It was time to look for new
brokers, new websites, basically anything that had the remote possibility of
getting us a shelter. Broker# 2 showed me a flat close to office (area we had
explored with Broker#1). He showed a 1BHK on the ground floor which was
surrounded by flying papers and plastic, I had stopped minding rats by then,
The ceiling was so low that even though I could walk straight I had a feeling
to hunch down. I told him after seeing this place that my preference was a good
locality and I don’t really mind a smaller place if the locality is good
enough. He called his boss and told me he’ll get back to me next day. As he was
going to show multiple places, I didn’t commit my time to anyone else. So, we
were done for that day and things were not looking any better. He never called
back.
The following Saturday I went to
see a hostel in Colaba. It’s meant for Defense kids. The place was undoubtedly
amazing esp. after seeing other places, this place seemed like heaven. It’s
located inside defense area and I’ve always been a huge fan of defense colonies
(being brought up in one has everything to do with it). I started imagining
myself staying there, convincing myself how easy travel would be in the
opposite direction, I can manage with induction cooker for dinner, and blah
blah blah. After waiting for the warden, reaching the office in the nick of
time I get to know ‘The hostel is only meant for kids of serving personnel or
kids of personnel retired in the last one year. My father retired 4 years back
and the fact that both my brothers are still with the forces and my Sister’s
husband worked right there where the hostel in located for 3 years, made
absolutely no difference to my case. I came back to my hotel drenched in sweat,
dejected.
This meant going back to the
brokers. Broker# 3 was a reference from a friend and I had high expectations
from him. Another friend of mine staying in the same hotel wanted to accompany
me to get an idea of how rented apartments are and what is the entire
experience like. We had seen one flat which was a 1RK and which was again too
costly for 1 person to afford. No matter how many times you tell them your
budget they will take the liberty of increasing your budget themselves assuming
it’s flexible. We were on the way to the next place, when it started pouring
real bad. We took shelter at a bus stop. The rain didn’t seem like it was going
to stop at all. My friend decided to leave even though he had the umbrella. He
got enough idea of the city during that time (at least the idea that it’s going
to be difficult). I stayed on as it was
the only weekend that was left with me; I had to vacate the hotel by next
Saturday. Braving the rains without an umbrella I moved ahead with the broker.
He showed a decent 1 BHK later and a flat that I had already seen. The day
closed without much success.
I started hunting for new numbers
and listed a couple of places from nobroker.com to check out. Even finalizing a
place to see is not that easy as a lot of them are either already taken or get
cancelled owing to things like ‘sharing toilet’. I went to this place in Dadar,
close to my hotel. I had already given some browny points to the place because
of its location. I had gotten used to travelling from Dadar and felt it very
convenient. My office was about 15-20 min from there. This listed place was
right opposite police quarters which got it additional points. It was an
affordable 1 RK – My highest priority. I finally locate the place ask the
neighbors to show the place to me as was instructed by the owner. The door took
15-20 minutes to open and required help from almost every neighbor there. That
should have been my first clue but I was blinded by the location and
convenience. The place opened and with it ended my hopes of staying in that
area, that building, growing plants in the open area, travelling from Dadar,
and the room too ended right there. I stood outside in shock when one of the neighbors
said ‘Please go inside and see the room without hesitation’. I went in to see
if what I saw was true. The room truly was that small. I’m sure if any of my taller
friends decided to sleep in their feet would enter the area, they liked calling
‘Kitchen’. The place was filled with newspapers so it felt all the more like a
store room. The positioning which was ground floor right at the entrance of the
building gave it a guard room feeling.
I left disappointed, dejected and
only then did I realize that the other number was not of the owner but that of
the nobroker.com’s customer care as I had exceeded my limit of getting phone
numbers. Anyway I had to head back to the hotel to jot down more numbers but no
place materialized to be seen close by.
The following days I checked a
few more disappointing places. Seventh floor without lift, places where getting
the lift took longer than reaching the building, etc. etc. By this time I had
seen the nooks and corners of Mumbai but to no avail.
Here Broker # 4 comes into
picture. On 11th I saw a 1RK in Prabhadevi (apparently a good place
to stay) and about 40 min by bus from office. The place was fine for one person
my only problem with it was its design. It had a long corridor with flats on
both sides. And all of them were 1RKs exactly like the one I had seen. Room
that I had declared was only sufficient for one person had families staying in
the same place. But by this time I was already losing patience and will to look
further. I had to vacate the hotel in another 2 days, I had got a muscle pull
on my shoulder by carrying all that laptop weight for about 3-4 hours every day
after office, My feet were injured of all the walking and got worse because of
walking in the rain water. I trained my brain to process only the good part
about the place and decided not to look at the corridor at all.
I asked the broker to check with the
owner if he can give me the bed and almirah which was already there in the
flat. Next day i.e. Friday I don’t see any flats because the broker told me
he’ll get back to me regarding what all the owner can give with the room. I had
decided to move in any which way so I knew I’m shifting on Saturday no matter
what the owner says. The broker didn’t confirm anything until Friday night and
kept saying he’ll get back to me every time I called. This continued till
Saturday morning the day I was to checkout. I was so certain that I’m shifting
that day that I invited another girl who hadn’t found a place till then to join
me as she was staying in the hotel at her own expense. I packed all my stuff
and checked out from the hotel and kept waiting for the broker’s call. Before
this a lot of screaming had already happened as he was neither picking up the
calls nor calling me back but he did tell me ‘you’ll get the place today don’t
worry’. I’m waiting in the lobby with my entire luggage to know when can I move
in to my new place. 5 minutes turn into
10 and 10 into an hour. After a zillion calls to the broker he gives me owner’s
number who in turn tells me I’ll get possession of the flat by Wednesday. I’ve packed all my stuff randomly and then
I’m told I don’t have a place to go to for the next 5 days. I scream at the
broker and ask him to find me a new place. Meanwhile I ask the hotel’s
reception if they can give me a private space for a couple of minutes so I can
take some stuff from my luggage and put it in my backpack that I had to live
off for next 3 days (I was told by then I’ll get possession latest by Tuesday).
I was still very upset about the whole thing. I take my backpack and reach
station without an idea where to go from there. Broker calls back in sometime
and tells me he’s sending one of his agents to show me a couple of more places.
At that moment started my journey
of being a homeless person in the city of dreams – Mumbai. The place which will force you
to dream bigger staying in apartments that are getting smaller by the day.
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