ABSTRACT
During his tenure in Rungpore, Father had a most beautiful property in Shillong [in Assam]. The house was called Uplands and the grounds covered almost a whole hill–top. Shillong was prone to frequent earthquakes and so the majority of houses had walls of ekhra, a species of bamboo which grew in the Assam hills, plastered over with mud and lime and white washed. The roofs were of corrugated iron painted red. Our house had a front room with tinted glass panes of different hues in the windows and the room looked so attractive when the sun shone through these. This was our play and work room. The drawing and dining rooms led off from the bedrooms. The drawing room had a large bay window with bead curtains — beads large and small in assorted colours strung close together, hanging from the top of the windows down to the wooden seats built around the bay window. We loved our home, and though there was a permanent mali cum chowkidar to look after the property, as he did very little by way of gardening, there were no formal flower beds, just a few in front of the house which had seasonal annuals. Actually, the grounds were too large for one man to manage. There was a red gravelled tennis 48 49court, apple and pear trees as well as naspati [local pear] and plum. I remember a couple of strawberry beds also. The whole compound was full of large pine trees.
