Well this post is not about the soap opera by Ekta Kapoor in Star Plus, but its a tale of great anguish and reflections my experiences in searching a house for my friend in Mumbai. Mumbaikars, with their own flats intact for more than 30yrs – please don’t scold me & do forgive me!
Searching for a good place to live in Mumbai is much worse than searching for a rice weevil in a Sack of Rice.. In the case of latter, at least you know that its there. In Mumbai, there isn’t anything called a good house to live. People pay obscene amounts to live in sea facing stinking and rusted flats (really posh), or posh-locality chawl houses (not so posh), or simply put, in an 1/2/3 and a half bedroom house for a prohibitively huge amount. You will wonder if its the rent people are asking for or a hefty ransom.
One of my friends was transferred to Mumbai recently. His idea was to rent a good flat and bring his family here. Knowing about the scenario here I had explained him the regular procedure of contacting brokers. A 2 bedroom flat in a 15K rent at Andheri was his requirement. (i know the rentals for it are anywhere upwards of 30k in Andheri) so I asked him why Andheri? He answered, he would have to spend more than an hour just reaching the office (yeah! Mumbai traffic is another long blogpost). He thought that he is going for a house hunting but I warned him its actually a witch hunting instead. Infact few of facts had even shocked me when i accompanied him. I must tell you about this novel concept of “26 ka package hai” meaning the rent can be 23k if you pay a deposit of 2L, or 26k if you are ready to pay a deposit of 1L. Seriously I am wondering who did the maths?
Back to the witch-hunting, better the building, better the furnishing, better the rates. Broker showed a 1RK for 14k, a chawl house for 16k i.e. a chawl is like a slum area where lots and lots of people live in small houses cramped together (I am sure a lot of Mumbaikars would be on me for using such generalized definitions). Every Chawl house has a single room and has more than 5-6 inhabitants usually.
Somehow I was lucky to get a 1RK in 1 of the oldest societies (where bachelors are allowed) which I found quite nice for my appetite. After knowing the actual rates from the brokers, just a little beyond my level my friend had set the limit for himself. Had it been a SRS, he would have got a 1BHK converted building for cheaper rate on bargains. The negatives were also simple- The walk between the entrance and the flat (the minimal requirement) would be peppered with people looking at you curiously. If you say something to your landlord, most likely the whole building will know about it by the evening. And stuff like that. If you are a small towner, it doesn’t bother you that much. But yeah, your “status” does take a hit! I think 8-10 brokers whom we contacted, had given up on our limitation of not being borne in a family which can just lock away a few lakhs rupees as security deposit, or that of not working in banks which are ready to park someone else’s money as security deposit.
Now there was no point for him fooling around with the rent. I convinced him to look out in the outskirts. Economically and practically, it made more sense to move to outskirts. If you intend to stay near your workplace with your family especially in places like Andheri or Bandra you will literally end up paying half of your monthly earning on the rental. What do you think you would do with the rest of the half. Guess what, its not all light and shining in the dark city (Andheri=darkness), but the whole process of finding a good accommodation has been a nightmare for him. Finally he is now happily staying on the outskirts with his family, renting a 2BHK for 15K. Only problem is the travelling time of 1.5hrs from his place, but he has his company bus picking/dropping near his home which has resolved his Local Train commutation too.
People talk about the great quality of life in this great absorbing city. I guess when it comes to the three basic necessities – Food, Clothes and Shelter, this city sucks big time. My personal experience is that leaving aside Vada Pav, the food bills here run far higher than the other three original metros. Accommodation, nobody’s competing with Mumbai. Mumba Devi is in a league of her own with innovative concepts like 2.5BHK where the .5 would not be considered as a B anywhere but Mumbai. But then, the city has a night life to offer. What the need is to find a decent accommodation! You can stay out all your life and party.
Lest I am charged with saying that all is wrong with this city – hell, no! As i have already said in one of my previous post (Bombay Bombay Pa Ra Ra Rapa Ra) I do love a lot of things about this city – most importantly, its people. It’s probably the only city in this country where the concept of personal space exists. It’s one of the rare cities in India which despite having such a big organized underworld, still has its markets and restaurants open till midnight and beyond. It’s a city which is a great leveler. Every day when you board a Mumbai local, it does not matter who you are and what your upbringing is, you have to struggle for your existence. And if you don’t want luxuries, you have to make adjustments. Go to the office at 8 before anyone else, and leave after 8 (or before everyone else leaves), and such things.
But, to make life easy for the wonderful dwellers, the city needs to start thinking. It’s not just good to be a spirited sportsperson, you have to be a thinking sportsperson too if you want to win! Mumbai – you are spirited. But you aren’t thinking !!!
