It is said that face is the index of a person's mind. Similarly, the house one constructs is also an index of his mind.
In olden days, every house had a large and freely accessible verandah on the front where long distance travellers could rest in the night, before resuming their journeys the next morning. It only shows the large heartedness of those who have built such houses.

The present day houses, however, despite being large in size, are short in meeting the neighbours interests or social needs. Many clamour for large halls, spacious rooms, wide kitchen and bathrooms as though they live only within the four walls all the time. Only after constructing a house with rooms close to the neighbour's compound, does one realise that he cannot talk loudly with his wife without being overheard by the person next door.

Some houses have car parking on storm water drains, with the main compound wall enclosing it. Both the drain and the building, in some cases, would almost touch the power lines.

In contrast, an old main in the eighty's in my area has used only a third of the site for building a house, leaving the rest for kitchen garden, fruit bearing trees and  flowering plants - a beautiful sight for the passers by.
Another man has planted - four trees including a tree in front of his house. He also built a bench beneath it. This serves as a resting place for the tired workers during lunch time. But people of that kind are very rare to see these days.

Many avaricious early bird builders don't bother to leave the necessary space for the neighbours to have their share of light and air. A Kannada song says, “Manaye Manthralaya, Manase Devalaya” -that means one’s house should be sacred and his heart should be the abode of God.

A house on a higher level, with provision for plenty of natural light and air and greenery all around is god’s abode. Even the Municipal by law or ‘Vaastu’ would not go near it.

Once the house is built, people put their names or their wife’s or family members’ on the address plaque. My wife has got a grouse against me because I have not put her’s in the plaque. But the fact is I have not put my name either, because I wanted to save my wards from the embarrassment of removing it after my demise.