Do I get a place to crash in this City?

Dear Mumbai,

Kaise ho??Mein  teekh  hoon!!Sab apki Meherbani!!(being sarcastic)

Our First meeting was not so great, but I am still hopeful about this Relation ;) First few days when I moved in, I didn’t have a place of mine. I crashed at a guest house in Dindoshi Nagar ,Goregoan (E) which I got through my dad’s contacts. With Dad still with me, I was not yet alone. Anyhow guesthouse shaandar  tho  tha…but it was just a temporary fix for a week, I had to look for another place soon.

I joined my job in Malad(which I will tell you more about in next post). In the comforts of the Guest house at Dindoshi, 5 days had passed. By this time, we had actually started wandering in search of a PG (Paying Guest) or any Working women hostel. Once away from your native, you tend to search traces of it in everything around you. We found my community hostel “Bunts Hostel,Kurla” which was like a “WOW!!”. It was so perfect, with the rent well within my budget and a feeling of being around my community place. But my fate had some different plans, soon this turned to be an “OMG!!”. It was within my budget, but not within my reach. Staying at this hostel in Kurla, would mean having a tedious routine of going from Central to Western, Kurla to Malad and back everyday during peak hours.

Crowd at Borivali Station

May be it’s the True Mumbaikar life , but I was still a amateur and not ready for this level of commitment to the city yet. The day I arrived in Mumbai I had got a glimpse of the state of commuters in locals during peak hours. Being one of them, a midst that chaos made chills go down my spine. So the Community Hostel was like, Almighty handed me a chocolate with his right hand and snatched it away from his left, telling “Its not for you little girl”. I knew rage and self-pity won’t help, at that time I couldn't sit back and curse anyone or cry for help. I decided to get down to streets (literally) and take on the challenge and get a place for myself.

With this notion of ‘Near to office’ and  ‘Without burning a hole in my pockets’ I had to find a PG. Even though I had decided to get on the streets, I wouldn’t harm to initiate my quest in Google(After all I am from the Info Tech domain). I got some Property broker’s numbers from Google and made the calls. Outside Infinity mall next to my office, I still remember hearing “Khali nahi hein Madam!!” response for all my calls. Some would hang-up before I could collect all my basic Hindi to enquire about availability elsewhere. Some even demanded a sum equal to my two month’s salary as brokerage, and I had not yet seen my first salary. As I told in my last post I used to wonder where all the crowd in Mumbai goes? Now I knew..They fill in all the PGs in the city.

With all this going on outside Infinity mall I was starving. If I am not happy it’s my fate, why should my stomach be the one to suffer. Without thinking much, I went to a Chats stall nearby. As a stress buster, I started gulping down spicy  Golgappas. The feeling of Golgappas popping in my month and awakening my taste buds made my mind settle. I am not exactly the Introvert type and can kick off a conversation with anyone. Risky or not, since childhood I have the power of converting total strangers into acquaintances. There was another girl at the Golgappa(Pani-puri) stall feasting on the spicy delights. I started with a smile.

“Hi….”

(I can’t reveal all my conversation starter tactics, as this super powers could be used by for Evil..LOL)

The crucial points of the conversation was when I asked her “I am new to Mumbai…Can u please help me find PG nearby?…its  little urgent too.”

That conversation proved Mumbaikars are helping too. She gave me a broker’s number, through whom I found a comfortable and safe PG within my budget and reach. I am writing this my from this humble abode of mine.

 A beautiful coincidence being my apartment is near to another Hanuman Mandir, with which deity I had made a plea in Iccha purthy Hanuman temple to help me find a place and promised to visit frequent if that happens on the first day. Luckily Hanuman took it seriously and I too complied, so every Saturday morning I visit to thank him for getting me a residence near to his ;)

Last day of the First week I shifted to the pg and then Dad went back home to Mangalore. That day I really had a very heavy heart coming back from work. The feeling of coming to my new PG and of being left all alone(like lost kid) in this big city entangled me in a state of mind beyond explanation.

Not just a Crash pad, now I have a place of mine which I can call Home in this big city.(ya, I know that I don't own this place, but Shut up! and let me live the moment!)

New MumbaiWali,

From New PG

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