ROHIT CHAWLA

THE TREE HOUSE IN THE GOAN VILLAGE OF ASSAGAO IS THE HOLIDAY–HOME–TURNED– SANCTUARY OF PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER ROHIT CHAWLA AND HIS WIFE, SALONI PURI

- NOLAN LEWIS

The mango tree is quite a permanent fixture of many childhood memories—reclining under its shade in sweltering summers; messy mouths eating the lush, succulent fruit, both in raw, tangy green or a pulpy, ripe yellow, jubilant like the tropical sun. “The memory isn’t mine alone but belongs to the Indian subcontinent’s collective consciousness,” says homeowner and leading portrait photographer Rohit Chawla.

In 2003, long before Assagao gentrified to become Goa’s version of Beverly Hills, Chawla bought this plot of land, carved into a hill, with a mango tree right in the centre. “When I saw the land, I was somehow reminded of summer holidays spent under a tree somewhere in Lucknow as a teenager,” says Chawla. He invited architect Sidharth Naik to guide him, and ensure that the spectacular tree melded into the house, or the other way around— neither interrupting the other. “Over the years, this house has brought to me a bunch of different pleasures. One can have air conditioning, but also the shade of a mango tree. Our living room is elevated at the mid-tree level, which really gives you a sense of closeness to the tree outside,” says Chawla.