnakar Rao. "We started building without any seriousness, just for fun! Somehow the house got built - with one client bringing sand and another providing cement", says Jaya. Ramu visited regularly to oversee the construction. "On one of my visits I found that Ailaiah had built the longest wall of the house (on the office side) a bit crooked. I asked him to bring it ...
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