Why Living Alone is a Must for Everyone at least Once in their Lives

Yes, the heading of this post is kinda long. And not very intelligent. I toyed with the idea of putting up a witty heading, a random heading, a completely vague heading, or a heading which throws you off track. But here it is. Exactly what I’m going to write about. Just the way it is in my head.

Why living alone is a must for everyone at least once in their lives:

• You understand the concept of rent. Unless of course you’re one of those lucky spoilt brats, who happen to have a house in every city, or happen to have a rich uncle who happens to have a house in every city in the damned country. Or if you’re a gujju. Then the above is by default.
• You realize for the first time in your life just how bloody expensive cheese is.
• You fall for the Big Bazaar discount trap at least once. And you only realize it at the end of two hours, an overflowing shopping cart, and a slightly bugged cashier who just had to repeat your bill amount to you twice after seeing a big “Huh?!?” splashed in bright red colours across your face.
• Plumbers, electricians and maids suddenly become a very very important part of your life.
• You understand the entire point of a frost free fridge. Sadly you understand it only once it malfunctions. And floods your kitchen. And all the Big Bazaar food shopping of that week.
• Sodexho coupons become your secret love affair.
• The iron wala becomes this elusive fairytale character you always endeavour to catch, and mostly fail to lay your hands on.
• The house parties you were in love with in your student days, now come with an additional after party: the next day. This day is spent cleaning up spilt food, broken glass, random passed out people...
• Remember how your mom always asked you to clean your room? And you groaned and thought in your head “What’s the point? It’s going to be like this again soon! Plus, I know exactly where everything is”. Well, as it turns out, there is no threshold limit of dirtiness in your room. You can go on piling clothes on every horizontal surface humanly possible, until the cupboard is emptier than the room. But be warned, there will be a day, when you’re running late for office, with one of the most important meetings in your life early in the morning, and you will not, I repeat, will not be able to find any clean underwear.
• You finally understand why your mom encouraged you to buy clothes during sale season, and shut up the rest of the year.
• You finally understand why your dad got furious about leaving the lights and fans on in the house when they weren’t required.
• You suddenly discover the joy of Mc Donalds happy price menu.
• You eventually grow sick of Chicken McGrill.
• You cook.
• You get overjoyed by the edible mess on your plate. You wonder why people crib about cooking. This is the first time you tried, and you managed to make some pretty yummy mess.
• You cook again the next day.
• Then you skip a day, because well, its ok, every alternate day of cooking is still healthy.
• Ok, so every weekend you’ll make something good.
• Or once a month.
• And then you realize how hot it is in the kitchen.
• Hello maid!
• The oil suddenly starts getting consumed at a super fast speed, vegetables do tend to disappear, along with some chocolates from the fridge, and the food isn’t like home, but there’s food every day. You're happy.
• But then, you see the maid cutting your vegetables on the floor, because apparently it’s easier than using the chopping board, and the clean kitchen counter.
• Bye bye maid!
• You realize the paucity of good maids in your city.
• You realize what happens to bathrooms if not cleaned very regularly. Let’s not get into the details of this one.
• You know how there’s always a blob of icky hair on the drainage cover in the shower? You know how you always saw it at home, but did nothing about it? You know how if you did nothing long enough, it used to magically disappear? Well, guess what. It doesn’t any more.
• You find yourself organizing things in your head, figuring out timelines of the electrician, maid, plumber and Big Bazaar, draining out the fridge, restocking it with limited cheese, and cleaning your room, well, once in a while at least.
• You find yourself proudly showing off your home to your Dad.
• You find your Mom mentioning how she now knows you can survive on your own now.
• You grow up.
• Or...you find a flat mate who has gone through the above mentioned process and grown up.