Lifestyle upgrade — carrying my small town heart to a big city apartment

There aren’t many tall buildings in my city or that many cafes. We don’t have valets and chauffeurs, or reception desks at the entrance of our homes, or phone apps that permit people to enter into residential premises. I had hardly ever used an elevator.

So when I walked into a friend’s residential building, in the big city of dreams, it had everything that I was never used to. It would take me at least a few years of hard work and bucket full of luck to buy an apartment in a building like that, in a city like this.

A few months later, I decided to find an accommodation for myself. I was living with my extended family and the commute was killing me. I searched for a bed in an apartment shared by other young women like me, at a cost that could perhaps be covered by my savings for the next few months. I was checking many apartments when my agent took me to what was, the same residential tower that I had visited a few months ago where my friend lived, at a stone’s throw from the institute I studied in.

I could not believe it.

On the 11th floor , with an entrance foyer that could fit 5 people horizonally, and a massive living room with long couches and wooden furniture, it was too good to be true. A contemporary apartment with 3 rooms and 3 bathrooms, a sleek modular kitchen in white, dark wooden floors and tall glass windows with a view of the city’s business district and the airport, was in no way something my student self deserved.

For the next 4 months, I could rent a bed in that apartment shared by 5 other girls, for the cost of a kidney, right at the margin of being affordable. Of course, I rented it.

On the first night, I slept with the curtains pulled, to the window lights and soft techno bass from the apartment above. It took me one week to get used to the curtainless windows everywhere that exposed me to strangers and the city.

It had many problems though, it was infected with roaches who lived like they paid the rent too. I read Kafka’s Metamorphosis and began sympathizing with them. They became symbolic of my struggle to live in the city, and the perseverance needed to ‘climb the corporate walls’.

I then had to move to another city. Just as big, a little more quaint. As I looked for an apartment here, I was determined to find a complete place for myself. I imagined growing a little garden, decorating the home with little lights and artifacts. I fantasized designing an art corner, and reading books in peace with a cup of Kashmiri tea. I would host small dinners, and cook everyday without being bothered by my roommate’s blasting alarm that she never woke up to. I was determined.

Again, I accompanied a real estate agent to the apartment I had fantasized living in. Located in the centre of the city, it was expensive, but was the minimum price for the life I was fantasizing. The agent pushed a cheque in my hand, and my body froze. I could not bring myself to sign it.

I have grown up in a big family, in an average home. I realize that I have come to healthy terms with the strengths and limitations of my natural self. I rock public transport, I love being around people, I have learnt to be assertive and to also resolve disputes. There is immense strength that drives a young individual’s fight for sustenance. I guess I have learnt, in all its beauty, to be uncomfortable. And there are amazing life lessons waiting for me.

Next week, I will be sharing a room in an old community neighborhood with a stranger. I am very excited about it. There is no furniture, the house is dull and requires thorough sweeping. But I am more excited about a community sports facility next door, and about the charming historical buildings in the middle of the neighborhood.

I know that as long as my two feet are on the ground, I shall be fine.