I was searching for a new place to live in and after visiting several apartments, finalised the one that I liked the most. A girl named Sayali was already living there. She looked decent and well-educated. She demanded a security deposit and three months of rent in advance. I agreed because the apartment was beautiful and the view was to die for.
The day I was moving in, I realised that her previous roommate Rohini hadn’t moved out yet. When asked, Sayali told me that Rohini would be with us just for a few days. I agreed to let her stay for two days. Sayali told me since her boyfriend was visiting, I would have to share my room with Rohini. I was mighty upset but said nothing at that moment.
Two days went by and Rohini was still there. When asked, she cried to me about how she didn’t have money to move to a new place or pay rent. I felt sad for her and told her she could stay for a while (stupid me!).
After that, Rohini made herself way too comfortable in my room. She started using my laptop and iPad. She was messy, so all her stuff would just lie on my bed. She would sleep through the day and stay up late in the night watching Netflix on my laptop. I got thoroughly disturbed.
She was weird, she would cleanse her hands with Mr Muscle tile cleaner. And when asked about it, she said it cleaned the dirt on her body better!
Things got even weirder later. Rohini emptied my drawer and kept her things in it. When I inquired, she replied, “You have the whole wardrobe to yourself. Can’t you share one drawer?”
This went on for another three months. Gradually, her things were all over my room.
One night, she called all her college friends over for dinner and sleepover without asking me. I was not comfortable with it but Sayali tried to convince that it would be fun, so I agreed. Her friends came, ate and drank all night. They were very loud and not at all sensitive to the fact that I worked on weekends as well and needed to sleep early. Soon this became a routine every weekend.
I kept asking Rohini when she would move out and she kept saying, “Aaj nahi, kal pakka.” (Not today, but tomorrow for sure) That ‘kal’ never came. I was fed up. Because I was paying the rent for the whole room and not even getting to use it properly. I told Sayali that I was not comfortable with Rohini being in my room all the time. Sayali went and told her that. Rohini started crying in front of us about her financial conditions again. So I gave up.
One day, while I was sitting in the drawing room, I heard Sayali and Rohini laughing. Since it was late in the night and the walls were thin, one could hear everything clearly. Rohini was mimicking me and laughing about how pathetic I was, and what an emotional fool I was to fall for her tears every time. Furious, I entered the room and confronted both of them. To my horror, I found out that they had plotted it — Rohini was never going to leave the apartment but since she had no job, they sublet the room. They were best of friends and were fooling me all this while. I felt horrible and cheated. I demanded my deposit back and left the place without thinking twice.
I still haven’t gotten my deposit back! Sadly, after this episode, I decided that I won’t trust people with sharing apartments. I now live in a 1BHK house with my cats.
— As told to Khushi Qazi