dil vich lagayave

continuing on the topic of real estate. the major question these days is to live or not to live in new york city. the alternative is: new jersey city or stamford. and the prime reason given to me for not living in new york city is: its not safe and then there are other reasons like: so and so was mugged, had their passport stolen (which many pple think is even more important than ure life.) , so n so was spat on, roughed up, hit on, cab driver nei zyada paisei leiliyei (isnt that everywhere?).

in fact, i read this recently that in hyderabad new automated rickshaw meteres, according to the pressure on the brake that u give, add extra 20% fare. and depending on ure face and how much of a "mamoo" the rickshawvalla thinks u look like he will utilize the "regular" fare on you. so my point thats a lame reason. now back to the reasons why nyc is no good. "they know you live close so they will make u work later". err, i dont think pple really care about that. if that were true then phir toh duniya bar ke logh chand par hi rehtai.

ok, bad joke.

the major reason is that rent is way too high. and its going to make a huge dent in my paycheck (inshallah, inshallah for the paycheck, not the dent). despite that i still want to live in new york city and that too in manhattan, and in a nice neighbourhood with lots of coffee shops. and most importantly with cheap rent. too high expectations, i know.

the alternatives are to live with some family as a paying guest. ive never done the paying guest route and my career advisor who happens to be a pakistani has done it and she really liked it. so, i dont know. it might be a new experience but then theres the added risk coz you never know what kind of family it is. and true all families are mad, including mine. but still theres a relativity to that too. according to my mom i have nothing to worry about since i have nothing remotely of value to steal. and chor if bhool mein sei aa bhi jaye, he'll probably leave behind something. i have a very patent come back to that : wat can i do if pple have no taste. =). anyway, its a long shot. and again no family really lives in manhattan, mostly in queens or new jersey. which sucks. vot to do. too many choices and too many decisions.