Rented houses

I don’t know if my luck of rented houses is very bad or these miseries are suffered by all naives. But any one looking for a rented house should be careful about a few things I believe.

One, the possessive tendency of landlords. One of my landladies had an excessive possessiveness on the house. She barred us from hammering nails so we could hang curtains. She clearly told us that she loves that house so much that when a nail is driven in the wall she feels as if its heart that is being nailed.

She taught me the second important lesson of possessiveness too. She lived above us. Her exit was absolutely different. There was a small garden with open boundary. So all day, all sorts of animals used to come and go. Starting from cow to ferrets. We made the mistake of feeding a few canines and she got absolutely ballistic. So, even if your entrance is absolutely separated from your landlords never feed strays. That was the lesson I learnt from them.

The next landlord has mentioned it in the deed. But he did not mention it in the deed that his rooms are under one feet water every monsoon. And the two years I spend there were perfect nightmares. On the first year three or four days water invaded the rooms but on the second year it invaded for more than ten days. He taught me to never trust landlords, brokers and self-interest driven people. Because that house was finalized via a broker and a man who had very serious business connections with my brother. My brother’s living near him would have been immensely advantageous for him. As for the broker…. Well we all know about them, don’t we?

No matter how much your landlords try to mix with you, if you are not a very diplomatic person you should keep a cold courteous relationship with them. The further they are the better for you.

Another bizarre thing occurred during my tenancy in this house. We did not had an independent access to our rooms. The main door was controlled by the land lords. I often used to have a feeling that someone entered my rooms while we were in office.

Then one day it was semi confirmed. We lived in the back portion of the house. My kitchen window opened in the courtyard of the next flat. I was cooking when a vendor woman boldly confronted me. It was an unexpected leave of course, I bunked office because I was feeling unwell.

That woman told me that she has brought the bucket which my mother asked her for. I told her that I live there with only one more person and he sure is not a woman.

She confidently described my landlady and said that she has asked her from this very window for a bucket which she did not had on Saturday, so she told her that she will bring it on Monday. She repeatedly told that this was the window from which the order was placed.

Now that meant only one thing, that our rooms were used behind our backs with duplicate keys. Purpose? It can be any thing starting from saving own electricity to stealing.