Four years ago, a relative had planned to build a comfortable house with three bedrooms. One of the bedrooms had a spacious attached bathroom (he said that it was his daughter’s room). However, the other two bedrooms didn’t have attached bathrooms. Then, there is a common bathroom beneath the staircase.
When I suggested that it was wiser to build attached bathrooms for at least two bedrooms, the owner replied that there were financial constraints and that there is no need for an additional attached bathroom when there is a common bathroom.
I advised him to reduce the area of the bathroom in his daughter’s bedroom and build a small bathroom in the next room too. Even though many tried to dissuade him, the owner took my advice and built another attached bathroom.
Last year, I visited the house for his daughter’s wedding function. The house looked amazing. However, I came to know that the owner had suffered a stroke two years ago and had since been bedridden. When I met him to ask about his health condition he told, “If I hadn’t built a small attached bathroom here as per your advice, I would have struggled now.”
These days, old people live alone in most houses in Kerala. It might be difficult for them to move around in case their health deteriorates. So, in such situations, having an attached bathroom would be helpful. It might not be a good idea to postpone the construction of certain features that are essential and unavoidable.
