Delhi Housing Blues

I'm sure every foreign researcher has to deal with the fact that finding housing abroad is a real royal pain in the ass. Delhi is going through an annoying transition in which liveable -- as opposed to back-packable -- guesthouses are becoming far too expensive for long-term accomodation, and yet there isn't enough of a short-term housing market, and most of that caters for or wants to cater for rich expat business types who expect and pay western prices.

So where does that leave John or Jane Researcher? Well, there's the ever-popular 'paying guest accomodation' in which you rent out a room in a house in typically the quieter residential neighbourhoods. It's a little better than study-abroad home-stays in that there isn't this illusion that somehow living with patrician Delhi-ites teaches you more about India, but there is a family feel to the arrangement, and I, being a thoroughly Westernised individualist normally living alone in a studio apartment I sorely miss in the Bay Area, want to come and go as I please.

So I plunge myself into the rental market, hardly any of which is online, with two newly found friends -- both journalists in two of the more incisive weeklies here: Outlook and Tehelka. The problem here is that they're both busy and have places of their own for now, so it's been slow and I'm having to balance the novelty and companionship of roommates with the fact that I'm only in this city for four months and I need to set myself up quickly so I can start work. It's a market that doesn't tolerate a great deal of choice.

So, I promise myself not to post again on housing until I actually find a place, and I'm going to try and stick with that. But since it's a blues piece:

- Spent two hours at the Foreigner's Registration, in a stifling room with a regular United Nations of People Who Don't Want to Be There. The Indian government requires registration for anyone staying over 180 days, and it's not what you might call efficient. I got out of t particularly quickly due to the immense help of Mr. Arora of the AIIS, who knows the system, but still, a headache.

- My phone's getting disconnected! Because I haven't provided them with sufficient verification of my address! Should've just gotten a pre-paid SIM, but now I'm committed to the number and will try and sort it out over the next couple of days.

Tomorrow's a new day, right?