We don’t need reminders of how bad things are for women in India, especially those who are unmarried and living on their own. We have a full length feature film dedicated to that harsh reality.
But when we were presented with the data of a survey conducted by online home rental network NestAway, misleadingly titled ‘Ease of Settling in’, things just got a bit more depressing.
The survey had 3000 respondents, aged between 21-31 years, across Bangalore, NCR, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad. It tried to analyse the various biases and discrimination that people face while looking for accommodation in these cities. The results, sadly enough, are not surprising.
The top biases came to include food preferences (non-vegetarians: No, thank you), relationship status, where you’re from and your religion/caste.
So basically if you are a staunch vegetarian and are married (happily or not is irrelevant), you automatically qualify to be a stand-up human, worthy of renting a house. If you’re a Tinder regular who also likes biryani and whisky, then BAM! you’re homeless.
Now ladies, before you start feeling all glum, there is a silver lining. The survey recorded that 61% of the restrictions were related to lifestyle choices (including drinking and partying with the opposite sex because it’s only 2017 and this shit is still immoral). Men were worse affected because the common perception is that men drink more than women.
So there you go. You might be homeless, single and occasionally molested but at least you’re not going to be called an alcoholic any time soon.
