Memoirs of a Migrant

For a 25-year old unemployed adult, nothing is more coveted than a job, preferably outside the home state, when, after days of frugality, the enticing temptations of financial liberty takes precedence over a sane and secured life back home. I nurtured similar aspirations while packing my bags for Bhubaneshwar.
My first impression of the city was that of a demure, inexpensive, well planned town (respected denizens, pardon me, I am not trying to sound pompous in tracing my roots to more 'happening' places like Kolkata and Bangalore, it is a matter of personal observation and understanding). Of course, I was living out of my bags at a moderately priced lodge at Puri-Cuttack road, ordering wholesome dinners that satiated my Bengali taste buds from a modest eatery at Rs 25.
However, hopes of a good living crumbled in a week, as I embarked upon house-hunting. It was a Herculean task. What stood as a mounting barrier between me and an apartment with ample ventilation in a crime free locality, was rent. Its been two months and I am still trying to comprehend why does a rental apartment in Bhubaneshwar comes dearer, in comparison to Kolkata or Bangalore. The dilemma is inevitable as the city is about half the size of Kolkata and Bangalore, both in terms of population and civic amenities. Not that the migrants sleep under the temperamental Orissa sky, scorching now and pouring then. I would get myself one, I appeased myself.
The city, as said by long-timers here, witnessed a spurt in house rent business with an influx of migrants tracing the IT boom and prospect of quality education at a moderate cost. Settlements around these epicenters soon became dearer and much like an epidemic, a steep hike in house rents gripped the city over the coming years. Landowners benefited, tenants perished and the trend still continues.
Sample these. A two- BHK (Bedroom-hall-kitchen) apartment in Kharvel Nagar, Shaheed Nagar, Maitreyee Vihar relieves you of nothing less than Rs 10000, plus electricity bill and maintenance charges, per month. That was well beyond my expectation and moderate budget, as none of these places are easily communicable by public transport after 10 at night. Incidentally, public transport is a novel concept in Bhubaneshwar, with a recently deployed fleet of city buses which go off the road by 9.30 at night. Then on, passengers are lurched at the mercy of auto rickshaw drivers who are quite unabashed in demanding the 'extra' for a trip to an inconvenient location at inconvenient hours.
Coming back, the situation is equally grim elsewhere in the city. I remember coming across a proud owner of a three- BHK apartment at Bapujinagar, a posh locality. He was blatant in saying, “Rooms are hard to come by at Rs 2500 in this locality. You are lucky. All you have to do is to share the apartment with a couple of others.” That 'a couple' for the septuagenarian would mean nine, with provision for few more, was something beyond my imagination. Cursing my naivety for envisaging such a luxurious stay for Rs 2500 ONLY, I could not but wonder at the perseverance of the nine occupants-three in each of the 10 by 12 feet rooms. Probably gauging my expression, a bemused boarder with a welcoming smile said, “ You can adjust, even we do.” Nonetheless, I moved on.
“Sir, flats are available here, but not for bachelors,” apologized the broker as I placed my case. And he was not lying with an ulterior motive of usurping the Rs 200 I had already paid him as registration fee without putting in an iota of effort. Barring entry for bachelors is the newest phenomenon in town as the broker narrates the tale of the trio from a reputed IT company, whom he had found an apartment. “After a couple of months the landlord evicted them. They had brought in two girls to stay along with,” he beamed, his tobacco stained grin confirming the extent of stigma and saucy gossip attached to fornication.
I have finally found a place to live, a single room about 9 km from the airport, entirely at my disposal for Rs 4000 only. I do not complain, though in Kolkata, my friends have rented a two BHK apartment at Rs 3000, 2 km from the airport. I enjoy round the clock water and uninterrupted electricity supply. My landlords, a young couple, seems tolerant to vices like smoking and boozing though female guests are strictly prohibited . They have acceded to my erratic office hours and do not crib when I knock the main gate at the middle of the night, but, honestly, such considerate landlords are hard to come by in Bhubaneshwar.