Thank God, I got a project. Although I am technologically challenged and my project is a development project on a totally new and high level technology, I believe I can do it. But there was one thing I didn't believe that I could do it. That was finding a good paying guest house in Chennai.
This part is called "THE PG STORY".
I called up this PG owner who sounded convincing on phone (just like all of them) and I went on to see his place. He opened the door of a vacant room and I asked him nonchalantly, "I need a room, not a store room." He smirked and replied, "Thees eees theeee room sir. It ees aanly 6 taau-sand per montha". You know what? That room had a small bed cramped into the room and a bulb hanging above like an interrogation room. It had a small hole by the name of ventilation.
I called up another PG owner who also sounded convincing. I asked him, "Does your room have ventilation?" He assured me that the room is perfectly ventilated and only for 4500 bucks per month. I gladly went to see the place around 10 at night. I was excited. Although I had to pay 100 bucks to the auto driver, I was happy. But then, the auto driver was unable to locate the place. I called up the PG owner and made him talk to the auto driver for whereabouts of the place. He took me into a dark lane. It was bumpy and endless. I thought I am being kidnapped! But I saw a set of teeth shining in the dark at a distance. I realized that he was the PG owner, smiling as my welcome. He took me to a secluded house. I confidently walked into the house and saw many teeth shining. There were hundreds of teeth around in a 3 BHK house. I asked him about a single room and he showed me a set of 4 plywoods, set in the living room in the form of a room. They call it a room! He excitingly said, "See sir, it eees ventilated. Plywoods are broken from the top to provide air". I had no words. I was dumbstruck.
Next day, I decided to take a double room. I made a strategy. I planned that I'll scare off my roommate somehow and live in a double room paying rent of a single room without a roommate. I went on my room hunt. And to my utter surprise, I found a spacious double room with reasonable rent and attached bathroom (or toilet or latrine or shauchalay, whatever makes you happy). As I was having a look at the room, I saw the catch! The wall between the bathroom and room didn't touch the ceiling! The wall was 7 feet high and that bathroom had no exhaust. That means, whatever you do in the toilet (this word seems more apt here) can be heard and smelt in the room.
Another PG had a nicely painted, spacious single room but no ventilation. And the real catch was that bathroom was 2 floors higher in the house! If you want to do your essentials, go out of your room, your house, climb the stairs 2 storeys higher, go inside and find a bathroom in the corner of the place. And don't even expect to get a reward for your efforts because the size of the bathroom was the same as that of a trial room in Westside. (I thought I would advertise Westside on my blog as it is owned by dear TATA)
There is more to come (but not odour). Stay tuned.
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