In India, an elusive room of one's own
Young single women in New Delhi who want to live solo are viewed with suspicion.
from the June 14, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
"In certain parts of Delhi, landlords refuse to give their apartments to single women," Ms. Giliyal says. "Even if they do, they put restrictions on return-home time, inviting friends, or they try to impress on [tenants] what acceptable behavior would be."
By law, landlords are not allowed to reject a tenant because she is a single woman, but the behavior persists, Giliyal says. Women don't seek intervention, probably because they feel it wouldn't solve much, she says.
For women who do find an apartment, they understand that the landlord will take on a parental role.
"It's an Indian mentality," says Sonia Kakkar, a landlord in South Delhi. "We just feel more protective. You just feel that you are responsible."
Ms. Kakkar currently rents the second floor of her building to two French women and prefers foreigners because she does not feel as protective of them.
"They are used to living on their own," she says. "If they have a problem with the flat, they come to us. Otherwise, there is no interaction."
Daljit Madan, another South Delhi landlord, rents out two studio apartments in his house. He says he has no problem with single female Indian renters. But he does make sure they are working professionals, he says.
"When you have a decent lady living in your house," Mr. Madan says, "it becomes your moral responsibility to make sure she is safe and secure. It is not the same with boys. So from that perspective, some people don't want to get into that and rent to single women."
Ashwani Virk, a New Delhi real estate agent for the past 13 years, brings his single Indian clients to wealthy neighborhoods in South Delhi. Only there has the landlord-tenant relationship become more commercial in nature, he says.
"For a single [Indian] person today, the majority of landlords are quite irritating," Mr. Virk says. "They are too interfering. They are keeping tabs on you."
He laments the small but perceptible trend of women living on their own. He sees it as the result of too much progress, too fast. But he knows his clients, and he knows they want independence.
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