I had read a BBC article(not able to find the link now) which said “Americans are obsessed with movie and rock stars, British are obsessed with football stars, Italians are obsessed with food, French are obsessed with fashion and Indians are obsessed with Marriage!!!”
The observation was spot-on! What else can explain the billion+ number. Our society is hell-bent on seeing that everyone gets married and stays married.
A disclaimer before we proceed: I am not against marriage. I believe in the institution of marriage. And someday I want to get married too. Only I do not believe that it is the raison d’être of our existence.
Being single in late twenties is synonymous with explaining my status to all and sundry and a host of other issues. Add to it the task of finding an accommodation on rent in a city. We received a phone call from our landlord today saying that we have vacate the flat as the society is now not allowing “bachelors” anymore. Only families. 🙄 Although our owner has no problems with us staying they can’t flout the “society rules”. Some societies even have a board on the gate saying “No bachelors allowed” Sigh!
This isn’t new. Such rules exist even in big Indian metros like Mumbai. Being single or “bachelor” as they say is like being a leper when it comes to real-estate here. I had heard about real-estate brides. But I thought it is for places with exorbitant rent like Manhattan or for people who couldn’t earn enough to make the rent. Never had I thought I might have to think about being one someday.
I was just lamenting about our society and our ways when I heard someone wax eloquent about Indian values and Sanskaar. 😡 Trust I wanted to punch that person in the face, make a ping-pong ball of him and hurl him into outer-space. We are F’ed up society with messed up values. Don’t glorify that!
I tried making peace with the situation by thinking about how one day these(the ones who look down upon single tenants) people will send their kids to work in a different city and karma will haunt them or about how many months the flats will remain empty because they can’t find a “family” tenant to occupy it but none of these things are helping me feel better. Their karma striking will not help my situation in any way. I still have my problem. They can go to hell and be deep-fried like a Punjabi samosa for all I care.
Sounds rude? How about the people and society being considerate too. That no bachelors allowed board sounds like the “Dogs and Indians not allowed” boards during the British rule.
Now please excuse me, I have to go hunting for a decent place to stay in Pune lest I end up on a railway station bench! 
Sapna's Blog 
As a single woman, who is well-past 20 I can tell you that this angst too shall pass. Don’t attach so much importance to what people say and think…..
Kuch to log kahenge….
I know. Just that neither me nor my roomie are in a mood for house hunting right now. Keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll find a new one pretty soon.
Thanks for stopping by and the comments! 🙂
All the best!
Give a damn .. ! Life becomes much easier 🙂
I want to give a damn only I need a roof over my head. Even before this we had planned to shift but turns out everybody here wants to rent out accommodation only to families. We searched for 3 months!
The United States may have many problems, this one would never happen here. In fact it would be more of a problem if there was NOT diversity. I guess if you know two guys who are having the same issue you can pretend to be married and return to your apartment. I send you energy to find the perfect home that does not require you to be married!
True. This wouldn’t happen in the US. I guess the very reason US has managed so much progress is because of the sheer diversity and openness to accept all sorts of people.
I wanted to do that(pretend to be married) for a couple of flats but then I would live under the fear of losing credibility wondering “what if they found out?”
Just continuing with the hunt as of now.
Thanks again for stopping by. Always a pleasure to see your comments on my blog 🙂
So true! *No bachelors allowed* is what they say:(. Hope you’l find one soon:)
I can empathise.
Indians make strange landlords when they own a flat.
They don’t like bachelors.
They don’t like non vegetarians.
They don’t like pets (dogs/cats)
They don’t like tenants with beards.
They don’t like tenants who are in business with irregular income. They prefer tenants with safe “Gorement” jobs or jobs with MNCs.
And, finally, let us admit this frankly, most Hindu landlords will not accept a Muslim tenant, however good a person he may be.
I wish you luck in your search for a new place.
Regards
GV
That is so true! Most houses I have stayed in come with a list of such rules too. We comply to them most of times grudgingly! Yet we have such difficulty in finding places to stay.
Good news is there seem to be people opposing this move. The rent in our society is on the higher side hence most of the rented houses are taken up by bachelors who share the rent and hence can afford these. The owners who have let out obviously don’t want to lose their income. Plus all the domestic help we have hired don’t want us going either.
As of now, we are still waiting for the final verdict!