a story of a house

Around 70 years ago, towards the end of partition, an Indian man was sitting quite peacefully watching the sunset from Juhu beach when a British officer told him "Indians are not allowed to sit here." Perplexed, the man responded that he was causing no trouble and just wished to watch the sun go down. The Officer changed his mind, "Indians are not allowed to watch the sunset either." 

The man obligingly and peacefully moved on, thinking to himself "one day, I will build a house on the waters edge and I will watch the sunset, undisturbed, every evening."

His thoughts soon can to fruition and quite appropriately, he had hired a reputed British architect to build his home. 

During construction, the project was in desperate need of more funds to pay for underestimated wood costs. The funds did not exist. But as the man looked over the sunset out to sea in the freedom of the half-finished building that belonged to him, he noticed a few dilapidated Portuguese vessels in the nearby harbor. He tracked down the owner - a drunk Portuguese captain in need of money fast - and soon the deal was settled for a minimal cost. All wooden structures - doors, window frames, pillars - are made from these ships. 

A true story and a house we visited. The same house used as a location for countless films including Slumdog Millionaire. Brilliant.