Just Outside Auroville: Third Stay And Final "Guest House" -- At The Home Of The Crazy Rahul!

 

The photo below is not of  the real Rahul, but could well have been.  Young thirty-something bearded man, very much part of the "modern" India, but paradoxically living out in the countryside near Auroville, in a very traditional and conservative village.

I rented a room from him because there was absolutely NOTHING left in Auroville that I could afford. Rahul was actually giving up HIS own room--relocating himself to the living room of the new, fairly modern house--in order for me to have a place to live for my last week in the area. He charged me 5,000 rupees for the 6 nights I would be there, and I had full use of the kitchen. The house--rented by Rahul from the owner--was only a 10 minute bike ride outside of Auroville, in the peaceful countryside. When I visited to see it, it seemed ideal, and I jumped on it. Little did I know what was in store... 

When I rent a place anywhere, I make the assumption--clearly erroneously!--that certain basics will be provided, such as towels and linens, TP (because I am a westerner), and of course a KEY to the house and room. HAH! The joke was on me!!! Rahul did NOT have a top sheet, blanket, towel, TP OR even a key for me, all of which I found out, to my dismay, once I had actually moved in. I demanded that he provide all of these items, of course... He said he would order them from Amazon. But of course this would take days, and I needed these essential items immediately!!! 

I humbled myself, rode back to Harsha house, and asked the very gracious hostess there--Sarasu--if she could loan me these items. I bought TP from her, and borrowed a blanket and towel. (Strangely, many guest houses do NOT provide a top sheet, so I had to do without.) 

As for the key...well, that was a major fiasco, but Rahul procured it from Mohan, the landlord, on the second day. 

I then discovered the kitchen was missing a great many essential items: No frying pan, no forks, no tea strainer, and on and on. He DID go out and get some of the items; the rest, I simply had to make do without.

There were no rugs for the floor... only large pieces of cardboard for wiping one's feet, including when stepping out of the wet bathroom. When I told him this was unacceptable, he laid down one of his shirts for me to use! Ditto, for a kitchen "towel"!!!

I had to remove many of his personal items from "my" bedroom, all of which he stored, helter skelter, in "his" room, the living room... which was in the main, open area of the flat, and which I had to pass through when coming in or out...MOST awkward! He slept on the couch, so all of my activities had to be conducted in the bedroom, kitchen and bathroom, which was shared with him, of course. (He left the toilet seat up CONSTANTLY and I was forever putting it down!) 

The place was appallingly filthy when I moved in. I spent a good couple of hours thoroughly cleaning the kitchen and bathroom. 

He liked living in a "cave" and kept the windows and curtains both closed, even though the air was lovely outside...he prefered to keep the fan going constantly. It was dark--and cold--in that awful living room! He LIVED on that couch! He was always--and here, I do NOT exaggerate-- either on his phone or computer. He went out a handful of times, and made his food...otherwise, he basically never left the couch. 

Oh, and did I forget to mention, he was almost always lounging in his UNDERWEAR?!?! I kid you not. SO inappropriate and weird, especially with a woman guest in the house! Maybe he thought I was just like his mother or something, so it was OK!?!? God only knows... 

And finally, NO Wifi, which I knew before moving in...but he promised to help me add a package to my Jio phone service so I would have ample gigs to just use the hotspot when I needed to teach my lessons or otherwise be on my computer. HOWEVER! Jio did NOT work well at all at that location in the country--at best, I got one or two bars of data on my phone. What resulted is that, for the entire week, I had to constantly be borrowing HIS phone in order to use his hotspot. HE had Airtel, which DID work well... but WHAT a pain! Especially having to rouse him when he was sleeping, because--unbelievably--he slept with his phone! Or.. make sure that the few times he went out was NOT when I needed the hotspot, or if he DID need to go out then, to leave the phone behind. It was a logistical nightmare!

Worse, the communication between us was terrible. I could barely understand his English; he could barely understand me. Then, there were the cultural misses, on top of the language problem. In short, it was a total disaster living with this man! All to save a handful of rupees....well, lesson learned! Never again will I make this mistake... and now, in addition to the plethora of questions I ALREADY ask of hosts at guest houses, there will be about a dozen more!!!

Needless to say, after a full week of this business, I was ECSTATIC to board the train for Bangalore on the 21st of January, and leave it all behind!