Why a White Elephant?

It is perhaps fitting that the first post to White Elephant Haveli explains why our blog and our house is called what it is. In a Western context, a white elephant is "a valuable possession which its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) exceeds its usefulness." The term originally applies to the regal and highly prized status of a rare white elephant in South(east) Asian culture. In Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, such a creature would have been the vehicle of a monarch.

In India, the white elephant is likewise prized, most notably in the story of Buddha's birth. Gautama Siddharta's mother Mahamaya or Mayadevi dreamt of a white elephant who touched her side with its trunk, and thus Buddha was conceived.

It is this Eastern conception that we sought to promote after a relative observed that our home was a white elephant because we were spending money on beautifying it rather than simply renting out a portion of it to generate income. Costs have not been excessive and the "usefulness" of our haveli cannot be measured in economic terms but in the beauty, pleasure, comfort, security, and personal satisfaction it brings. Besides, we think it cute to turn the Western concept of a white elephant on its ear .