Launch of Flatsandmates.com

So it has finally launched! 

www.flatsandmates.com

Launching a venture is even more gruelling than having a baby! Believe me I have had the pleasure of experiencing both. There are too many external factors that we have to depend on to translate your vision into reality. But the fruit of waiting is always sweet though you may have some bitter moments in the interim. 

JOURNEY

 

Flatsandmates.com is a journey that began in 2012. A colleague was shifting to Delhi and she was worried about her accommodation. Well, there are many cliches that we Bombayites have heard about Delhi so it is natural to be concerned. So there she was trying to use the power of her offline network but it wasn't working. Then one fine day, as we were talking, she announced that she found the perfect flat with a nearly perfect flatmate and that too without brokerage! We were happy for her but I thought that here is one lucky girl who has some guardian angel in Delhi. Not everyone can get this lucky. But, in fact, she told me that it wasn't her offline network but rather social media network that helped her get this deal. 

Now I was really curious. Does this really work? Linking it to my situation, my family has some properties and when we want to rent them out, it is a big ordeal to find good tenants. Moreover, we have to pay hefty brokerage. Thus I decided to try this out and created the Flats and Flatmates (Mumbai) group. I added my family and friends and it started out as a small group of some 100 members. But within just a month the group went from 100 to 1000! That is when I was sure it works. Here was a novel concept of getting people together. It was based on trust, mutual interest of economising, genuine need and quick solution. 

After two and a half years, it was a natural progression to create my own website. The gestation period was far from enjoyable but to see my baby taking shape little by little was enough to keep me going. The building up process lasted more than a year but I am so happy to have finally delivered a healthy bouncing second baby! 

HOW IT WORKS

If you have a place to rent or if you are looking for a place on rent, just place a free advert on the website and easily share via Facebook or WhatsApp. You can get in direct touch with your respondents. The website has additional features like Move Out Sale, Buddy Chat, a personalised Dashboard where you can send and receive Enquiries. Unlike the Facebook community that is strictly for those looking for broker-free options, the website welcomes Real Estate Agents. Yes, all said and done, estate agents are useful during times of urgency. 

So keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best!

 

 

Do we really need all that furniture?

Clutter-free living

Life comes with excess baggage.. Literally! :). A few days ago my friend Zina was trying to clean out her house. Her parents were coming for a visit and she wanted to create some space to accommodate them comfortably.. She asked for help and I obliged.. (Yes, obliged is the word!.. well agreeing to help out in house-cleaning is a big act of selflessness! :)). In the beginning of the task we decided that whatever she feels she needs to chuck out would go in one corner and then at the end of the mega-cleaning and rearranging session she would take a final call. So we attacked the house with a vengeance.. and gradually the dedicated corner was bursting to the capacity full of knick-knacks gathered over a period of 5 years that she was staying in Mumbai. Quite happy to have finally made that pile, she looked around the house and was surprised to see that her place actually had a good amount of space! We both felt that the rooms got literally lighter, airier and well.. roomier :)..She was so delighted with the outcome of our task that she decided to treat me with a yummy cheesy pizza. As we were waiting for the order and chatting up, her eyes kept returning to the pile... Then in the middle of the conversation, she got up and picked out a rickety chair and exclaimed that she couldn't actually part with it as it was special to her - the first act of kindness that a neighbour had done by donating this chair to her at the beginning of her life in Mumbai! Behind the chair was a simple 4-legged multipurpose table which was immediately pulled out. She said she couldn't even think of parting with it as it was her grandmother's and she had especially got it delivered from her native town. Well it was put back in its rightful place... under a humungous pile of books that Zina had purchased, borrowed, received over time. Next came the little teapoy that she used to keep by her sofa covered in...dust! Gradually most of the things that she had earlier thought she can do without became absolute essentials for her afterwards. I got so mad at her for cheating me that I left without her freakin' pizza!

As I was driving back to my place consumed by murderous thoughts for Zina after all the hardwork we put in moving all that stuff and rearranging the furniture, it struck me..Isn't it exactly the same with emotional excess baggage too? We just can't let go... especially of stuff that has hurt us. We can recall every negative emotion that we have felt and refelt quite vividly. We clutter our mind and our hearts with the all-consuming "I should have done like this.. I should have done that.. I will now take my revenge like this..I will destroy him/ her like that.. Nobody loves me", etc...so much of negative thoughts, feelings and emotions! But we do not realise that all this wasted space can be used to make life easy, simple, hassle-free and above all HAPPY! I forgave my friend and went back to eat my pizza! See happy ending