Karla Singh - Alibaug The House With The Fairy Tree
A house reflects the taste, feelings and personality of its owners, says FARZANA BEHRAM CONTRACTOR. This one has very down-to-earth and creative residents, indeed
 This really is like a fairy tale house. There’s the tree with the face, artistic sea horses and fish on the terrace, a sleeping ‘mosaic’ toad in the bottom of the swimming pool and more toads of all shapes and sizes, made out of various materials strategically placed all over the charming house and garden. Ideas which came out of the golden head of the very talented Karla Singh. If husband Sevi Singh spent months on end searching for the perfect spot to build their dream home upon, it was Karla who spent years adding the finishing touches to it, giving it its personality and warmth that goes into making the house a home.
“Well right from when we got married Sevi was clear that eventually he wanted his own house with a garden somewhere out of Bombay. Alibaug was the perfect solution. His factory is situated in the outskirts of this region so it was a ideal fit. And while we both combined our energies in deciding what we wanted, how we wanted it, it was Sevi who actually stood over and supervised the construction. He really is a visionary. And I am so glad for that.” Sevinder Singh who owns Hind Enamel, a company which deals in custom-made signages, bought this property in 1992 but started to build a house only in 1999. It was completed in December 2001 which is when the couple moved in. With two adult children Marika and Kabir and Button, their dog it made for fun times. “We simply love it here,” says Karla. “Sevi lives here most of the time and I come across every Friday and return to Bombay on Monday. The children come and go.”
 Sevi Singh is a quiet man, doesn’t speak much, but smiles often and lets his wife do all the talking. And Karla talks exuberantly, enthusiastically; she laughs heartily throwing back her head, stating things emphatically, clearly, passionately. She is both eloquent and dramatic. But that’s Karla, the theatre queen.
Karla is a well-known theatre personality who made an effective entry on the Bombay stage with Panchatantra, doing 50 shows in a two and a half month tour taking the play to Spain, Belgium, Scotland. “That was exhausting," she says. “The play had just seven actors playing 50 characters, but Tarantula Tanzi, was the toughest!” That was an Alyque Padamsee play famous also for having inaugurated the Experimental Theatre at the NCPA, For her role in this play Karla learnt professional wrestling for six months, but that must have come easy to Karla who was a gymnast in her growing years in America. There were other plays like Murder on the Menu which she directed and acted in and Noises Off with Pearl Padamsee. Karla has gone through the gamut from acting in Godspell to choreographing the long running Evita. “Yes, it’s been very fulfilling, a good journey. I’ve worked with Dalip Tahil, Javed Jaffrey, Shiamak Davar, Suneeta Rao, Alisha Chinoy, Rahul da Cunha at a time when we were all nobodies. Was a lot of fun, since none of us had any ego then!” she concludes.
 I don’t see any ego in Karla even now. And she continues her love for theatre, doing her bit by assisting the teachers of the Bombay International School during their Annual Day celebrations. She helps select the plays and then directs them. “It is very gratifying. It keeps me in touch with the kids though my children have now passed out of this school. It’s been 20 years since I have been doing this,” smiles the ego-less Karla.
 It must be the gardening which must be keeping her grounded. “Oh yes, gardening is my passion. I am at it all the time. It isn’t easy to look after your own place, in fact it’s a lot of hard work, but I won’t have it any other way. There is so much joy in all this,” says Karla, waving her arms around her. Clearly the house is a labour of love. And attention. It’s so different from so many other houses I have seen, not just in Alibaug. If I were asked what is that one defining factor that gives it its character, I’d have to say it’s the mosaic work.
It’s mind-boggling, fascinating. We all know what mosaic is. Little pieces of broken ceramic tiles that we set in cement on open terraces to keep the water from seeping through and ruining the ceilings of the rooms below. Well, that was exactly how it began here but the mosaic application took on an art form. Karla went in search of unusual drawings to create something magical. Dean D’Cruz the architect of the house did offer some but they did not match with what Karla had in her mind. She wanted a little bit of the sea that she had left behind, not some geometric patterns. Before moving here the Singhs, members of the BSA (Bombay Sailing Association) lived for a few years in one of the charming waterfront houses at Mandwa. “Here in the hills I was yearning for that, so I created an ocean scene on the terrace. But honestly, it was not just I who created this, it was my friend Nisha Jhaveri who helped a great deal. She was the original artist. She stayed here for a full month and worked at it painstakingly.” Indeed, the terrace looks so beautiful. Very tiny white pieces for the entire background, with soft colours for all the sea creatutes, vegetation and flowers. I was so impressed. Making mosaic works doesn’t happen easily. It’s creative no doubt, but laborious and needs a great deal of patience too.
The other characteristic of this house are the happy toads lolling around. How did all the toads happen? “They just happened. Started on a whim. I was in a garden shop in Florida and I picked up a couple of frogs, though the shop was full of alligators. Frogs I thought were more ethnic. As it happened I went to America three times a year those days since my parents who live there needed my attention and each time I’d come back with a few more toads. That’s how the collection grew!”
The poolside offers a spectacular view of the hills in the distance with Kankeshwar Temple on it and surrounding forest land. The bar just besides the pool has a mosaic mermaid on the bar table top. As we sit there nibbling on some tidbits, Karla makes no bones about the fact that she doesn’t care very much about cooking. True to her American robust spirit we made a meal out of the little pizzas and cocktail frankfurters and chips, washing it all down with – what else, a coke! But when push comes to shove she can rise to the occasion. Sevi who was nearby hears her and smiles, leaving me wondering. But life does not always have to be about food. There is the monsoon too. Which rain lovers are waiting for. And when you hear Karla describing how the rain advances from up ahead, moving forward in a thick sheet of shower, food is forgotten. What joy it must be to sit in the luxurious privacy of your own verandah and ponder upon the nuances that nature creates. I am certain the best time to be in Alibaug must be in the rains.
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