found accommodation as paying guests

Ashwini Darnal (Hindu, from Darjeeling), Ritesh Agarwal (Marwari, from Rajasthan), Faizal Alam (Muslim, from UP), Ben Kipgen (Christian, from Manipur) and Atisha Penjore Bhutia (Tibetan Buddhist) ­ had been studying in St.A story of how five DU students, of different faiths, managed to locate a rented flat and live there in harmony, Bhavya Nayna Channan As soon as the DU cutoff lists were out in July, this bunch of friends, all boarding school boys from Darjeeling, began work on that most vital thing, next in importance only to taking admission -- house hunting in this big, bad city, where brokers can make wolves weep. Joseph;s (North Point) Darjeeling since Class III, so they all wanted to stay together in Delhi. Agarwal looks after the cleanliness and maintenance of the flat. He looks after all the expenses of the little group and sees to it that everyone puts in their share.

With a total budget of Rs 20,000, inclusive of everything (ration, cook, maid, electricity and water bills), they finally managed to rent a three-bedroom flat in Vijaynagar, a student-friendly locality. Says Alam, "We are proud to frigidaire ice maker Suppliers be together and helpful to each other. All facilities were available at reasonable rates, and most of the colleges were located close by. Since the cook is of the same age as the boys, they are good friends with him and he understands their needs. They first found accommodation as paying guests, two guys sharing one room. Places that cost Rs 10,000 to rent were shown to them as 18-grand-a-month flats. Initially, peace prevailed - the landlord was good to them and everything was going according to the agreement.

There was - harassment over electricity and water bills, and even the neighbors began to com plain about their late-night studies and habit of watching l football matches.A Playstation in the flat and extra-curricular activities in college take care of recreation. The boys have appointed Alam as the ;flat accountant;. The others help with getting provisions and look after various other needs of this ;household;. It was as close to perfect as it gets, despite teething troubles with the cook and the maid. One advice from this ;veteran; group to other students is that those who live in a rented flat should keep their eyes and ears open and not be too trusting of strangers.

Their motto has been ;sursum corcla;, meaning ;lift up your hearts;. With a neat system in place, the boys have been able to stay within their budget of Rs 4,000 a month each, aside from spending on fridge, TV and basic furniture." In their free time, they sometimes cook, drink beer and party. Worse still, each locality had several brokers who all rat tiled off different rates, leaving the boys; heads spinning with confusion. "The bro kers really took advantage of the situation," says Ashwini. The boys decided to move out and rent a flat.