Our house construction journey.

We started extending our house because it's getting old. We dug 4 deep holes for the concrete columns/pillars of our new structure to provide support. On November 25th, 2022, we began digging the holes for our construction project.

As we had classes in our respective schools, my sister and I were not present during the hole-digging process. However, we returned home around Christmas time to assist our parents with their construction project.

Unfortunately, before we returned home, our neighbor and the head of the family, Pa Nghinglova, passed away. As a result, the construction work was paused for a period of time. After a few days, work on the project resumed.

Thanks to the grace of God, the construction work continued smoothly. After a few days, on February 22nd, 2023, we proceeded to demolish the second story of our house.

After we completely demolished our main house, which used to be on the upper storey, we temporarily moved into a smaller house that used to be our hens' house. This house was situated at a lower elevation than ours, just a little way down the hill. We could barely fit in - there was only enough room for one bed and one long chair.

We stayed here for almost 4 weeks. It was really congested. Life was pretty tough during that time. But this experience will make us appreciate what we have gone through. Just yesterday, on March 19th, 2023 we moved back to our main house but on the first storey. Now we have more space. Still, the interior of our house is a total mess.

The construction of our house is still a work in progress, and there is a lot of work to be done. We have a daunting task ahead of us to tackle. So, I'll try to document our progress and experience here. (March 19th,2023)

Yesterday, due to rain, our work was disrupted, and we had to take a break and wait for the rain to stop. After a while, the rain subsided, and we resumed the work. However, the rain returned, and we had to stop working again. The rain continued to be on and off throughout the day. Due to our situation, we had to call it a day around 4:20 pm. (21.3.2023)

Today, our workers took a break because the weather forecast predicted intermittent rainfall for three consecutive days. We let them know that they could pause their work for two days, starting yesterday. 

However, my father and I continued working this morning. We arranged and laid bamboo on which we will pour cement for the slab. Meanwhile, we had to rearrange the bamboo that the workers had previously set up because their work wasn't quite up to our standards. My father wasn't satisfied with their work, so we disassembled it and arranged the bamboo again. We finished working around 2 pm, and luckily, there was no rain to disrupt us. (22.3.2023)

Even though we haven't finished setting up scaffolding for the slabs, we went ahead and laid the rods because we need to set up the rods before pouring cement. After we laid the rods on the second floor, we secured them with black wires. At around 3:30pm there was mild rain. I was a bit concerned that the rain would disrupt our work. However, fortunately, we were able to continue our work without any interruptions. (28.3.2023)

Today, we poured concrete. Since it takes many workers to fill up the slabs, we informed our neighbors to help us pour the concrete. Fortunately, we had workers from our neighbors and relatives, as well as daily workers. We finished our work at around 5:00 pm, but we were not able to finish all the slabs, so it might take three more days to complete the concrete pouring. One thing I am really grateful for is that there were no injuries or accidents during the work. From tomorrow, we are planning to hire a machine to mix the concrete and other materials because it takes a lot of effort, time, and workers to do the mixing manually. We think that it would be more efficient to use the machine.

Today, we finished pouring concrete on the second slab. Even though it is Friday, our workers continued the work but only in the morning. Last evening, they weren't able to finish pouring the concrete on the slab though they worked until around 7 pm. As a result, we increased their daily wage and gave them Rs 700. The work was continued this morning. However, they didn't take any wages for their work in the morning as they wanted to help us without expecting any money. Now that the slab work is finished and it's kinda like a huge relief for us since this type of work takes a lot of time and effort. Before the house construction is continued we need to wait for around 1 month to remove all the scaffolding. (7.4.2023)

As we finished pouring cement on the second slab, we are waiting for the construction to continue. Once we can take down the scaffolding, we can start laying bricks for the walls. Since my father doesn't want to purchase local bricks, he and my sister are traveling to Silchar to buy 4000 bricks and other household furniture. We hired a vai-big truck for Rs 50000/-. They are currently on their way to Silchar. I prayed that God will help them reach their destination safely.

(16.4.23)

(Though I didn't travel with them, I saw them off near the Bawngkawn Police Station. Last night (15.4.23) around 10 pm, my father, the trucker driver and his companions set out on the journey from Hnahthial. Today, my sister and I waited for them. Once they arrived at the station around 10:30 am, my sister hopped into the truck and then I saw them off.)

(During their journey, they stopped briefly at Kawnpui in the Kolasib district to take a break. While there, they enjoyed some snacks and ate some pulao. Date: 16/04/23.)

(This road is incredibly straight. It is just before reaching Silchar. Dt: 17.4.23)

(The road in Karimganj district is incredibly straight, stretching as far as the eye can see. We saw vast stretches of farmland with water channels and ponds.)

(A cow is casually walking in the street.)

(On our way from Silchar to Karimganj.)

(Zooming in on cows grazing.)

(We ended up buying Cachar bricks.)

(Our dad is supervising the workers, loading bricks into the truck.)

(Taking some photos near Siapa's house. They stayed the night there, and it was lovely.)

(They went shopping for household furniture at Sonai road in Silchar.)

(Dad is taking photos with Dilwar, the handleman, near the lake of Samlala. They spent a night at Samala's house. Dt. 19.4.2023)

The truck has just arrived at our house. The bricks are being unloaded by our workers. Meanwhile, my nephew, Mamtea, is having fun playing around the truck. Dt. 22.4.23