Best wishes for 2009

As we start this new year, if there's one word that comes to my mind, its "Hope".

Hope that the world would come out of the chaos into greens of harmony ...
Hope that we'll, once again, feel safe when we step out of our homes ...
Hope that the world would learn its lessons & realize the perils of short-term artificial Boom ...
Hope that people will embrace contentment and resist greed ...
Hope that these times will leave us wiser & tougher, wiser to know better & tougher to withstand what couldn't have been avoided anyways ...
Hope that we'll value good health & the love of friends & family ...
Hope that we'll be able to give back to the society, to those who aren't as fortunate as us ...
Hope that when we see injustice done, we'll have courage to stand up to it at the opportune moment ...
Hope that we'll be less gullible but still hopeful ...
Hope that we'll uphold our morals & will be able to look ourselves in the eyes ...
Hope we'll able to live by our own morals, and not by those thrust upon us ...
Hope we won't do to others what we don't want to be done to us ...
Hope we'll be able to give a benefit of doubt to others, like we give to ourselves ...
Hope we'll be able to forgive and move on, with lesser weight ...
Hope that we'll be able to handle the money or lack of it, & still be at peace ...
Hope we have the appetite when we sit down to eat ...
Hope for a peaceful sleep ...
... and Hope that we'll look forward to the day when we wake up each day!

I actually Hope for a perfect world, but if that's going to take too long in the making ...
... For the meantime, I hope for the Ability to handle the ups and down of an imperfect world!

Best wishes for 2009!

Cheers
Manik

Zindagi, phir bhi, khoobsurat hai ...

Sickness, says arvgrins, makes you nobler. It's the first time I've heard that, and don't know how true it is, but there sure seems to be some truth to it. He added that it makes you grateful for the little "big" things that you often take for granted. Have been going through patches of sickness last few days and I do agree that it brings along a wave of emotions, gratitude being one of them. If you look at the flip side of it, it also means that during the regular "non-sick" days, you take a lot of things & people for granted. We (the regular lot, not counting the enlightened within Our category) need a wave of lows to appreciate the highs that life has given us, which isn't a good scenario. So, before I emerge out of this wave of lows, I wanted to capture some thoughts that I can get revisit and correct my course next time I start taking life's gifts for granted. This post isn't about the lows, it's about some sensory flashbacks that give me a high, and some which take me lower.

Images: Ever think about something and have the images of some place run through your head? Let the thought pass. On another day, think of the thought again, and hey the same place coming into your head? I've realized that the subconscious ties together thought and visuals, sometimes with reason, sometimes without. And everytime you have these thoughts, you have an urge to visit these strange places from the past. These "strange" places include the kitchen of my school canteen, a chauraha (crossroad) somewhere, a railway crossing somewhere else, a few spots in my college, sleeper coach of trains, a temple on a mountain, a narrow alley somewhere else. Following the mental signals takes you back to these places after so many years, and when the urge has taken you there, it's without a purpose. But it does bring along a satisfaction, as though you're paying tribute to some moment of your past, a milestone revisited, mentally tick-off the urge.

Taste: Quite similar to the above, it's the taste of something you used to like in the past, the food getting tied to that period of your life. You have an urge sometime to go back & eat the stuff again. A few interesting examples: yellow cylindrical rice crispies (trying hard to get an image), Indian style chowmein, bread with yellow toppings at small bakeries (Masala toast), pineapple-cheese-cherry sticks on crushed ice, salted bread crumb preparation (used to call it Chunmun), Bread with Bhujia

Smell: This is clearly the most mesmerizing. I have these really good & bad moments associated with smells, all wired so perfectly in my head. Smell of a certain incense stick & wet ash brings back the worst moment in my life. A certain deodorant reminds me of a very cold and lonely period, my first visit to the US actually. The smell of certain perfumes brings back memories of college days, my first kiss, getting wet in the rain together, a mix of the perfumes we were wearing that evening. I've still retained 1-2 empty bottles of those perfumes from years ago, some fragrance still remains. I've hunted for and bought new bottles of some which still sell in the market. The fragrance still brings a mutual smile to our (my GF & mine) lips.

Music: Some of the most cheesy (they now sound cheesy) bollywood numbers, some western romantic & some rock numbers still take me back in time.

Audio visuals: There are some movie scenes that give me goosebumps or a tear trigger (you get the feeling that comes just before the first tear appears, but tears don't really appear, just moist eyes) each time, and every time you see it. I would imagine that for an artist, such a scene would seem like a masterpiece, it successfully has a viewer relate to it and empathize too. Mission accomplished! Some scenes from movies old and new, have this affect; most recently I experienced this for the movies The Namesake, Ijaazat and a recent release, Dasvidaniya.

Yesterday, my GF sent me some official papers by courier. Looking at her handwriting reminded me of the cards (Thanks Archies & Hallmark for creating those lovely cards) she used to give me. And it also made me realize how little we get to write these days, we exchange thousands of emails with people but don't know what their handwriting looks like. It was so different earlier, but it was taken for granted then, and now it's pure nostalgia.

To sum it up, an empty mind has a positive side too, and going off the road to recover does give your mind some time to smell the proverbial flowers, some of which were planted long ago, but still haven't withered. Life is beautiful!

Renting a house in Bangalore

I know this is going to be a marathon post, the experience was no less, believe me. My intent of writing this is to share my experience of renting an apartment in Bangalore, might come in handy for someone going through a similar search. The facts stated are true for Bangalore only, and not necessarily for other Indian cities.

Disclaimer: I'm not against landlords and agents, but my experience is from the POV of a tenant ;)

Some key points (as of today):

• Both individual houses (or floor/units in them) and apartments are available.
• Unlike many other cities, houses are available cheaper than apartments.
• A deposit equivalent to 10 months rental has to be paid to the landlord which is refunded post-deductions, when you vacate the premises.
• Deductions could include last month's rent (if not paid) and painting charges (tenants are often asked to bear annual painting charges)
• In case of apartments, society maintenance is payable by the tenant and includes water charges.
• In case of houses, there's no maintenance but water charges are shared by all units on the site.
• Electricity charges are borne by the tenant
• In most cases, one month notice is required from either party for vacating the house
• Rental agreement is signed for a period of 11 months
• Houses can be found via agents (property dealers) or directly.
• Agents charge a maximum of one month's rental (negotiable) as their brokerage

Some best practices & ground realities:

Finding a house:

• Find a broker, he shows you houses, but it costs you brokerage: this is a no brainer so I won't elaborate much on this
• Lookup owner postings on sites like 99acres.com, MagicBricks.com, IndiaProperty.com & CraigsList and contact them directly. Most of these websites have been cluttered up by agents/brokers posting as owners (I wish these sites would do something about this menace) but it's easy to filter out the noise by using this thumb rule: if you see the same name and contact info on multiple ads, its a broker. Also, owners generally post precise information on location of property, sometimes even the address, whereas broker ads are generally vague. From my own experience, I've also found that agents post ads for fictitious properties available for lower rents on these websites. When you call them up, they'll simply say that property is no longer available but they'll be happy to show you other properties in the area.
• In you're interested in a particular area, pick up a two-wheeler and venture out around the streets looking out for To-Let signs. Most have direct contact numbers of owners. This works mostly for areas having more houses though (not apartments; for apartments, read next bullet). It isn't as silly as it sounds and you do get quite a few leads. But this approach doesn't work for areas where demand is high.
• If you're interested in apartments around a particular area, visit those apartments and ask the apartment security desk if any apartments are available for rent there. The guards can pass you owners' contact information if any are available. Beware though, of guards who direct you to the builders' marketing office or an agent, both will charge brokerage.
• Subscribe to your company's informal distribution lists.
• Ask your friends in other IT companies to let you know if they hear about some property available for rent. Companies like Infosys and TCS have very active email lists where property rental emails are circulated. Due to the large strength of these companies and long-term travels, there are always people moving & houses being put up for rent.

Inspecting the house:
If you don't care much for Vastu compliance, this should be a pretty straightforward checklist, but a very important one. I'll be skipping the Vastu thing here since that's very comprehensive, I'm a novice and so won't be able to do justice to it in this post.

• Does the apartment get Cauvery (municipal supply) water? Try to get a house that does. Houses that don't get Cauvery water have to rely on secondary sources like tankers & so have higher maintenance charges.
• Does the house have a bore-well for secondary water supply? This is also very important as Cauvery water supply is time-bound and you would need either a large enough storage or a secondary source of water to get by.
• How big is the water storage? Is it dedicated for your unit or shared with other units? In apartments, shared is better as if the tank empties out, someone will get water pumped up. In houses, individual is better as you'll be pumping water yourself and when there's no water, you'll want to conserve.
• Generator backup? An important nice to have, though it would raise the maintenance charges. Let's just say that if you don't want to invest in an inverter, this is important.
• Individual electricity meter: Does the unit have have a dedicated electricity meter? This sounds obvious but it isn't. It's a given in an apartment though. However, in some houses, there is only one official meter for the site and multiple unofficial meters for each of the units. So, every month, all residents have to get together, calculate and split the bill. Such arrangements cause confusion and I would suggest you to avoid a house that has something like this.
• Sunlight: Does the house get adequate natural light & sunlight? Which direction does the balcony face in? Do the rooms get natural light?
• Parking: does the house have a reserved parking
• Balcony: not all houses and apartments in Bangalore have them but it's important if you want to sit out sometimes, or hang out clothes for drying.
• General condition of the house: fixtures, paint. Is the color of the walls and fllor pleasing to the eye? Confirm whether the flat will be painted before its rented out. Note any other thinsg that need repairs.
• Lighting: Note whether the house has enough lighting (florescent tubes, bulbs etc.)
• Mesh on windows: this is actually quite important to keep out mosquitoes and still have a flow of air, though it isn't a deal breaker
• Curtain rods: Yes, curtains are needed :)
• For apartments, security is a given. However, for houses, evaluate whether all direct or indirect openings into the house are secured by grills. Does the front door allow you to look outside (Magic eye or window overlooking entrance) before you open the door?
• Wardrobes and storage: Does the house have enough storage space built-in? Check the kitchen too.

Reviewing the locality/area
Ideally:

• Distance from your workspace
• Distance from nearest shop/market
• Not too crowded
• Not too noisy
• No slums in the vicinity
• Clean approach road
• Close to public transport and auto stand
• Not in the middle of nowhere
  

Pre-token:

• Deposit amount can be negotiated on. Most landlords (if asked) would agree for 6 months rent instead of 10, or a round figure.
• Some landlords state a combination of rent & deposit, rent can be increased if you want to pay lesser deposit and vice-versa. There's no set formula for this.
• Most people would ask up-front if tenants are a family or a group of bachelors. Some people want to let out their property only to families. Reasons stated mostly include a) more damage to property by bachelors & b) bachelors could cause disturbance to families living around
• You may be asked if you're a vegetarian or a non-vegetarian. Some people want to let out only to vegetarians.
• Most landlords would be willing to negotiate on rent. Around 10%.
• Some landlords "prefer" to let out to vegetarian families,but are open to group of bachelors & non-vegetarians. If they get their preferred tenant, the appetite for negotiation may become 15-20% too.
• Finalize the rent and deposit before giving a token.
• Visit the house with owner & list any repairs that you would like to be done before you move in. Check all elctrical switches, fans, lights & geysers.
• If you went through a broker, this is the time to negotiate on brokerage with him.

Token:

• If you like the house and would like the owner to hold it for you, give the owner some token advance. It's important to give this to the owner and not the broker. Ideally, it's a token amount so doesn't have to be a big amount, but it's good give between INR 3000-5000 so that the owner is sure of your interest and can stop showing the property to other potential tenants. If you change your mind, the token amount may not be returned so give a token when you're really interested and honour your word.
• Pass on your details to the owner (or agent) for the rental agreement.
• Insist that you read the agreement draft before it's typed on stamp paper.

Paperwork:

• The first page of the rental agreement should be typed n a stamp paper. The rest of the pages can be on plain A4 Bond paper. Stamp papers are available from banks and intermediaries on payment of stamp duty. For rental agreement, make sure that the duty paid is INR 100 or more. Agreements made out on stamp papers less than INR 100 are not valid as address proof. This is important as you could need to use the rental agreement as residence proof while taking a mobile connection etc.
• Rental agreement should mention all clauses clearly. Read the draft and ask for changes if you don't agree with a clause. You may be told that its a standard format and just a formality. Remember that its a legal document and you should agree with what you're signing up for.
• The deductions from deposit should also be mentioned, preferably in absolute figures. example: painting charges
• Pay the deposit by one or more cheques, and mention the cheque numbers and amounts on the rental agreement. Don't pay in cash.
• It's advisable (though not necessary) that rent should also be paid by cheque or bank transfer.
• There is an original copy of the rental agreement which stays with the tenant and a copy of the agreement that stays with the landlord. It's standard practice to sign both original and copy in ink. Some landlords would insist that they should retain the original, and give you the copy. This is debatable and I'm not sure on what the law says.
• The rental agreement is signed in presence of two witnesses and you hand over the deposit cheques to the owner.
• If you went through a broker, this is the time to pay him too.
  

Taking possession:

• Take possession no later than the date mentioned in the rental agreement. This is the date from which you'll need to pay rent (pro-rated)
• Note the electricity and water meter readings in presence of the owner. You'll be paying for units consumed thereafter. Any unpaid usages will have to be cleared by the owner. (or cleared by you and adjusted in rent payout to owner)
• Ensure all repairs requestsed have been completed.
• Put your own lock on the house. Since the house was available to-let, its possible that one or more keys of original/owner's might still be there will some agents in the area to show to prospective tenants, this is just to prevent people entering.
  

Living:

• Pay rent by the due date mentioned in the agreement.
• Pay electricity bill by due-date.
• Pay maintenance/water charges to residents association by due date.
  

And then .... some day ...

Leaving a house:

• Give verbal notice to the owner a month before vacating, mention the date of which you'll be vacating the house
• During the notice period, the owner would want to show the place to other prospective tenants. The owner could choose to let out directly or through an agent. You may be asked to provide a duplicate key for this; its OK to provide this to the owner. However, giving a duplicate key to agent could mean that he could enter your house at any time using that key. Try not to provide the key. Be supportive though, by showing the place when you're present in the house. You could also pass the word around on the distribution list in your office, so that if someone else is interested in renting out the place, they can contact the owner directly.
• A couple of days before you vacate, the owner might want to inspect the house to make sure any breakage/damages can be accounted for. Confirm the deposit amount that you'll be expecting back so that both parties are in-sync
• On the day you're vacating the house, collect the deposit amount after deductions from the owner. On receipt of the amount, hand over the keys and the original rental agreement. You might have to attest the agreement saying you've received the refund of the deposit amount.
• A lot of times, owners insist that they'll return the amount after the next tenant moves in and pays the deposit. Sadly, this is a situation that people encounter a lot of times. Hand over the key and agreement only once you've gotten your advance back. This may result in a deadlock, but the owner would need to refund your money and resolve the deadlock. It's the owner's responsibility to refund your deposit money in time, and there's no reason why you should wait till the next tenant moves in. Depending on the situation, and how soon the owner decides to resolve the deadlock, you'll get your money back. The key is persistence.
  

Terminology:

• BHK: Short for Bedroom, Hall & Kitchen. A 2BHK would mean: 2 bredrooms, a hall & kitchen.
• Individual house: a house or a floor/unit in it
• Cots: Doesn't mean charpoy, it means the usual wooden beds
• Semi-furnished: could simply mean that the house has wardrobes and storage space. If additional furnishings and items are present, they'll be specifically mentioned
• Open parking: designated parking space at the ground level, with no shade on top
• Covered parking: designated parking space either on ground level or in basement. If on ground, it would have shade on top.

I have an itch ... and a confession

I'm back & for a change, I'm going to talk about the changes I've been going through while I was away. Life, in the last few months has been full of this crazy lil' thing called change. A change of job (I joined Yahoo!), moving to a new city (Bangalore is lovely, a little too rainy but still lovely), setting up home (I think I might do a dedicated post for that)... it's been hectic but enjoyable too in a different way.

Not too long ago, I was settled and comfortable, but had an itch of trying something new. To let you know this "itch" isn't new to me, I have this quite often. Most of the time, it concerns something minor: setting of a room, an Operating system, a new genre of music, a new brainwave, some new gadget/application, a new fancy (can't call it a hobby as it rarely lasts a long time). And sometimes, it's a little more than minor: move houses, try out a different role at work, kick a habit. And every couple of years, there's this "super itch", that's the kind I've just gone through. It shakes up your world, your routine and also your finances...and it almost seems stupid, at least to observers. But no matter what the size of itch is, one thing it guarantees you is first-hand experience. I know many people who won't attend to an itch so strong but Me, I'm not like that. The excitement of the unknown excites me. And so does the opportunity to start afresh. My itch provides me ample projects: big & small and I accept them with glee. Sometimes, I feel that I live from project to project.

And then there are days like these, when I look back and realize the unsettling feeling I give people while I attend to my itch. Be it my close ones: family & friends, who've always been shocked at the decisions I've taken, but still understood & supported me. All my past managers, who've been shocked at my crazy ideas and the umpteen times I've wanted to try out something else. Not all my coworkers have been so shocked though. Maybe they were itchy like me too, you scratch my back & I'll scratch yours :) (If you're my ex-coworker and you don't like what you're reading, don't feel bad, I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about "them", you know;), of course you're not itchy). And not to forget, my wife, who's always been a friend first. I feel gratitude for everyone who's tolerated me, and still been supportive. Thank you very much.

And now for the confession:
a) I have an itch (covered above).
b) I don't have a roadmap, but I'm loving the journey
c) That's it, what else were you expecting, the above is enough confession if you think about it :)

P.S: When you haven't updated your blog for long 'cos life has kept you busy, and you want to break that gap and post again, lame posts like these just "happen".

The story of Naukri.com

Came across this interview of Sanjeev Bikhchandani, the founder of Naukri.com. Very inspiring read, to say the least! Check it out Here.