Om and Pritha were excited to check a prospective house their realtor had found for them. Pritha was super excited as the house was based in a superior locality with accessibility to shops, hospitals and schools. They reached the house at the appointed time. Their realtor, Mr. Bansal, had reached there before them. Mr. Bansal greeted the couple with a crisp ‘hello’. He took them inside the house.

The house was built in the year 2006. The owners of the property were relocating to Delhi and wanted to sell it off. The house had a small sit out with a narrow way leading to the spacious hall. The hall had big windows with sliding doors. There were two bedrooms with a common bathroom on the ground floor. The kitchen space was of medium size with French cabinets. There was a dining area near the rear end of the hall. The current owners had created a space by placing a wooden screen, to separate the hall from the dining space. There were stairs going upwards to a bedroom and single bath. Pritha was excited about the house tour. She praised the owners’ aesthetic taste.

“Oh this house is so well decorated. Surely the owners would have spent a lot on the home décor.”
“Yes, the husband is a stock broker and the wife is an artist. All the paintings are painted by Mrs. Chhabra (the current owner),” said Mr. Bansal.
“Aahh, no wonder, the paintings talk multitude about the lady’s style and taste,” said Pritha.
“What do you think, Om? Aren’t these paintings too good? I will request Mrs. Chhabra to leave at least one painting before we buy the house. I am…er...we are ready to pay for the painting too.”
Om who was quiet all this while and just nodded his head, without particularly looking at his wife. He was busy thinking.
“Can I see the plan of this house, Mr. Bansal?” asked Om.
“Oh Om, why do you want to see the plan, when we are right inside the house,” said Pritha with an uptight lip.
Om could see that Pritha had already swayed into the idea of buying this house. Om wondered the easiness in wooing women like Pritha into buying anything, from a cosmetic to a house. Just portray the commodity with glamour and style, and the commodity has its buyer.
“I want to see the outside of the house,” said Om.
Mr. Bansal fumbled. Pritha tried to clear the air. “Om, darling, we saw the locality while we drove here. It has some good houses with good roads. Why are you apprehensive about this house? I totally loved this house. I am….er….we are ready to buy this house.”

Om walked towards the terrace. He opened the door to the terrace and was greeted to a small potted garden. There was a small swing. Pritha was overwhelmed with joy. She screamed like a little girl thinking about the kitty parties and potlucks she would be organizing for her so-called friends or friend-enemies. Om, on the other hand, thought about how he would spend his time with his bottle and glass watching the sun go down. Om and Pritha had different thoughts about spending their time not with each other, but with others. As they were engrossed in their thoughts, there was a whiff of breeze. Om, after a tiring day at office and after a brain-chewing hour with Pritha and Mr. Bansal in the house, felt a kind of coolness engulfing his being. Behold! The air...there is something rotten in the air. Pritha too felt the same. There was something dead in the air.

“Eww, what is with the smell?” squealed Pritha.
“I want to go downstairs. Om, let’s go down,” she grabbed Om’s hand and pulled him towards the door.
Om reluctantly loosened her grip. Pritha, with wide eyes, just looked towards Om. He started moving towards every nook and corner of the terrace. He wanted to know the reason for the foul smell. He could not find anything on the road or in the nearby building. He turned towards the door. Pritha and Mr. Bansal had already left. He just walked downstairs with lot of questions cropping in his head.

It was time to leave the house. Pritha had already decided to buy the house. She told Mr. Bansal that she was so happy to find this house. She also started planning to go the family way and visualized her future, rather their future with kids and pets. Om was mute, while Pritha was bragging. They took leave from Mr. Bansal. Pritha was sure about the house and was looking forward to meet the Chhabras in person to talk about money matters. As they drove in their car, Pritha called her mom to share the news. Om, who was quiet all the while, was feeling thirsty. He stopped by a shop to buy something to drink.

Pritha and Om got out of the car. They bought some juice and water. Om, whose mind was rattling with questions about the house and its vicinities, engaged in casual talks with the shopkeeper.
“How are the houses here?” asked Om.
“The houses are well built and it’s a good locality. In a matter of few years, there will be a bio technology park coming up about 10 kilometers from here. The land value has already shot up. Many builders have bought land and are building flats in this area.”
“How is the water service here? Since Bangalore has shortage of water, how is this place faring in water issues?” asked Om.
“Oh, water issues are none. Most houses have bore wells and there are agencies which provide water for these localities.”
“Basically, the house owners have to pay tax for water to the government and also buy water from agencies when the pipes go dry,” said Om.
Pritha was startled to know this new revelation. She already had dreamed about her extensive beauty baths in the lavish tub. Those baths would be a distant truth if they had to buy water.
“Oh, yeah, we can buy water,” said Om.
There was another light breeze blowing on their faces. It had the same rotten smell. Om, with an adamant tone asked the shopkeeper about the strange smell.
“Oh, that’s coming from the garbage dump area,” said the shopkeeper. It’s just half a kilometer from this locality. The new MLA has promised to remove it from here. It’s not happened yet. But the locality is shining and prospering with many ambitious projects,” he added.
“Yes, Bangalore is growing. So, how big is the garbage dump?” asked Om.
“I haven’t seen it personally, but have seen the government garbage trucks zipping these roads about fifteen times a day,” said the shopkeeper.
“Hmmm…Oh, how much is for the water and juices?” asked Om.
“It’s fifty altogether and we have some good flavoured milk too,” boasted the shopkeeper.

Om paid the money and just smiled. He and Pritha hopped back into the car. Pritha was quiet for the whole drive. Om was quiet too. They were back into their rented dwelling. After dinner, when Om was busy solving Sudoku, Pritha cozied up to Om.
“Om, I realize that I have been selfish throughout this house searching affair. It’s always my liking, my priority, my needs instead of our liking, our priority and our needs.”
Om was delighted when he heard Pritha’s words. He just cuddled her in his arms.
“Om, we will not buy this house. The dumping ground near the house will be a sore to our lungs.”
“Pritha, I am happy that for once our thoughts match. I was not happy with the planning of the house. It did not have proper sunlight and the dumping grounds are a complete no-no,” resonated Om.

Pritha cuddled even more to Om. She could hear his heart beat very clearly. She said, “Let’s call Mr. Bansal and tell our decision”.
Om nodded. The couple watched the shining night lights from their apartment window hoping to find a new house with fresh air and sunshine in the busy city limits.