There is one rule of this house.. there are no rules!!

Working in the IT industry for all these years, I have always hung around with engineers. One of the things that engineers love to share is their experiences of living in a college hostel during their university years. There are always stories about being ragged by seniors, binge drinking, being caught while cheating in an exam and of course first girlfriends. It’s the happy life they lived before renouncing everything and submitting themselves to life in cubicles.

I have never really had a chance to live in hostel or live away from home while I was studying, infact I never got a chance to do it even when I started working. It’s only now at the age of 29, I have moved out of my home town for the first time and living in a new country. One of the most important parts of life away from home is made of people you live with. I have heard from friends how difficult life could be if you don’t get to live with the right kind of people. Fortunately, I got a chance to live with really cool people. Even though my experience doesn’t equate to life in a university hostel, but it’s still an awesome experience!

After living with an old South Indian couple for the first 4 months, I was desperately looking for a new place to live in. I didn’t care how far the place was from the city, or how far it was from office, or how was the neighbourhood. All I knew was I can’t live with a family again, and had to look for working professionals to live with. Luck favoured me and I got in touch with a friend's friend on facebook, who was to move back to India in a few weeks and was looking for someone to take his place in the house. The house was far from city, it would take more than an hour for me to travel to work and didn’t have much to do in the neighbourhood. However, the only thing that appealed to me is that he shared the house with 2 other Indian guys who were working professionals.

I decided to visit them on a weekend to see the place and also meet the guys. After struggling with the GPS to find the exact block I reached the door. I got the first sign of a bachelor’s house, the door bell didn’t work. There were flyers of laundry service, property agents, lock smiths, etc all over the outer grill that no one ever bothered to remove. I had already started to get a feeling that I have found my dream house! After multiple calls, the dude finally picked up the phone and opened the door. It was a Sunday afternoon and he still looked very hung-over and had just dragged himself out of the bed. The house was huge, with good interior and surprisingly clean. The kitchen had a few empty bottles of whiskey and the dustbin had a few empty cans of beer! That was the second sign that I was at the right place and should take the room. However, I was more interested in the people, than the house itself. He knocked on one of the rooms and I got to meet the first guy.

First sign of a Geek - He came out wearing a full sleeve shirt and shorts. I wasn’t surprised to know that he was in the IT industry. The story followed that they all studied together at the university, been in Singapore for many years and living together for past 3-4 years. House mate 1, looked like the guy who could spend hours in front of a computer and solve complex networking problems. He was introvert and didn’t bother to ask many questions. That’s definitely an easy guy to live with. In a while the other guy came home, and he walked in with a Chinese girl. Two things struck me – this guy has got a Chinese girlfriend and it’s cool to bring girls back HOME!!!!! I am sure at the right place!!!! House mate 2 looked a little more extrovert and inquired about my job and stuff. The first question he had to ask was – Do you smoke? Well, I am trying hard to quit, but I don’t mind my house mates smoke!!! I think in 10 minutes I had already decided to live with these guys, it was only upto them to accept me.

I got a call from them after a few days and they offered me the room. In a few weeks time I was ready to move in. One of the guys left for India and I took his room, so it was three of us sharing the house. When I moved in the house, I asked them if there were any rules of the house that I should follow.. I was told.. there is only one rule.. there are no rules!!!

It was a refreshing change after spending 4 torturous months with a family. I didn’t have to rush into my room after getting back at home and avoid annoying tamil soaps on TV. I didn’t have to worry about closing my room door a little hard. I didn’t have to bother about cleaning up the dishes immediately after dinner. I could come back at home and have my dinner in the hall room in front of the TV like it was my own house. Some time my housemates would join me to sit and watch TV together.

While I got to know them better, they also introduced me to their circle of friends. They have a big circle of friends from their university days. I met the group a couple of times for a few drinks on weekends and had an absolutely hilarious time listening to them recalling past events and revealing outright disgusting and embarrassing stories about each other. They kind of knew intrinsic details of each other’s binge drinking stories, visits to dodgy bars and the extreme stories involved loss of virginity!! The most hilarious was when they started bragging about who had the highest capacity to jerk off the most number of times in a single day!! I had never know men could be comfortable about talking such stuff.. These were guys who had lived together through their teenage years and now in their twenties, all of them earning a living, some of them married! They still share a strong friendship, but they also don’t let a chance slip to dig into each other’s embarrassing past...

It didn’t take me much time to learn the trends of the house. There were some typical bachelor’s house trends. A maid visited every 2 weeks to clean up the house and the day I had fist come to see the place was after the maid had just left. So I was deceived by the clean house. Sometimes there would be dishes in the sink for weeks, expecting it to be cleaned when the maid comes next. I have seen some shirts hanging in the drying area for 3 months straight, it’s been drying for so long that there could be cobwebs inside it.. I am not even sure if it’s their shirts or from a previous tenant. The dustbin would get full and overflowing, but no one would bother to empty it.. till I moved in :) I always eagerly wait for the maid’s visit.. However, there are some good trends too, which makes it easier to tolerate the not so good ones.. We live in complete faith and trust. The room doors are left open when we are not at home.. not that there are valuables to steal.. but the fact is that there is nothing to hide. At the same time I can be in my room the whole day with the door shut, and know for sure that I wouldn’t be bothered. One of the funny things is that when they have to say something to each other, they don’t knock on the door, but they text each other. I have got texts like “Dude, do you have some Maggie”. It’s also great fun to just sit on the couch and watch some movies on HBO and have beer together on weekends. It’s like the perfect blend of having a good time with house mates, but also getting enough privacy when needed..

Unfortunately, I know it’s just a temporary phase in life and will pass soon. One of the guy's got a promotion and got posted in the US for 3 years.. He moved out recently.. The other one has been in a steady relationship for a long time and has plans of marriage early next year.. It’s just a matter of time I would have to move again.. I am not sure where life’s gonna take me next. But my first experience of living with house mates has been a memorable one..