My First property agent in Hyderabad
The property agent in general, is not a new term anymore. The property agent is the one who possesses the property or knows the whereabouts of the property for the purpose of rent, purchase, or sell-off trade in and around the local area.
As I am new to Hyderabad, the organization with which I am associated has provided me with a temporary accommodation facility, but that would last for only another week.
I have been looking for permanent housing since the first day I stepped in Hyderabad. The challenge is to look out for a house nearby to my office and convenient in terms of the ”added facility” as well.
We (I mean, a friend, Anurag, who is willing to be my room partner and I) met a property agent here, and what an experience it was! We got the referral of the agent through an advertisement in the Hyderabad premier newspaper, The Hyderabad Times. We met him at his office. Before showing any flats, he asked for the registration fee. And I got furious and was not willing to accept that. Later on, we came to the conclusion to go ahead with the trend of paying the registration charge of Rupees 200 only.
He was the typical South Indian guy. He instructed his guy in Telugu to show us some flats. We left his office in besotted mood. The young child, Krishna, seems to be his sub-agent, and was in his hero cycle. We were riding through the way in Anurag’s bike. We reached the first place safely and it was the furnished house—one of our top priorities. We went upstairs along with Krishna, and then discovered that the room had already been booked. We were disappointed because that could have been our best option. Everything was there: TV, fridge, chairs, beds, cupboards, and, of course, air cooler.
Then we moved on to another property with the hope of getting a better option. Krishna took us to the fourth floor in some lavish apartments. He tried the door keys he had gotten from the security guard. Believe me, it was pure fun to watch. He tried all of them, but in vain. Then he got another bunch of keys, and again the master key could not be identified.
We desperately moved on to the third flat. It was in the locality called Kishna Nagar towards the city. There were some MBA girls staying at that location. They warned us of a water problem there. So we also turned down that option. Kishna traversed his entire journey in grease-painted cycle and the cycle chain got derailed a number of times all the way along. Unfortunately, this flat also did not materialize.
Then we moved to our next venture. We went to the core of the city as instructed by the dude, Krishna. We reached the landmark point well in advance of him. We reached our last hide-out place and that was better than the rest of the seen places. But the only factor that intrigued me was the obsequious behavior of the security guard out there. Moreover, there were some police officers questioning some of the men there. So, we decided not to have that flat as well.
We were very particular about our choice and I was reluctant not to look at any place other than the places nearby to the core city. We felt tired and wanted to come back to the Guest House. We came back and had our lunch. I was ready for another venture but Anurag turned down the offer. Moreover, since the bike is his, I can’t make a strong demand. Hence, we rested at the guest house for the rest of the day.
I have a firm belief in the saying, “Whatever happens, happens for the good.” I believe that God had some different plans for us.
In the next week, I came across the washer man (locally, called a dhobi) in our guest house, who does property dealing in his spare time. He showed us a flat—well-furnished, ventilated, marble floor, wooden cupboards, huge kitchen storage, and, of course, a good location. These factors fall under our liking of “added facility” that we were looking for. So we called up the builder, Mr. Reddy. He was very clear about his approach not to negotiate for the rent. We got his point straightway and were okay with it. We added some more features to our “added facility” list, like geyser, water supply, and all that. And he agreed to those. We finalized the deal then and there and came back to the guest house with big smiles on our faces.
Frankly speaking, the place is not in the hub of the city and so doesn’t fall under my preference in terms of location. Apart from that, everything is fantabulous and hence things seem to be rolling on in our lives as well. Happy to see things happening here, now all set!
Friday, April 22, 2005
First con call
My First Conference Call
My first conference call was superb, I must say. However, I was a little intimidated before the start. There was a dramatic beginning to my day. I came to the office at 9.00 a.m., a half an hour before the scheduled time of my conference, with the impression that Shradha would be there to assist me. Now, you must be wondering who she is. She is my team mate in the Hyderabad portion of our group. Unfortunately, she got delayed because of the terrible traffic. Moreover, the time was running fast and so was I.
I approached her cubicle and saw a guy sitting there, engrossed in his work. He was none other than Vamsi, a ray of hope for me. He told me that he had just received a call from Shradha asking me to make the call. I was thinking, “This is not an acceptable situation and why do things like this happen to me .” Anyway, without wasting much time, I asked him about how to make a con call. “Could you please assist me, please?” That was my wording. And he was more than ready to help me after seeing me unnerved.
He accompanied me and we went to the nearby conference room. There he tried something on the VOIP phone (I guess, that’s the name he called it) but the phone line seemed to be busy. Then we moved to the next conference room as he gave some logic why that the first one was not working. And I was dumb throughout the scene.
Wooh! The phone in the other conference room worked and he explained to me the way to make a conference call. Things were set in place and he left me alone. I was enjoying the music that usually is played before the leader joins the con call. Suddenly, there was a lady standing in the doorway asking me to vacate the room. Poor chap, Vikas! I thought for a while and was answerless. Then I got my senses back to normal and thought about what I would have to do if I move to next room. I pleaded with her to my best; but all in vain, as she had some urgent work to be reviewed. And I said to myself, “No, please not now.” I should have planned better well before.
I was in a pathetic condition. And the time was running fast, faster than in the usual manner. I approached Vamsi again with the “S.O.S. plank” on my face. We then rushed to another conference room. It was vacant. We cross checked it and it was vacant for sure.
All right, I said as I pushed up my sleeves to get to work, and things were again set in place. Vamsi left me all alone to face the strange phone. I was prepared by that time, and I said “Hello” with a shaking voice. There was a mature and pleasant voice from the other side. It was none other than my manager, Michael, and I was relieved.
The whole scenario took place in about 10 to 15 minutes. But, believe me, the preparation on my part was nothing more than the printout of the email containing the International conference number and pass code.
My first conference call was superb, I must say. However, I was a little intimidated before the start. There was a dramatic beginning to my day. I came to the office at 9.00 a.m., a half an hour before the scheduled time of my conference, with the impression that Shradha would be there to assist me. Now, you must be wondering who she is. She is my team mate in the Hyderabad portion of our group. Unfortunately, she got delayed because of the terrible traffic. Moreover, the time was running fast and so was I.
I approached her cubicle and saw a guy sitting there, engrossed in his work. He was none other than Vamsi, a ray of hope for me. He told me that he had just received a call from Shradha asking me to make the call. I was thinking, “This is not an acceptable situation and why do things like this happen to me .” Anyway, without wasting much time, I asked him about how to make a con call. “Could you please assist me, please?” That was my wording. And he was more than ready to help me after seeing me unnerved.
He accompanied me and we went to the nearby conference room. There he tried something on the VOIP phone (I guess, that’s the name he called it) but the phone line seemed to be busy. Then we moved to the next conference room as he gave some logic why that the first one was not working. And I was dumb throughout the scene.
Wooh! The phone in the other conference room worked and he explained to me the way to make a conference call. Things were set in place and he left me alone. I was enjoying the music that usually is played before the leader joins the con call. Suddenly, there was a lady standing in the doorway asking me to vacate the room. Poor chap, Vikas! I thought for a while and was answerless. Then I got my senses back to normal and thought about what I would have to do if I move to next room. I pleaded with her to my best; but all in vain, as she had some urgent work to be reviewed. And I said to myself, “No, please not now.” I should have planned better well before.
I was in a pathetic condition. And the time was running fast, faster than in the usual manner. I approached Vamsi again with the “S.O.S. plank” on my face. We then rushed to another conference room. It was vacant. We cross checked it and it was vacant for sure.
All right, I said as I pushed up my sleeves to get to work, and things were again set in place. Vamsi left me all alone to face the strange phone. I was prepared by that time, and I said “Hello” with a shaking voice. There was a mature and pleasant voice from the other side. It was none other than my manager, Michael, and I was relieved.
The whole scenario took place in about 10 to 15 minutes. But, believe me, the preparation on my part was nothing more than the printout of the email containing the International conference number and pass code.
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