It was a pleasant surprise to me when I was allotted quarters on the day of reporting itself at Mumbai. Even as the officer concerned grudgingly handed over the keys, my thoughts went back by over two decades and to Baroda where I joined the bank. It was a city with great ambience, an air of royalty and also had friendly and hospitable people. Only when it came to cost of living it was hostile especially if one does not own a house. My HRA then was fifty rupees.

"Oh! You won’t even get a bathroom for fifty rooms " was the comment I heard before I settled for a dormitory with an independent cot and shared toilets. The job as an officer had brought charm in every aspect of life and the city had enough inviting joints for entertainment and food that filled the mind with joy. But at the end of the day going back to the dwelling place christened ‘Palace Lodge’ had nothing ‘palatial about it’. It was rusty cot and dingy room not to talk of the bathroom that was partitioned up to six feet on three sides. It upset all the charm one enjoyed out of the handsome salary. To add to my misery relatives back at home at Chennai were making frequent enquiries as to when they can visit me. My frequent requests for quarters were turned down by the bank with a frequent refrain "You are a probationer".

My classmates working in other banks, where the word 'Probationer' had a more friendlier and helpful connotation were enjoying well-furnished two bedroom independent flats with nicely tiled bathroom. Whenever I visited my friends, some of whom had brought their parents I could see what life can be with ones own kin when also bestowed with an enviable job. They not only had enough money but also got food of their choice for all three times of the day, a luxury when one is out of native place for compulsions of employment. Thus returning home was an event they looked forward to. I had a distant relative in Baroda who also maintained distance in behaviour. But I had to visit him for some homely food as also to enjoy a nice bath on weekends in the shower. The odonil placed in the ventilator added that extra punch of luxury that I too can afford but for availability of my own bathroom.

The scheme for housing that was frugal widened slightly after three years to cover more officers but in big cities. Being placed in the small town of Bulsar I was reimbursed rent up to a ceiling that was enough to rent a single room of course with an independent bathroom. I could buy a set of chairs, decent wooden cot and a couple of electronic gadgets to fulfil the aesthetic needs of the mind and also a bright looking plastic bucket and mug that was all my own for the bathroom which too was exclusive to me. In case of some of my friends in other banks it was much more than that with trendy taps, wash basins and geysers, also in some cases wives replacing parents.

With additional reasons for yearning for quarters, I once again requested the bank for quarters or alternately to give a transfer to my native place. The bank immediately gave me transfer to Chennai but denied quarters, as my requesting the transfer became the infraction.

Apart from being a shelter the quarters transform a mere dwelling place in to a home and also fetch social and cultural values along with it. The status is vastly manifest when one live in ‘quarters’ that speaks high of ones hierarchy in an institution as also the number of bedrooms and bathrooms adding to the status. But it was obnoxious words like policy, norms and criteria that acted effectively to extend my ineligibility for quarters.

After a decade with no ineligible clause appearing against me I landed at Mumbai. Being a city with acute housing problem I was apprehensive of getting quarters but got it as I landed. Poetic justice!

As I opened the door of my home at Mumbai I was awed to see the well furnished two bedroom flat, palatial compared to Mumbai standards and having not one but two bathrooms. It had all. Native and English variety of basins, an overhead tank to store water in emergencies, two geysers, tiled floors and what not. Having gone from water starved Madras I opened the tap in suspicion and the water splashed all over me. Champagne !!!

Even as I was enjoying a nice bath I remembered the dissenting tone of an official who was searching for a clause in the rules to confirm whether bachelors can be given the quarters normally meant for married persons.

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