Have moved to my new place, finally, on Sunday. It’s a cosy sort of house, with two rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, loo and a balcony. It’s on the groundfloor, and we have lots of foliage (by Mumbai standards ie), within the compound.
Birds chirp, the ironing man hollers and the bai, she chirps too. She’s this robust looking, very determined Maharahtrian woman who is trying to make me improve my Hindi. In return, she is planning to learn English. She has two college-going sons and a drunk for a hubby. But she puts up with his drinking because he never raises a hand. Besides, she has no family. This bit of information is de ja vous. It seems to me like most lower class women work very, very hard and the men seem to rest on their wive’s meagre earnings. Sad, but true.
The previous bai Savitha is 25, has 3 little girls and a hubby with no job. She works very, very hard and is chirpy in spite of all the hardships. One day she decided to visit with the girls. She was very late for work that day, and had apparently spent about an hour dressing them up in their Sunday best. We had bag of chocolates and soft toys ready for them. It was kind of cute.
Other than that need to buy a cupboard. The room looks to empty without it, and feel like I am suspended in mid-air, currently. Went cupboard-shopping yesterday, just off SV road Bandra station. You have a couple of odd looking shops with cupboards in all sizes and colours (red too!) lined up on the outside. These are Godrej rip-offs at about 1/4th price, and they serve the purpose pretty well.
I did a little survey. There was this one very, very cheap brand selling a cupboard for Rs 1,900. The sales chap said in Hindi, ” Yeh sastha hai, lekin 2 mehine me kalass!”
Oks! That was off my list. A better quality one comes at Rs 2,200 and if you go shopping after 9 pm when they are about to shut shop, you get a Rs 100 discount 
Visited another friend who has just found a new place, the chap who might been by roommate. He has rented all his furniture — nice stuff, that’s all wood. Wooden furniture always lends a touch of warmth and class to any place.
Sound cosy. Is it a one level or are tehre people that live above you?
Congrats! Hope your new home feels “homey”.
It’s rather cosy, except for a number of suitcases lined up against one wall, that somehow make the room feel a bit spookt at night.
There are some families I think who live on top.
My roommate and me are divided about whether to talk to the neighbour. I think we needn’t be best friends, but a wee bit of chit-chat can sometimes help when we need some help, and I don’t mean borrowing sugar.
All said and done, the place is cosy.
Happy Birthday, Merril!!!!!!
Happy Birthday girl! Where are you? Click here for an online b’day gift!