Your survival guide for living on your own!

by Manasi

Much like Konkana Sen Sharma in Wake Up Sid, I always wanted to move to Mumbai, live in a sea facing apartment in Bandra and work for a magazine. Minus the adopting a man-child part. But what I got was a shared room, a messy room-mate, and a flat in Airoli. And I worked for a shady marketing company that had some questionable clients :(

But what I learnt from this ‘expectations vs reality’ moment was that Apna Time Ayega. Or maybe not, but meanwhile I had to figure out some life hacks and bring out some survival instincts. Here are some things I figured my Mumbai dream was missing.

Moving out isn’t as glamorous as it sounds

When you have a pile of dishes to do, 10 pending assignments and (in my case) two cats to feed, partying seems like an alien concept. Even in your free time all you can think of is that dear friend - sleeeppp.

Be open to meeting all kinds of people

I had a roommate who almost never cleaned the room and took a bath once a week. Once a week in this heat?! Soon enough I knew arguing with her was not going to get me anywhere, so we divided the tasks and assigned rewards and penalties for every chore. So it was either doing the dishes on time or losing rights to shared Netflix for us. Meeting different people like this made me realise, I can’t (and shouldn’t) change every person. But at least I can amend my approach towards them.

Budgeting

If you trryyy to save money by the end of the month, then tum try hi karate reh jaoge. I realised saving money is impossible without budgeting and planning. Bring out your inner Amy Santiago and plan the heck out of that month! Taking out a chunk of your salary at the beginning of the month is the only way to go.

Skipping meals = Not cool

Even though hustle culture makes it sound cool, skipping meals is not going to make you successful. If anything it will only increase your medical bills. Planning your weekly meals will do wonders for you! Get that pretty looking meal planner. Plan your proteins & vitamins, keep your daily coffee count in check, and make sure you get that dose of Vitamin Stree *wink emoji*

All those hustle culture dude bros aren’t going to save you when you are running a high fever, your boss is angry about you taking leave, and you barely have money to pay for the medicines.

Embrace the City!

I wouldn’t have survived in Mumbai for 3 years if I didn’t explore the things I liked about this city. Whether it's people, cafés, or book shops — socialize in your own way. Your job benefits from you being ‘all work and no play’. But do you? Without friends that I care for and the love for the city, I would have given up way back.

Because you will have moments when you feel lonely, homesick, or just low for no apparent reason. In these moments you would want people who will binge Brooklyn Nine-Nine with a tub of ice-cream with you. And then suddenly it’s not all that tough.

With the right people and a positive environment you’ll find peace in the things you hated. You might find a slightly better room-mate, a better job, and much better friends that will make your Wake Up Sid dream seem achievable.

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