Let us begin by learning how to choose a good site for, say, a house. The developer or agent will praise the plot it like it is heaven on earth. You on the other hand are seriously wondering whether you should sink your hard-earned money into the land; if only because you want your children to spend their weekends outdoors and not in front of a television.

Common sense will tell you to choose a plot that is not too irregular in shape. It is difficult to demarcate the boundary both, for you, as well as for the local Talati or Kulkarni who keeps the land records. Perhaps that is part of the reason why the Vastu texts tell us that odd shaped and triangular plots will lead to litigation. In any case, what would you do with all those silly corners ?

Even a disproportionately long rectangular plot can be quite a waste. If the average length is five to six times the average width, there is going to be a lot of useless space remaining on either one or the other side.

While Vastu advises that the ratio of width to length not exceed 1:2 if you have a space that is close to 1:3 or even a little more, don't start to chew away your nails just yet. Try, if possible, to get a good landscape designer, or else learn to live with some open space. Taking a wider view on the shapes of plots, you will realise that odd-shaped and long sites make for twisted roads and highly inefficient land-use patterns.