49-Years old, Ravi Hongal from the Shastri Nagar area of Karnataka’s Belagavi city has built a unique camera-resembling house, called ‘Click’, the viral pics of which have taken netizens to rolls with amusement. While some appreciated his passion for photography, some were amazed simply by the architecture and investment behind building the house.
Turning his majestic dream into reality, now Ravi is the resident of the three-story house along with his wife and three sons.
A photographer for the last 33-years, Ravi though was known in the region for his photographic skills, now is under the limelight for his newly-built house that many from the nearby areas are keenly taking selfies with.
“I started with outdoor shoots. I owned a Zenit camera and later bought a Pentax. I used to cover celebrations such as weddings and other functions. I then saved up enough to start a studio which I named ‘Siddharth,” Ravi tells The News Minute. Inspired by photographer brother Prakash as a teenager, Ravi decided to turn into his profession as soon as he completed SSLC in 1986.
“I love photography and camera and everything related to it. Over the years a lot has changed in the area, but my love for it remains the same. It was my long-cherished dream to build a house that would look like a camera but I didn’t know how to build it — both in terms of executing the concept and monetarily,” says the proud house-owner to The Indian Express.
Despite that, pegging 71 lakhs for building the ‘dream house’ was a daunting task and took years of savings for him. “We borrowed money for it and also sold our previous house,” Ravi told ANI.
Finding an appropriate builder and architect for it was not easy either. Thanks to brother-in-law Yallani R Jadhav, the CEO of the Bengaluru-based Key Concepts Interiors, Hongal’s dreams took off securely.
As Jadav accepted the challenge, he knew Hongal was not to be settled with anything lesser. “When you see from outside, you can see a huge camera lens. This is actually a huge circular window on the kitchen countertop,” Jadhav mentions. The house includes photography-related features both on the interiors and exteriors of the house.
The railing of one of the balconies is shaped as a reel. The flash on the exterior is the window of a bedroom. Window grills have various camera company logos. The memory card, the film rolls are also parts of the exterior aesthetics of the house. The false ceilings inside the house resemble various camera parts.
“There were challenges indeed, but they were open to my ideas and suggestions. I told them how I wanted a lens, lens hood, and camera films in my designs, and while few were easier to achieve, others needed more work. I tried to help them with much input to get it just the way how I had imagined in my head. After two long years of many brainstorming sessions, finally, it became a reality,” says Ravi.
In fact, after his marriage, Ravi renamed his studio as ‘Rani’ after his wife Kripa Rani who has lent him constant support throughout the journey and became a professional photographer herself.
“My husband is a photographer. It was our dream to build a house like a camera. We planned and built this house. We feel like we are living inside a different world, inside a camera. I am very proud of my husband,” she told Hindustan Times.
The names, Canon, Nikon, and Epson imprinted on the walls of the house, Ravi explains, are also the names of his 20, 18, and 13-year-old sons respectively.
“When I told my family that I wanted to name my first-born after a camera, they were clearly not pleased with the decision. However, my wife shared my enthusiasm with my love for camera and photography and eventually convinced the rest of the family members to accept our decision. Then we decided to go ahead with the name. It was a unique name but nothing to be embarrassed about. After all, it is the camera that gives us bread and butter,” Ravi Hongal says.
Consequently, he named his next sons Nikon and Espon to which his family ultimately responded positively, though confusions arose several times owing to their similarity with the Christian names.
“When they were small, they did not understand and they questioned me when they reached High School. But they know how much I love my cameras and they too did not mind my decision and are proud of their names,” he adds.
“My friends used to ask me whether it was my real name. Now, I tell them yes, photography is my father’s passion and hence he named me Canon,” says elder son. His son Nikon also shares the aspiration of becoming a professional photographer upon the completion of studies.
“We had planned a grand opening on April 26 on ‘Akshaya Tritiya’ but due to COVID-19, the celebrations were canceled and we invited close family who resided in the city. But the house became an attraction. We can see many people stopping for selfies. I never expected it to reach all over India. When you truly follow your passion, it gives its reward,” he says.
Ravi Hongal and his spirit tell us that though following one’s passion may render far-fetched when it receives the due appreciation, there is nothing like it. Ravi’s story proves once again following dreams are all it is worth for, no matter what people say.
Are you following your dreams?