Life On Rent

If my life is for rent and I don바카라�t learn to buy
Well, I deserve nothing more than I get
바카라�Cos nothing I have is truly mine바카라�

바카라�Life for Rent, Dido

Boyfriends on hire? Just to feel a little better about yourself? The idea seems a bit far out, if not faintly condescending. Why on earth would women need rented boyfriends to cope with depression? But that바카라�s exactly what this new mobile app claims바카라�and the promoters say they바카라�ve been flooded with calls from interested women! One among them is Deepika, a Mumbai girl who self-admittedly wants to take a stab at it to get out of her 바카라�extreme shyness바카라� in front of men. 바카라�My parents are pressurising me to get married, and I too want to have a partner. But I바카라�m so shy I can바카라�t even talk properly to guys. Who knows, maybe this will help. After all, there바카라�s nothing to lose,바카라� says the 24-year-old, giggling, 바카라�I바카라�ll only be renting him.바카라�

Marketing professional Shruti Roy, 28, is in no need of a hired beau. She바카라�s found her soulmate: they were married recently, and an Instagram-worthy honeymoon soaked in the Italian sun duly followed. For the young couple, life is good. Walk into their Delhi apartment, and you바카라�ll be struck by the opulence바카라�beige walls hugging an ash-coloured sofa with teal blue cushions, a delicately cut wooden centre table, a beautiful potted plant standing saint-like next to a wide-screen TV. Then she tells you바카라� 바카라�All rented, just like the apartment.바카라�

바카라�Rented apartment바카라� is of course as old as the hills. Shruti offers it as an analogy so that the more old-worldly among us get what she means. For, young Indians are now renting virtua­lly everything they use in life: chic furniture, fancy cars, home appliances, haute designer wear, cool UV-protected shades, even pets. It바카라�s urban India바카라�s new life hack.

So, back from the party, slightly peckish, you slip the red Jimmy Choo stilettos into the solid mahogany shoe rack in the hallway, keep away the Ford Mustang keys somewhere safe, tiptoe barefoot over the parquet floor to the open kitchen and shove in your ready-to-eat chana masala in the convection microwave바카라� (Rem­ember the motto: all rented.) If you don바카라�t recognise yourself there, you바카라�re likely Jurassic. India바카라�s yuppies are gliding through life with balletic ease. The reason: they own nothing. No Gandh­ian austerity, this바카라�the generation is nothing if not brand-aware and giddily materialistic. It바카라�s just that owning is passé. The young 바카라�uns are dev­eloping a mild aversion to the old idea of forming deep bonds with things. And merely surfing through the world of objects sits pretty easy on the pocket and offers way better options.

For those bred and buttered in an earlier, neon-­tinted age, everything-on-rent may seem an inconceivable ideal. They spent their youth trying to acquire and solidify assets바카라�accumulating, hoarding, squirrelling away for the winter. They sought permanence. A pucca house, a geyser that lasted decades, a ragtop convertible that was as much part of family holidays as the Pom­eranian. True, out in the hinterland, they were always renting farm equipment바카라�tractors, combine harvesters, threshers바카라�but that was beca­use the less endowed farmer couldn바카라�t afford to buy them. They would, if they could. The young rent-happy crowd couldn바카라�t care less.

Temporariness also makes eminent sense on the other side, by all accounts. The business of hired things is booming, with start-ups바카라�and upstarts바카라�disrupting the traditional model of buying and selling. The exact size of the rental market is still a guesstimate, but business insiders believe it to be around $3 billion with the pot­ential to reach an estimated $25 billion by 2023 (see box).

But it바카라�s the all-new attitude this business feeds that바카라�s intriguing바카라�a strange blend of desire and letting go. 바카라�It바카라�s a result of the instant gratification the youth need today,바카라� suggests psychologist Seema Hingorrany. 바카라�They바카라�re introduced to brands at an early age바카라�people바카라�s self-image these days depends on what brands they carry and wear. But not everybody is making that kind of money to buy those brands.바카라� She spots one good thing about the trend. 바카라�The youth today are very particular about not borrowing from their parents, they want to be independent. That바카라�s where the whole idea of renting has caught on from.바카라�

Plain pragmatism is at play too. Renting is much easier than owning things for people frequently on the move, says Shruti. Ima­g­ine a young, single IT professional. No need to call packers and movers when you shift from Bangalore to Pune to Gurgaon바카라�your rental company simply carts things away at the end of each stint, and you go on to new furniture, in sync with the bachelorette pad in your new condo. You measure out life with spoonfuls of instant coffee.

Ajith Karimpana is a convert who turned his moment of revelation into a business. Upon ret­urning from the US, he realised his carefully cur­ated furniture had become a liability back in India. New space demanded new fixtures; his precious old ware sold for peanuts. 바카라�That바카라�s how Furlenco happened,바카라� he says about his online furniture rental. 바카라�Most people these days keep moving houses. But furniture manufacturers don바카라�t make their stuff thinking you바카라�ll move them around,바카라� Karimpana adds.

Established in Bangalore as an offline entity in 2012, Furlenco started with expats, who were more used to the concept. 바카라�We gradually shifted online. Honestly, there was no market바카라�it had to be created. It바카라�s not like people were looking for furniture on rent,바카라� Karimpana says. Cut to 2018, and Furlenco is flourishing, with 55,000+ subscribers in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Pune and Mum­­bai. And new entrants like Rentomojo, Clado, CityFurnish and Fabrento are pandering to citizens with a passing fancy for the king-size bed, the leather sofa, sheer curtains that let the light streaming in onto the sleek Malaysian wood study table, even the MacBook Pro on it.

Owning has become an exception not only with regard to ordinary utility objects, but also things traditionally considered 바카라�personal바카라� or seen as symbols of success바카라�cars, even wedding jewellery. 바카라�And why not?바카라� asks Nandini Pain, a Mumbai-based sales executive who has been living away from her family in Calcutta for over five years . 바카라�Our parents had bought a house thinking their children would live there. But we didn바카라�t stay back in our hometowns. In fact, most of us might not even be in the country.바카라�

It바카라�s a kind of gypsy life바카라�and a rolling stone gathers no moss. And an ease develops around the idea of unbelonging. Pursuing her masters in Bhubaneswar last year, Pain and her friends pooled in to hire from self-drive pioneers ZoomCar. 바카라�We바카라�d rent a car while moving house or to practise driving. Who spends so much money buying a car for that? There are ZoomCar parking spaces outside hostels in Bhubaneswar! A big seven-seater cost us only some Rs 5,500 for 400 km. And you don바카라�t have to worry about washing your car!바카라� she laughs.

The economics of it is only half the logic. Yes, objects of desire are exorbitant, so renting off­ers a handy short-cut. But it바카라�s the way of life바카라�a kind of modern nomadism바카라�that itself seems to demand letting go of roots and atta­chments. It바카라�s not the social meltdown of Japan where they rent husbands and wives and grandparents, just the first flush of a floating global  citizenship. From 바카라�permanent addresses바카라�, people have graduated to living in multiple homes across cities or countries, often working miles away from base camp. The focus, therefore, has shifted to 바카라�creating experiences바카라� over owning things.

바카라�I바카라�d much rather spend my Rs 37,000 on buying a ticket to Europe, instead of on a wedding lehnga I바카라�ll probably never wear again,바카라� says Anjali Luke, a Toronto-based contract specialist who recently tied the knot at a lavish ceremony in India. Luke simply rented a lehnga for her sangeet from Stage3, a clothes rental in Delhi바카라�s Hauz Khas Village. 바카라�It was a win-win situation. The kind of outfit I wanted would never fit into the budget I had. I바카라�d gone all over Delhi searching, in vain. But the mom­ent I stepped into Stage3, I knew I바카라�d found something much better,바카라� Luke says.

Designer bridal couture can set you back by a few lakhs, while you can rent your favourite label for D-Day at one-fourth the cost. Is there a flipside? 바카라�A very marginal one,바카라� says Luke. 바카라�Sometimes, the clothes you like might be a little frayed here and there, but then there are so many options that it doesn바카라�t matter. End of the day, we are no Tata or Ambani. Why not spend those twenty lakhs on higher education instead of a designer dress you바카라�ll only wear for six hours?바카라�

Men too seem to have embraced the idea of looking dapper in borrowed robes for important occasions. Shikhar Nigam, a journalist in Delhi, stares fondly at his college convocation photo where he can be seen wearing an imp­ressive black suit. 바카라�It cost me only a thousand bucks. Can you believe that?바카라� he says with a satisfied grin. 바카라�The same thing would have burned a huge hole in my pocket had I thought of buying it,바카라� Nigam says. The process is fairly easy, he exp­lains. Drop in at a clothes rental, spend a few minutes giving your measurements, and take home a freshly laundered outfit for the big day. 바카라�Damages, if any, incur negligible cha­rges,바카라� he adds. Nigam바카라�s sister too rented her entire wedding attire, including jewellery, from a shop in their hometown Kanpur earlier this year. 바카라�I would anyway never have been able to wear my wedding dress to someone else바카라�s wedding again, isn바카라�t it?바카라� reasons Harshita Nigam.

Another big change from the days of 바카라�solid바카라� things? You guessed it: social media and its will o바카라� the wisp affect­ati­ons. Instagram dem­ands that you constantly look good. And repeating clothes is a strict no-no in the fashion bible! Ask Neeraj Wadhera, founder of Wrapd, an offline clothing rental operating in Delhi, Faridabad, Hydera­bad and Jaipur. She says social media sites 바카라�have bec­ome a problem바카라� for the new-age fas­hioni­sta바카라�바카라�you need something new for every occasion and that바카라�s where we come in.바카라� Wrapd started catering to this need for the ephemeral back in 2009. 바카라�We actually have more men than women clients. And we mostly cater to the non-bridal section,바카라� she adds.

There are other variables: goods themselves tend to have a shorter shelf-life these days, as abbreviated as our attention spans. Plus, fashion is forever in flux. And new technology perpetually courts obsolesence: newer stuff is always being invented. Our affairs with things are anyway temporary: so renting makes sense. But affairs of the heart? Kitchenware and wedding costumes are one thing; do pet dogs (and boyfriends) weigh in on the same ethical plane?

Kaushal Prakash, founder of the Rent a Boyfriend app, insists the companionship his firm offers is purely platonic. 바카라�Everyone is verified on our platform so there바카라�s no chance of paedophilia or things like that,바카라� he says. The company, which caters to only Pune and Mumbai as of now, spoils its takers for choice with three categories of 바카라�boyfriends바카라�: commoners, models and celebrities. The rate per hour can be anything between Rs 400 and Rs 4,000. 바카라�The 바카라�boyfriends바카라� are not allowed to share their personal numbers with the clients. Private meetings are also not all­owed: the app keeps a check on the venue when someone makes a booking,바카라� Prakash adds. You may defer a judgement on his venture, but he believes this growing lonely-hearts club바카라�he has some 6,000 clients so far바카라�is an index of a genuinely felt need. 바카라�And it바카라�s not just for women. Anyone of any gender can rent a boyfriend,바카라� he says.

There was no ethical dilemma for Viren Sharma, founder of the Jaipur-based Mad About Dogs, which has launched a rental service catering to Pune, Mumbai and Jaipur. He plans to spread to a hundred Indian cities in the next phase. A dog behaviorist by profession, Sharma believes renting a pooch is anything but commodification. 바카라�I want to let people know the feeling of living with a puppy. It바카라�s about introducing people to dogs and letting them get over their fears,바카라� he says. Sharma바카라�s aim is to 바카라�convert바카라� sceptics into believers. 바카라�Families take dogs on rent and adopt them ultimately. Till now, I바카라�ve rented out over a 100 dogs and I can safely say none of them came back to me,바카라� Sharma says. 바카라�In many cases when they return dogs, they feel the void and invariably come back to take them home again.바카라�

That, then, is a slightly different template. As for the general ethos, Calcutta-based writer Devalina Mookerji conveys it without much ado: 바카라�Honestly, it바카라�s a pain to buy and maintain things.바카라� A trekker by passion, 43-year-old Devalina has mostly chosen to rent her mountain hiking gear of late. She has also rented most of her furniture and feels imm­ensely satisfied with her hired haul since 2013. 바카라�It just suits my lifestyle,바카라� she adds.

Everything-on-rent is, at heart, a barometer of deep social change. As psychologist Hingorrany says, 바카라�Earlier generati­ons were more rooted, this is a generation of nomads. They바카라�re fast-moving and they don바카라�t seek comfort or status in a piece of furniture anymore.바카라� Dido바카라�s song hit the basic notes with the lines: 바카라�I haven바카라�t ever really found a place that I call home/I never stick around quite long enough to make it바카라�. The young Ind­ian has arrived at this departure lounge, and she would rather leave the baggage behind.

***

Take 바카라�Em Out, Turn 바카라�Em In

Peruse these underneath. Admit, your favourite things are on rent.

Clothes and accessories

• App/Website/Store name: Wrapd, Stage3, Flyrobe, Rent It Bae

• Cities available: Delhi-NCR, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Calcutta, Bangalore, Pune, Chennai, among others

• Pocket pinch: variable

Boyfriend

• App/Website/Store name: Rent a Boyfriend

• Cities available: Mumbai & Pune

• Pocket pinch: Rs 400-Rs 4,000

Dogs

• App/Website/Store name: Mad About Dogs

• Cities available: Pune, Mumbai, Jaipur

• Pocket pinch: variable

Furniture and appliances

• App/Website/Store name: Furlenco, Rentomojo, Clado, CityFurnish, Fabrento

• Cities available: Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, among others

• Pocket pinch: variable

Self-driven cars and cycles

• App/Website/Store name: ZoomCar

• Cities available: Most tier 1 and tier 2 cities

• Pocket pinch: variable