This story is from June 2, 2014

Pet care, bets, good vaastu and cheap stay

Love is no longer the only reason young couples have for living together. Proximity to the boss, proper pet care and saving on rent are a few that top the list.
Pet care, bets, good vaastu and cheap stay
Love is no longer the only reason young couples have for living together. Proximity to the boss, proper pet care and saving on rent are a few that top the list.
When you’re in love, moving in with your partner might seem like the right thing to do. And why not? You get to spend quality time together, know about each other’s likes and dislikes, stare into each other’s eyes all day without anyone disturbing you.
But what if the decision of living together comes as an aftermath of a lost bet? Or because the boyfriend needs to keep his stray pup safe? Or because the girlfriend can’t bond with her flatmates? Yes, you got that right. Louuve is not the only reason for youngsters to take the live-in leap these days.
If you are in a relationship where the decision to build your dream home was mutual, good for you. But if you are desperately looking for a place where the neighbours won’t go haww on the thought of live-in relationships, or a place that will be closer to the workplace of your girlfriend, or are keeping a second option handy in case your parents drop in, welcome to the club of won’t-you-live-with-me-for-my-sake gals and guys.
THE PUP NEEDS CARE, WE SHOULD PARENT IT BY LIVING TOGETHER
There’s puppy love and then there’s love for puppies. But if you are not one of those who go awww on seeing the neighbourhood doggie, you better date someone who shares your thoughts. But Stuti Srivastava*, a lawyer, learnt it the difficult way. She says, “I had no clue that my boyfriend loved animals so much. He recently spotted a stray pup near his colony, and took it home. But his mother refused to keep it, and strictly told him to keep it away from their home. Now, he has turned to me, and is saying that I keep the puppy at my place. I tried to explain to him that I live in a shared flat, and all my flatmates are working. Who’ll take care of the animal once we are out during the day? But he’s not ready to listen, and is now pestering me that we start living together. That way, we’ll be able to take care of the pet better. But even then the problem won’t be solved, as both of us have day shifts. He is depressed and doesn’t know what to do with the dog. It’s not that I don’t love him or I’m being cruel. But being in a live-in relationship is a big step, and taking the plunge for a trivial reason like this just doesn’t sound right.”

I HAVE TO WIN THE BET, LET’S LIVE TOGETHER
For Rishabh Sharma, a civil engineer at a government organisation, placing a bet on someone’s life is the most cruel thing to do. He explains, “I’ve been dating a girl from my college for four years now. Things were fine until one of her friends placed a bet that if we were to live together, our relationship won’t last beyond six months. She threw a fit, asking me to prove her friend wrong by proving my love for her, by proving that we can live together. My life has now turned into a complete mess. I’m looking for a place where we can stay together, and which is close to both our offices. My parents live in Ghaziabad, so they will come to know that I’m staying with my girlfriend the day they pay me a visit. Of course, they won’t allow me to live-in. I’ll have to pay the rent for my previous place as well, so that I can go there whenever my parents come over.”
MONEY IS WHAT MATTERS
Love and money is never said in the same breath. Hasn’t Bollywood taught you anything? Karisma Kapoor also left her rich parents and married a cab driver in Raja Hindustani. So, money is definitely not a big deal, right? Wrong. Youngsters have smart ways to deal with monetary issues when in a relationship. Arpita Keshav, a patent attorney, says, “One of my colleagues has this very smart way of saving money. She gets into a live-in with whoever she dates, even if the relationship has just begun. For her, it’s the best way to save on accommodation expenses. Mostly, guys don’t ask the girl to share the rent. You know, chivalry and all that....”
Saurabh Sinha, a college student, says, “Living in Delhi is really expensive, and you feel the pinch more if you are a college student. I somehow convinced my now ex-girlfriend to share a place with me in Laxmi Nagar so that we could both save our pocket money. Recently, we broke up. And the first thought that struck my mind was that now I’ll have to pay the entire rent! But thankfully, she shares the same feelings. Laxmi Nagar is too crowded. You don’t get a house so easily, aur zaroori nahi ki PG mein like-minded log milein. So now, we’ve been living together despite our break-up. It’s just more formal now. We calculate the monthly expenses and pay our equal halves. All the chores are also divided equally now. Pehle toh, she used to make tea for me in the morning, par ab it’s alternate days for both of us. This is a small price to pay, considering the amount we’re saving by living together.”
YOUR HOME HAS THE PERFECT VAASTU
How do you decide whether the person you are dating is the one with you’ll share the rest of your life with? Simple. Check out the vaastu of his or her house. Well, at least this is what banker Shashank Purohit’s girlfriend feels. He says, “My parents stay in Dwarka and I’ve taken a small apartment on rent in Noida, near my office. My girlfriend visited it once, and she fell head over heels in love with my place! Apparently, my house was perfect according to vaastu shastra. She immediately decided that she wanted to move in with me. She went all mushy, saying I am her soul mate and that we should spend as much time together as we can. All this, because the house, which doesn’t even belong to me, has the ‘perfect vaastu’. This has freaked me out a little, but I’m just playing along. Let’s see, yeh vaastu ka jaaadu kab tak rehta hai.”
TO LIVE CLOSER TO THE BOSS
When your boyfriend starts bringing up his boss in every conversation night and day, you know something is wrong. That’s what happened with Saumya Shekhawat*, who works with an IT firm. She adds, “My boyfriend recently joined a software firm in Gurgaon. He was so hell-bent on striking a rapport with his new boss that he decided to live near his house, which unfortunately happens to be close to my flat. He persuaded me to look for a place nearby, where we could live together. Of course, the rent is high and you can’t just live on your own in Gurgaon. He’s talked me into living with him so that he can drop in at his boss’ place whenever he wants to. These days, he is bonding with him over car drives till the office! I don’t know why I agreed to this nonsense. He’s more concerned about when his boss leaves for work and when he returns than about what I’m doing. I wonder how his boss is so cool about a stalker-employee living so close to him!”
(* Names changed on request)
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