My life in Bangalore is shaping up well, and I’ve collected enough will to deliver another story to you – the story about my house hunting. It took me 10 days and 10-15 apartments to understand that the whole renting is gonna be a worse problem than I initially was prepared for. Before coming here I was told that the rent here is so low, and the flats are so big, that I had nothing to worry about. I did not do much, just arrived and started checking the places. One, it turned out it’s nearly impossible to get a house for less than 10 months, and to prove your stay for at least 10 months the deposit of the equal amount is required. Two, it’s very rare the house is advertised and shown by the owner, you get to go via broker, hence another expenditure – the broker fee (a monthly rent). Three, there is nothing like a studio in India (or at least in Bangalore), the smallest available place would have at least 2 rooms – a living room, and a bedroom – so you can’t decide on renting a studio, as it’s cheaper, there’s no option like this. Four, even one-bedroom apartment is very rare, more often there are 2, 3-bedrooms, ie you are bound to share with somebody (which was my last wanted thing). And finally five, if you require some furniture (even the minimum of a fridge and a bed), you gotta pay some 20% more to your monthly rent. Not speaking about the six, the fact that “decent place” for me is in “luxury-super-expensive” category for the brokers here.
So in the end, all my requirements were impossible to meet… I was getting upset and frustrated. Here I also must mention that I’d have never done any progress in the search without a friend helping me, sacrificing his time, calling up the brokers, driving me around on his bike from one place to another. And I’d not have settled so soon if all possible ways to find a place (read: all friends’ connections) hadn’t been tried so quickly. So thank to my beloved friends, who are here (physically or virtually) when I need them so much, thank to common efforts I have found a corner in this strange to me city! It’s a 2-bedroom place, which a colleague of mine has been sharing with a friend, who has moved out recently. It has a good interior, but a little empty inside, though it is only good for me, as I get to decorate the space upon my taste and imagination, have been always dreaming about it!
My flatmate deserves separate attention. He is one of the kindest guys I’ve ever seen! He made me feel at home and comfortable during the first days of my stay here, so that I decided not to shift anywhere else. Yeh, initially he just offered me a shelter for the timebeing while I was searching for a place. But I liked the experience so much, that decided to stay forever :) Plus to his kindness, he is also very chilled out, very modern and cool person. Kind of a character you feel easy with. And he gives me a lift to the office and back, so I’m saving on the rickshaw costs and saving my nerves to bargain with the drivers :)
Well, enough about housing I think. This Sunday me together with Neel (my flatmate), like a little family, go for shopping for some stuff we need at home. Hope to have some pictures of the place taken for you some day. Or better, you come and visit me here!
Next post will be on the city itself!
