The Move

So much has changed; So much remains the same. We moved from Chennai to New Delhi for a change. Yes. Only for a change! I don’t see a better reason than this. Relocation activities have been a great weapon of excuse for all that I had failed to do in the recent months, including my absence in the blog. Though there was only little I had to personally do, mind was fully occupied with something or the other like ticketing, packing, moving, house hunting, house warming, school admission and what not. This post by itself is an indication that we have settled in.

As in any relocation, moving and packing household articles and personal things I thought, would be the biggest challenge. When we arrived at the endless list of things to take, I realized how complicated life has turned. There used to be a time when life was not more than a backpack with no sense of attachment to it. I was surprised, when I was reluctant even to leave behind some trivial things. Everything had a background, a history and somehow bandaged to me as bondage. Mind kept reminding that, this was bought in this trip and that was a gift from that friend and somehow everything found a reason to move along with us.

Recently, I happened to read worst stories about movers and packers and it panicked me more when I read Kavi’s post about his relocation to Mumbai. To add to the fire, Anand, my school buddy sent me this IBN Live link – Couple takes on corporate. However, these information really helped us in cautiously evaluating different options. Thank You Guys!

Request for quote was sent to many Movers and Packers with the list of items to be moved. Most of them replied by email with a ballpark estimate, while Hariom Mishra from Goel Movers & Packers insisted on visiting the house and to do an evaluation of the goods to be moved. The same day he visited, scanned through the things thoroughly and gave the quote. Though it was little higher, I decided to use their service as the approach was professional, service oriented and reassuring. The decision was taken, but had to wait till we find a house in Delhi.

House hunting was more confusing and time-consuming than we had expected, as there were too many localities to choose from and too many vacant houses in each locality. The first day ended with a long list of houses seen with pros and cons. We realized that, most north Indian landlords preferred to have south Indian tenants. On one occasion, the Landlord was willing to reduce the rent significantly as we are South Indians. Moreover, the property dealers while marketing our credibility to the landlords always mentioned that we are Madrasis as key criteria for bringing in a good tenant for them. Not sure if it was a compliment:)

With too many houses to choose from, it was time organize. Then, we prepared a matrix with the key attributes in a house we are looking for with some weight assigned to each of the attribute. From then on, it took very little time to scan the house to arrive at the rating for each of the parameter. At the end of a week of searching, the matrix had 40 houses with the very first house we saw topping the list. It was decided and the same day the papers were signed.

Back in Chennai, we finalized the deal with Goel Movers & Packers. In 5 hours the house was naked and I was just sitting and watching the way the card-board was bound, the polythene films were wrapped and the huge crates were filled. I was asked not to even touch a spec. It was really effortless.

I reached Delhi, a day before the things were scheduled to arrive and did some preliminary cleaning before the things are placed. Though Hariom was giving the daily status of the vehicle, I had my own apprehensions about the safety and care in which the things would be handled. As scheduled, the things arrived on the fifth day. The unloading, unpacking and the cleaning was done in 5 hours, again with no effort from our end. I could see the transformation of my apprehensions and doubts to surprise and wonder when each item being unpacked intact. It was an excellent service offered by Goel Movers and Packers and I was exceedingly happy with the way they carried-out the entire moving and packing. Sadhique and Senthil, my school buddies helped us with setting up of things initially. The rest of the house was settled, whenever we could grab some time. With almost most of things done, we feel at home!

Everything has happened as it should have happened. We have moved for a change? May be a temporal change from a narrow perspective, on the periphery. Deep within, it’s all the same, even in the flowing river and even when the river runs through it.