It took some time to push open the heavy gates to the mansion looking out at the Kochu Veli Church. Inside, a one acre area replete with fresh green lawns, colourful flowers in pots and a playground bordered royal palm trees beckoned. John Jeffrey came out to greet his visitors, a mobile phone in hand.
He had just come home for lunch and had to rush out soon. But he found time to show us around his one-year-old apartment, his wife Jenny and children Jinki and Jefin, coming out from different rooms to join in the house tour.
Walking in from the hot afternoon sun towards the porch and the other side of the house was the most welcoming experience, for we looked directly onto the Veli beach.
The sea appeared enchanting and the breeze across the shore was refreshing. The house took advantage of this sometimes turbulent neighbour, throwing itself open to her many moods.
Balconies and windows were everywhere in the two-storey house built in what Jeffrey called a ‘semi traditional’ style. And indeed one look at the pillars, rich with the traditional kothupani (wood sculpting), rooms that accommodated all the modern amenities was proof of the mixed style John preferred.
The most remarkable feature was however the ceiling – white squares tapered into a pyramidal roof, a thick wooden structure forming the centre, which displayed marks of traditional expertise with its kothupani. All the rooms in the house followed a similar design in their ceilings and windows; the latter divided into little rectangles — the old-fashioned way.
Three bedrooms and three more downstairs were spread across the spacious interiors. Little furniture took up the floor space allowing the school-going children to use it as they pleased.
The children’s bedrooms upstairs were built in a similar fashion, the only difference being in the colour of the bed — the girl child typically chose pink for hers.
John and Jenny hope to raise a richer garden in the front yard, one that would perhaps be bigger than the house, smiled the couple.
