And thankfully, as an outstation person who works at a metropolitan city away from my family, I left for home the minute I knew that this crisis will get much worse. This was mid-March. 

Now cut to the beginning of July. I am still here with my parents, safe and sound, working from home every day. But there’s one thing that has been making my heartache for the past 3 months.     

Why the hell do I have to pay full rent for an empty house? 

I mean, let’s be honest. If you’re a person residing alone in a city like Mumbai or Delhi, going back there at this point of the crisis would be the absolute worst mistake of your life. (Unless, obviously it’s a matter of your life)

You’ll have to quarantine, make your food, buy your grocery while working from home ALL ALONE. So, if you are at all sensible, there’s no way you’d want to live that life if you have the option. 

But, while we did run away to our parents the minute our offices announced WFH, we did not think that this pandemic will get THIS severe. 

And all our favourite belongings are stuck in that dusty, dingy house which hasn’t seen the light of the day since freaking 3 months. 

Honestly, sometimes I do feel like telling a friend to grab all my stuff and go completely AWOL without telling my landlord. But fir aane ke baad jaungi kahan? 

For crying out loud, I’ve been receiving electricity bills for the past 3 months when I’ve not even been there. WTF?  

In fact, I am paying all that rent along with my electricity bill just so that my clothes can be shoved inside my cupboard which now might be every spider’s favourite party location. 

I don’t even know if my belongings are fine or the rats are having a lavish feast at my expense. 

By now, those baby lizards would’ve grown old and would be telling their grandkids about those childhood adventures when I used to try shooing them off with my jhaadu. For those chipkalis, I’d be more like a dinosaur, someone who you only know through stories. 

I mean how is it fair to ask money for electricity, leave alone the entire rent for a place that has been empty for months? Shouldn’t there be some kind of laws or regulations for situations like that during a freaking worldwide pandemic? 

One would say that you have to pay for everything if your belongings are still there. Fine, we get it! But hey, one can’t deny that transferring money for something that has no purpose in your life currently hurts like hell. 

So landlord, if you see this, please at least lower our rents. You can’t go for that US trip this year as it is, man.