Tenants
After marriage, I got to live in apartments in buildings. We lived in rented accommodation. The building has flat owners and some people lease out their apartments. After hostel life, this apartment life is a new ball game entirely. And if you are on rent, God save you. These are smaller buildings where people know each other or have lived around for years. The Watchmen on duty know everyone who come into the building. They know the maids and the drivers too. In fact, if you need a maid, you have to inform the watchman. He chooses which maid, he thinks is suitable for your house and sends her to talk to you. We were not choosy. We hired the first maid, the watchman sent. Soon , there is a flutter in the building that some new tenants have come to live in 'so and so's flat. You learn to start with your hesitant smiles and in some cases are totally ignored. In hostel life, at any given point, you are not alone. Someone or the other is there at the dining room, washroom area or in