Home Away from Home

In a new city, finding the right place to move into can be quite a challenge. Razi Shaikh lists out the options  you can consider

You’ve hit upon your dream career, the college has been finalised and you’re set to move to a new city. The  numerous stay options confuse you and you’re not sure which, among the many, will suit you. The good news is that there’s an option for everyone and with a little bit of effort, you can zero down on the one most suitable for you. Here are some of the popular stay options for students:

HOSTELS
Hostels have been around for as long as we remember and for most of its existence, a few years of hostel life were considered to be ideal to speed up the ‘growing-up’ process. The hostel becomes the centre place of all your activities, permissible and non-permissible alike, and as former hostelites will tell you, more than the college, it’s the hostel that you’ll end up missing the most.
Pros: You get the company of your classmates in the hostel and more often than not, the hostel is the cheapest option you can avail of.
Cons: You’ll be answerable to the warden; you won’t get to be the free bird you were hoping to become. Hostel places a reasonable amount of restrictions on your freedom.

RELATIVES
It’s always nice to have some relatives in the city you’re shifting to. In the early days of shifting, you’ll need all the help you can get and this is where your relatives and friends in the city will count. You can even consider staying with them (the offer usually comes from their side).
Pros: It’s an option worth considering, as you get the home atmosphere and the pleasure of home-cooked food in a new city.
Cons: Full-fledged freedom is something you definitely won’t get and that’s a major turn off for mostpeople. Most people opt instead for rent apartments.

 

 

RENT APARTMENTS
Another option you can consider is moving into rented apartments and sharing them with classmates or friends to cut costs.
Pros: Other than offering flexibility and independence, these apartments, depending on their location and size, can fit into almost any budget. You also have more space to yourself.
Cons: Here, the question of the roommate really comes into the picture. Also, you’ll have to shoulder a lot more responsibilities. And if you live in an expensive city or town, your rent will be high, in spite of sharing.

OTHER STAY OPTIONS

You can move into guest houses as well. For example, in Mumbai, the YWCA International Guesthouse has facilities like WiFi, AC dining and a single AC room at the price of Rs. 2126 per month and the ISKON Guesthouse has amazing food and round the clock room service for Rs. 3395 a month for a single AC room.

PAYING GUEST

The paying guest option is similar to renting an apartment, with the sole difference being that in this case, you’ll be living with a family. Two students elaborate on this option.

PAYING GUEST VS HOSTEL

“At Srishti’s (Banaglore), we have the PG system. We live independently and there’s just one way things work – cooperation.
PGs are better than hostels because you actually have to handle everything on your own. Hostels have so many restrictions. This place has changed me. It’s one of the best things to have happened to me. Right from grocery shopping to keeping my room clean, there’s independence in every action and activity I do.
You actually know what life is like, when you’re away from home. No parental pampering and surviving on your own instincts and beliefs. ”
– Ishiyeta Saxena, 18, Srishti School of Art and Design

ADJUSTING TO THE BIG CITY
“Moving to a new city isn’t as easy as it sounds. People say it’s cool and all, but ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’. I witnessed it when I came to this big city (Mumbai). You do face challenges and as a paying guest, arranging for supper can sometimes turn out to be a major pain. Also, cost of living is going up in the cities and for those who don’t have hostel facilities in their college and have financial issues, this can become a major problem.”
-Anurag Anand, 20, Ruia College

 

Volume 2 Issue 11