Splitting the Rent and Associated Analysis

Climbing down the stairs of a building, which houses a popular coaching institute, this 'ad' caught my eye. The message - plain, simple and to the point. Hope Gaurav finds his IIM aspirant roomie.

When it comes to the other human being sharing the room/apartment/barsati and also the rent, we usually look for someone with similar traits. Someone who can share the work, take up responsibilities and more importantly, someone who can cook. Not necessarily implying that we ourselves are bestowed with these qualities. If both (or all) prefer equal cleanliness or unorderliness; soothing silence or resounding rap - peace persists. Everyone is equally happy or unhappy with the present state of things.

Opposites attract, but also clash. Many can be the best of friends, but cannot stay under the same roof together. That requires a different level of affinity. Ever since I left that place with cooked meals and washed laundry - also referred to as home - I've changed my residential address eight times and had as many as nine different roommates. But the common factor there is a fellow blogger, and roomie for the last four and a half years. We hardly talk with each other, just a word or two about what's happening where. But he's been a great person to stay with (am not sure of the other way round).

Here comes the question of why Gaurav is seeking a roommate preparing for CAT 2006? Obviously, he too is preparing for the same and two minds are better than one. But then too much similarity might breed contempt. A friend said that it is never advisable to stay with someone who works in the same office as you. She reasoned that it inevitably leads to the official tensions, competitiveness and the assorted pollutants doing overtime.

If my roomie happens to get married, which will lead him to seek a separate abode, because no self-respecting woman would like to call our bachelor pad home. I'll not move out because shifting is a tiring thing and I'm already fatigued. All that I would need to do is to cellotape an ad on the wall of the liquor vend.