Residents of Kolkata , Please help

I am not sure about the op but given the divergent views it surely is confusing about where to live. I guess best options will be to a. talk to your colleagues b.see for yourself once you are there in Kolkatta.[DOUBLEPOST=1378294243][/DOUBLEPOST]
babhishek said:
is that a bangalore version of a *penthouse* ?
if its a good place, would want to check it out personally... let me know!
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Bangalore penthouses are normally smallish room(sometimes the K/B -- bathroom is super small) on the roof. Get burned during summer and wet all around during the rain.
 
been living in kestopur for the past 20 years, hardly had any water/electricity problem in the last 5 years,heck, half of sector v employees live in kestopur itself.agree its not awesome,but its not that bad either.should be cheaper than the other places suggested
 
eggman said:
How much should it be.

I live in one of the most posh area in Bangalore right now (Indiranagar) , and I pay 6.5 k for a 400 sq feet 1 BHK (inc everything) .
I was under the impression that Kolkata is cheaper.
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DLF IT Park.

Bhawanipore, Chandni and all those places are far from your work place and won't suit you. Extremely crowded and what people from outside Calcutta would run away from.

Your best bet -
Newtown/Rajarhat flats - 12K onwards I believe you won't get single room apartments of course. Fully furnished apts are available but not less than 10K.
Uniworld City - 2/3BHK Post on TCS/WIPRO/CTS portals for roommates 14K minimum. Hope you have a vehicle of your own.
Salt Lake - Lotsa people are staying in 5K/6K decent 1 BH no kitchen though. Near WIPRO office. If you get people to share it would be better to get a 2BHK. 6-7K/person.
but most houses are a bit of a rip-off as connectivity is excellent.
Kestopur would be a strict NO from my side.

Internet connections are not a problem.
Start off with these places and then you can fan out to other locations. For leisurely activities you'll need to travel South.

and BTW Indiranagar is not posh :)
Penthouses there have damaged roofs and what not.
 
quixand said:
DLF IT Park.

Bhawanipore, Chandni and all those places are far from your work place and won't suit you. Extremely crowded and what people from outside Calcutta would run away from.

Your best bet -
Newtown/Rajarhat flats - 12K onwards I believe you won't get single room apartments of course. Fully furnished apts are available but not less than 10K.
Uniworld City - 2/3BHK Post on TCS/WIPRO/CTS portals for roommates 14K minimum. Hope you have a vehicle of your own.
Salt Lake - Lotsa people are staying in 5K/6K decent 1 BH no kitchen though. Near WIPRO office. If you get people to share it would be better to get a 2BHK. 6-7K/person.
but most houses are a bit of a rip-off as connectivity is excellent.
Kestopur would be a strict NO from my side.

Internet connections are not a problem.
Start off with these places and then you can fan out to other locations. For leisurely activities you'll need to travel South.

and BTW Indiranagar is not posh :)
Penthouses there have damaged roofs and what not.
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I am getting a nice 1BHK apartment in Newtown. Pretty big park and all. 9k but :(
Will go and check.
4 Questions:
1) Are there gyms available nearby. And what rates to be expected?
2) What about cooks?
3) Will a bachelor have a problem getting a place. Many housing societies do not allow that.
4) Are societies strict about some stupid rules there? For example you can't have friends after 10, or you can't bring your female friend to your house kinda stuff.
I've been living in an independent house so no such issues .
 
1. Gyms are available in Salt lake. There might be so called gyms in the societies but those will mostly have a treadmill and a all in one setup. You have talwalkars and gold gym in Salt lake. The monthly rates are steep @4k but yearly should cost you around 16k. You have cheaper ones as well for about 500 per month. If you have a bike travelling to salt lake from new town is not going to be a big deal.
2. Cooks are easily available. Again varies from 2.5 till 4k per month. You should get used to Bengali style preparation though ;)
3 & 4. Getting a place for a bachelor is always tricky, specially when you are staying alone. Even in independent houses you have to deal with pesky neighbors. Bringing female friends over, specially in the evening and alone, will be difficult.
 
eggman said:
3) Will a bachelor have a problem getting a place. Many housing societies do not allow that.
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I know just the opposite. Though I can't say about North Kolkata much, but at South Kolkata, people generally tries to find bachelors as they do not have issues with water and electricity and doesn't stays at home all the day.
4) Are societies strict about some stupid rules there? For example you can't have friends after 10, or you can't bring your female friend to your house kinda stuff.
I've been living in an independent house so no such issues .
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Check with your locality. But generally as already said above, don't even think of bringing girls at home after evening in Kolkata.

I have seen many bachelor groups have lost their house due to that :p Even if you own a flat, you can't do that, local club can throw you out and police won't be able to do a single thing if club interferes in any case.[/QUOTE][/quote]
 
eggman said:
I am getting a nice 1BHK apartment in Newtown. Pretty big park and all. 9k but :(
Will go and check.
4 Questions:
1) Are there gyms available nearby. And what rates to be expected?
2) What about cooks?
3) Will a bachelor have a problem getting a place. Many housing societies do not allow that.
4) Are societies strict about some stupid rules there? For example you can't have friends after 10, or you can't bring your female friend to your house kinda stuff.
I've been living in an independent house so no such issues .
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Most HIG Flats in Newtown have Gyms, Swimming Pools, few departmental stores etc. charges included in yearly maintenance I guess.

As long as you don't do a Project X societies don't interfere with your life. But yeah Bongs are extremely stuck up.[DOUBLEPOST=1378524916][/DOUBLEPOST]If you are desperately looking for cheaper areas there's Nayapatti and Mohisbathan (near Technopolis) but I won't recommend them.[DOUBLEPOST=1378525107][/DOUBLEPOST]Gyms are not that pricey. Talwalkars is expensive everywhere.

Your office gym would be pretty decent if you are from IBM, CTS, TCS. Nominal charges.

Private ones, decent ones start from 1K/month. And deals on 3 months.

Cooks - I give 1.5K stay near Talwalkars. Ask for somebody who cooks for a Marwari family. They will be much better. And there's no business of 1k per head the way it is in Bangalore. Rate dependent on the number of times you want meals.
 
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eggman said:
WTF? So backward?
Bangalore is so much better :p :(
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Yeah you see, as already been said, bongs generally have an intention to interfering in others lives.

This came of due to locality culture, which now changed to flat and promoting culture, but peoples didn't change. I have heard that in many cities (specially mumbai) people doesn't even know the family next to their flat (IDK how much that is true). But here in Kolkata, these things were maintained from the beginning.

So here peoples have that mentality, and depending on your locality you may have no problem while bringing girls home after evening or even a night stay.

But you have to be too lucky to find that type of locality. :p Otherwise be sure to be thrown out after a warning :p (NOTE : This whole thing depends on peoples on your locality). If they don't have that interfaring nature then enjoy otherwise be cautious :p Because whenever you bring a girl, be sure someone saw you ofcourse and that thing is going to be discussed for sure :D
 
krishnandu said:
I have heard that in many cities (specially mumbai) people doesn't even know the family next to their flat (IDK how much that is true). But here in Kolkata, these things were maintained from the beginning.
:D
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True for Bangalore. I have never interacted with any with any my neighbors .
I hope Rajarhat area has more youngsters and I don't have to face much bulls**t.
 
Lol We are youngstars too :p And almost every area have young guys and girls. But not allowed due to "log kya kahenge?" thingy. But this mentality varies from area to area.
As I said, highly depends on the mentality of the people and the amount of time they get for gossiping. We used to have the same type of thing here where I live. But in these 2 years the older womens who used to gossip died :p And now we enjoy anything. People now don't have time to look for with the flat culture rising.

But there are still many areas (Specially in North Kolkata) where all these still happens. I don't want to be racist or something, don't get me wrong (specially Kolkata guys) but peoples from North Kolkata (the heritage of kolkata, specially Shyambazar, Shobhabazar, Dumdum etc.) are very backward in terms of culture and all. Where as South Kolkata is much developed compared to North Kolkata.

But there are exceptions, like Sec V, Rajarhat, New Town etc. belongs to North Kolkata and these are developed places and not belong to older calcutta i.e. heritage. And those areas belong to 100% flat culture and chances are you won't have any problem.

But again, the club problem exists everywhere. And if club interfares for any reason then god knows :(
 
One more notification from my side, as a native bong, besides your expenses, be sure to shell out few more thousand bucks as donations for puja. Every locality have min 2-3 clubs and each of them keeps performing diff. pujas at different time for which ofcourse they seek donation. And you have to give that for your local clubs.

And the warning is, don't try to ignore it, else they may bash you out :(

At our area, few bleachers from bihar used to live here, and they experienced it first two years and from third year onwards they started leaving house and spending time somewhere else in the evening (when people generally come to house for donation :p). Even they tried to leave in dark so that no one can know you are in the house. Clubs placed notice on the house and as they didn't comply with it, they were thrown out of house after the puja.

So the thing is don't even try to ignore that, and be warned they put any price they like on the coupon, starting from 1001/-. Now imagine if there are 3 clubs at your locality, the amount you spend for whole year. You'll come accross approx 4 - 5 occassions like this for each club.

The thing is, negotiate politely. As long as you are polite they will negotiate, once you come to dhamki and all, they will be like gang.

And this is not only in my area, but everywhere. At every occassions I have seen a fight. Because there would be one person (non bengali) who don't know this thing and start becoming rude due to anxiety ofcourse and the problem starts there.

So be polite to them and nogotiate. Never try to mess up with club guys, as they will be the most helpful when you will be in problem.
 
eggman said:
What is this club thingy?
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Club is like group or society which is setup by peoples from the locality. You may have seen this in Bangalore and Mumbai. But here in Kolkata, it;s performed actively. Peoples go to clubs at the evening for gossiping and spending time and all. They perform Puja's at occassions at club premises, sports etc.

Provides facility of Health, Blood, 24 Hours Ambulance. (but this is not applicable for all the clubs out there).

In short, get it like, they are the local dada's (goons) in terms of anything bad happens and the most helpful people if the peoples in locality are in problem. And these premises of club houses are not bought, acquired forcefully actually. Anyway, hope you got it, and the main thing is, no politician / police try to mess with club due to their unity and all.

My english is not so good and that's why I can't explain better. May be @quixand can explain what Club is :p
 
I understood . Thanks for the heads up. I understood clearly . Maybe living in housing society wont be a great idea . Living un an independent house would be better i think . Only owner to appease to .
 
If you are talking about club it doesn't depends on housing society or anything. Each locality (called 'para' in bengali) have 2-3 clubs. You be a part of housing society or not doesn't matter, above all you belong to that 'para' where your housing society is or your own independent house is.

So you have to face them either way. And if you are lucky then they will only come to collect donations on Durga Puja.

So you live anywhere, you'll belong to some 'para' (area) always. And clubs belongs to area doesn't matter what.

You'll learn as you start living and all.[DOUBLEPOST=1378566902][/DOUBLEPOST]If you thought this club belongs to housing society then it's totally wrong. These clubs are located on your area / locality. And every person from that locality belongs to that club. Your houseowner will also be the member of that club (or one of them, if there are more than one club in your area).
 
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lol... It's not hard way. But just that politely negotiate and pay 51/- or 101/- whatever your possibility. Also you can say them that "I'm bachelor and can't pay on all occassions. please only take on Durga Puja or something." They are not at all harmfull any way, as long as you don't mess with them. As I said you'll get it when you'll come. :)
 
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