Chapter 4

                                    

                                          
Crap!
                          
Not this!!! I need to do something about this fast. Dammit!!
                          
'Dear Madam, this is a gentle reminder to submit requested documents on or before 31st May. If you fail, you will be evicted from the premises with immediate effect.' 
                          
I sit at my chair, wondering what to do. I do not have any friends or relatives in this city who can help me out. What should I do?  I ponder in despair.
                          
'It's impossible! I have to start looking for some other accommodation.' A wave of dejection threatens to overwhelm me. I breathe rapidly to clear my mind.
                          
I love the house I was staying in now. Granted it is a small studio apartment, but it's a place I can unwind, after the day's stress. Somewhere, where I can be myself, not a nameless face in the crowd. It has been only a month since I moved in but its home, something I can call mine.
                          
Five months before that, since I arrived in Mumbai, I lived in a working ladies' hostel. I shared the room with three other girls.
                          
Despite strict restrictions and ban on leaving the premises after 10:00 p.m. two of my roommates always sneaked out at night to meet their respective boyfriends and sometimes returned in the morning. We always got into trouble with the hostel authorities because of them.
                          
The other one was the messiest person I have ever met. Her stuff was never in its proper place, ever! Her hygiene habits were questionable. She would gladly help herself to anybody's stuff, whether permission was granted or not.
                          
One month in that hostel and I desperately started looking for a new accommodation. I searched ads in the newspaper, internet, placed my own advertisements, visited every real estate agency that I came across and asked anyone who would listen, to help me find a new place to live.
                          
For four months I went on a fruitless hunt looking at rundown houses on the outskirts of the city, paying guest accommodation in already overcrowded houses. In the nicer parts of the city, the rents were so high that it would take my entire monthly salary and then some, just to pay a month's rent.
                          
I was beginning to lose hope and resigned to staying at the hostel.
                          
One day, about four months in Mumbai and at my job, I was at the receiving end of Nivedita's fury. This time, it was my fault that a famous movie actress who was supposed to meet my boss to discuss being the brand ambassador for our chain of retail stores, decided to go on an impromptu, secret holiday out of the country with her "good friend" co-star. Nivedita hates being stood up and since she couldn't possibly vent her anger on the actress, guess who got lucky?
                          
I was really upset at Nivedita's hurtful and vicious words and I wanted solitude to calm down.  My noisy, stinky and messy hostel room was certainly not the place. So, I boarded the first bus that stopped at the bus stand, intending to simply take a ride around the city and then return to my quarters.
                          
The bus passed a very pretty garden tucked away behind a cul-de-sac on a narrow bylane. It looked so serene and peaceful amid the maddening noise, that I decided to spend some time there. I got off at the next stop, making my way back to the garden.
                          
As I was walking past a gate, I heard two women speaking that made me stop to listen.
                          
"Oh yes, they are still on the lookout for a tenant," a middle-aged lady was speaking to the other. "But you know how it is in this city. It is very difficult to find decent and trustworthy people these days."
                          
On a whim I went up to the lady. "Excuse me, sorry but I couldn't help overhearing, that you are on the lookout for a tenant."
                          
The lady eyed me suspiciously "Yes, so?"