It was mission ‘herculean’ (not ‘impossible’ as nothing’s impossible) that I was staring at, as I set my foot onto the beautiful city of London. It was the mission of finding an accommodation given a basket-full of mutually exclusive requirements such as close-to-business school, close-to-transport links, two bed two bath, spacious and more importantly within the budget. Man! It was a tough ask. In fact, it was a mad ask.
Three cheers to my friend for allowing me to stay in his house during this operation. With stiff internal deadlines and with self imposed exigency, I set out on a treasure hunt-‘the famous house hunt’ in London, similar to what I did a couple of years ago when I had looked for a room in the big and complex city of Hyderabad. A lot of things were different this time around. If Hyderabad was big and complex, how about London? Perhaps, ‘a mountain and a mole hill’ is an apt comparison. However, the hunger, the energy and the desire to find my kinda flat were still the same.
I was joined by an eminent warrior in his own right, who was then my would-be flat mate (Of course we went on to be great flat mates and the rest is history now). I must say that I almost got married to the websites, gumtree.com and the journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk, which then seemed to me as the two all time greatest websites in the history of the internet :-p. Without those, life would have been unbelievably terrible. Every morning, I religiously explored various options on various sources and critically analyzed them, an analysis that even a business analyst at McKinsey would be jealous of. Shooting emails, calling the agents and then fixing the viewings-that’s the order of the morning.
In London, if you cannot plan, you don’t have the right to live, as simple as that. Every step, every move ought to be planned so as to be ‘on time’ for the flat-viewings (or even for anything). When I say ‘on time’ means not the Indian ‘on time’ but rather the British ‘on time’. Now, it is the big stage and moreover, I am a bit more mature (of course I am an MBA dude! :p). I was extremely circumspect to thwart all the fraudsters, impostors and the likes who tried to deceive me, thinking that this innocent Indian can be cracked easily. They just underestimated the Indians, who have seen it all and done it all.
Not a single street was spared, not a single letting agency’s door was left unknocked. It was a great experience, learning and assimilating everything that is ‘London’. I could sense that a Londoner is in the making. Talking to agents, negotiating, tube and bus rides, hunting for the cheapest food joints, knowing who’s who and where what is – the list is endless.
We have screened a number of flats, flats with different specs in different areas. However, there was something missing in them. Yes, the oomph factor was missing until one fine morning, when we decided to go and search for a flat in the district of Fulham and Chelsea. Have you guys heard of Chelsea? If you didn’t, here you go. If London is considered one of the richest cities and fashion capitals of the world (just forget those Mumbais and Delhis. They just aren’t in the list), then Chelsea is one of the, if not the richest area to live in London. Studded with celebrities, unbelievably rich people, world-class models (even your Katrinas and Aishwaryas don’t come to their feet), the Ferraris and the Lamborghinis flying around, for a guy like me to dream of living here is what? A Sin!
But I thought “Damn! I belong there. Here I come, Chelsea and Fulham”. Standing in the middle of Chelsea, near the famous Chelsea FC’s football Stadium, the Stamford Bridge, I looked at my friend and smiled. He asked me “why?” I replied “Dude, I am living my dream”. Then he said “Observe these chicks with those Old men”. As I observed, it was quite intriguing to note that these over six foot unimaginably beautiful damsels were all hooked up with the rich old ugly men. Well, it’s a classic example of money making many things. What a weird world this is.
Alright back on to the track now. So, we stepped into a letting agency more in hope than in expectation and asked for a two bed two bath flat. The agent gave us a suspicious look and said “I don’t know what price you are up to, but there is a river-side flat available”. Our reply was “Bring it on”. We were taken to a gated community by the Thames river side. I must say, it was a mini paradise that looked terribly posh and scaringly beautiful. As we led towards our flat, everything seemed to come off a Midas touch. And boy, what a flat that was. Surrounded by a beautiful garden, by the riverside, it was a peach. Nothing in life comes to you without a price and this hasn’t come either. Tell you what; the price tag that was tied to this was a mammoth 1800 pounds a month (i.e. Rs 1.5 lakh a month rent). With that amount of solid money imagine what I would have done in India. Unbelievable! I am just leaving that to your wildest of dreams guys.
For some reason, perhaps for the first time in my life and even more so, the only time in my life, I gave a damn to this ugly concept of money and said, “I am gonna take it!” Mastercard says “There are some things money cannot buy, but everything else there is mastercard”. Now, I tweak it and say “There are many things money can buy and the rest is a just a joke” (Prash 3:16). At that very moment, I felt like a complete Londoner, a putney ranger belonging to the upper crest of those multi-millionaires. It was a happy stay hence and there wasn’t a soul that visited us left without appreciating the sublime aesthetic feel and look of our beloved flat. Relaxing on the balcony, overlooking the sunset on the river, waving to the cruises that went past, in the most coveted and rich sectors of London, I said to myself “It cannot get better than this”
