“I’ve been living independently in Bombay since the past 7 months even though my parents are from the same city. I guess it was a combination of two things that made me want to live by myself - the first one being that I wanted to be independent and the second one is that I wanted to be more responsible.

I’ve always had a very sheltered life and I wanted to experience living on my own. Initially it was a challenge to convince my parents but because they’ve lived in a hostel themselves (in a different city) they finally agreed. My family has a spare 1BHK house in Parel which is closer to my college, so 2 of my friends and I moved into the house with strict rules and an even stricter budget.

Initially, it was great because of the freedom it came with, but as time went on we realised that we had to pay electricity bills, buy groceries, pay the maid - all within the budget given to us by our parents. Over time we realised the life that we were taking for granted - from the milk in the refrigerator to the AC that we have on everyday! Sometimes we would wake up without milk and realise that we had to get it for ourselves — and I guess that process made it more real. It’s been a tremendous experience because it’s taught us so much about budgeting, being responsible and the intricacies behind running a home. We’ve now organised ourselves better, budgeted for the month and done everything to make this house a home and that experience has been life changing!”