Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Meet my roomies

Sharing space with anyone is not easy, either metaphorically or literally; and when you end up staying in a new city with new set of people it really does make up for some interesting anecdotes and experiences. Its been about two and a half years since I first landed in this desolate city and after changing abodes thrice where I have put up with half a dozen distinct creatures by now, each of them as unique and as different from the others, I simply can’t resist penning down about them and their idiosyncrasies

Flatmate #1: I was new to Muscat and this guy made most of it; I trusted this older guy as he worked in same building and appeared dignified and simple, little did I know that I will leave his place in eight months mouthing obscenities when I had to involve law to recover my deposit. His place was crappy for the steep rent he charged, my room was so tiny that I couldn’t even shag properly; plus this stinko had his own peculiar lifestyle, every morning the middle aged bumpkin would be dancing and singing Marathi bhajans in his oily kitchen which he had forbidden me to enter, he was indeed proud of his sparsely kept place which he zealously cleaned every day. One need not look beyond him to understand why most of humanity still lives in misery

Flatmate #2: if the previous guy was an asshole this was one was indeed an angel. His well kept spacious place replete with carpets, lampshades and tastefully chosen sofas was so comfortable that I never wanted to leave. However he was perhaps going through a middle age crisis for he kept mostly to himself and did not have any social life, many times I found him sitting alone staring into oblivion; sometime back when I met his loud mouthed wife I could somewhat understand his cheerlessness. I am still friends with this guy, save for his reclusive existence he was never bad to live with

Flatmate #3: a typical TamBram, living with him made me realize how diverse India is. Since we worked together, most of our talks revolved around office gossip and politics; however beyond small office talk there was often a difference in taste. This guy never missed eating rice, he would have rice and curds even after a bowl of pasta; he didn’t understand any Hindi and had never heard names of Gulshan Kumar, Jessica Lal or other names which were household up north. However being of the same age group we often went out for drives together and did enjoy somewhat before he returned to Chennai

Flatmate #4: this guy would be the best of the lot, a true NRI he had lived previously in New Zealand and South Africa and indeed had some fine tastes. He led a somewhat fast lifestyle but I never complained; after all I did enjoy late night drinking binges and it was only with him that I explored the limited night life this city has to offer. He was a fine cook too and did satiate my taste buds with some well cooked meat. Wish I could find more like him

Flatmate #5: I knew this person was danger and perhaps shouldn’t have let him share my place. He was a fanatic who only harped about his religion and its practice, stank of rotten meat, used much of my stuff as a right without ever bothering to ask and when he was around many things went missing; his contacts were even shadier than him and lo behold he knew Dawood Ibrahim personally! Thank heavens he didn’t stay long

Flatmate #6: this one is a cutie, although much younger in age he is fun and may I say also innocent and straight. I am currently enjoying my stay with him, his only flaw being his chain smoking – never met anyone before who smokes 100 ciggies a day! Apart from this, the guy is good to go and at times funny with his hilarious remarks and nonsensical comments

12 comments:

  1. You mean to make love?Shag I'm sure does not mean to masterbate,and how much space do you need in the bathroom to get the job done anyway?I did not know Shag meant to make love until the Comedy movie made by a Canadian came out which told it,up to then it meant the hair-cut you seem me wear at 17 where I am so beautiful that every male in New York City stared at me when I passed them by,and I stared at myself in all the windows in the city's stores,especiall on 5th Avenue,God made me so beautiful that I'm shocked in awe and wonder at how He shaped me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's a fab mix! You future wife would be very happy since you would easily make adjustments to suit her needs :D
    I've never had a chance to live with a room-mate. The one and only roomie I have is my husband. Thank God all is well with him ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thats an interesting mix u have got there! :) Staying with room mates makes one so flexible that u can adjust to any situation.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I salute you- it is extremely difficult sharing a space with somebody else let alone an entire stranger.

    ReplyDelete
  5. sharing a place with other people sure exposes one to many different habits and idiosyncrasies...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jnana, man ain't that the truth, I don't know how he has managed this,he's got strength I sure don't have.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Shadow, thanks for teaching me that new English word,yeah it's tough living with a person and their habits,Pesto Sauce is a Brave man to live with all these male strangers,but at least they were not females who are even more difficult to live with.Living alone is exremely comfortable.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I once had 4 roomies, for about 2.5 years 5 of us girls lived under one roof, a large roof I will say and it was so much fun!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. sharing space with someone is not easy?
    i think it s relative... :P

    ReplyDelete
  10. sharing space with someone is not easy?
    i think it s relative...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Having diverse flat mates is an educational Bharat darshan....Good lessons in adjustment before marriage.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sounds like great fun...Tambrahm is my fave..;)

    ReplyDelete