PG hunting in a Laxmi Nagar-style lane: my checklist, the tiffin lottery, and the one mistake I made

Technically I am a Delhi girl. But my house is in west Delhi, and 70 minutes each way on the metro would have eaten more than two hours of my day. Two hours a day is 14 hours a week. That is a whole mock test and a half. So I took a PG near my class, in one of those lanes that exist around every big coaching area: tall narrow buildings, laminated posters on every wall, a stationery shop every 40 steps, and a tea stall that knows your name by the second week.

If you're thinking about living in a lane like this, here is how it went, in the order it happened.

Why the area actually works

Everything is within walking distance. Library, photocopy, stationery, a medical shop that is open at midnight, chai, fruit seller, the tiffin guy. You don't need a bike. You don't need a plan for "how do I get my printouts". It saves a lot of energy, which is a thing nobody counts.

What you pay for it: noise. The horns start at 6:30 am and don't really stop. The lanes are narrow so every scooter sounds like a trailer. In summer the heat sits between the buildings and refuses to leave. Power cuts happen. The first two weeks I woke up every morning thinking someone was fighting outside. It was just a Tuesday.

The PG visit checklist (I made it after I messed up, so please use it)

Go at night, not at noon. At noon every room looks fine.

• Is the room I see the room I get? (Many owners show a "sample" room.)
• Window: does it open? What does it face? A wall two feet away is not a window.
• Water: taps at 6 am and at 10 pm. Is there a geyser, is it extra?
• Power backup: inverter or nothing? Ask what happens at 2 pm in June.
• Wifi: does it reach your actual room or just the corridor?
• Wires: hanging, open, old? Look at the fuse box. I'm not joking.
• Exit: is there more than one way out? Where are the stairs?
• Gate time and CCTV. For girls' PGs this matters a lot, and I'd say for everyone.
• Mess: see the kitchen, not only the dining table.
• Deposit, notice period, electricity per unit, restrictions on guests. Get it in writing.
• Talk to a current resident without the owner around. Ask: "would you stay another year?" Their face tells you more than their words.

The tiffin lottery

If your PG doesn't include food, you will buy tiffin. There are at least ten tiffin services around any block. My first month I tried three:

1. Cheap one: roti like a coaster, too much oil.
2. Medium one: good sabzi but they forgot twice.
3. The one I kept: nothing special, but on time and consistent, with a plain dal.

My rule now is a four-day trial. Pay for four days, eat, then decide. I'm not interested in "special" food. I want the same boring dal at 1:15 pm every day, because boring food is predictable and predictable food means I'm not distracted.

One trap: most tiffin places don't serve on Sunday, or they serve a smaller thing. Plan your Sunday separately. Mine is fruit + curd + something from home that my mother sends in a steel box on Saturdays.

What my days look like

Here's the rough template I follow. You can steal it, I won't charge you.

Time	What
6:00	wake, water, 10 min stretch
6:30–8:00	self study: biology revision (fresh brain)
8:00	breakfast
9:00–1:00	class + library
1:15	tiffin lunch
2:00–2:30	rest, not phone
2:30–6:00	practice questions
6:00	walk. short. lane is loud but air is air
7:00–10:00	physics / chemistry + error log
10:30	sleep

Sunday: test in the morning, analysis in the afternoon, and then nothing. Nothing is important. Nothing is a subject.

The one mistake

My second month, the owner said: "if you pay three months in advance I'll give you a discount." I paid. In cash. No receipt. Then in month four the owner's brother, who "handles everything", said he knew nothing about my advance, and it took my father two phone calls and one polite threat to get most of it back. Not all.

So: pay month by month. If you pay in advance, take a written receipt with the date, the amount and the owner's signature. Keep a photo. It takes 30 seconds and it will save you a week of stress.

A few small things

• Earplugs. The foam kind. Do not be proud.
• Live location with one family member. Not to be tracked, just in case.
• A PG buddy. One person you can message when the power goes out and you can't find the torch.
• Water bottle you refill, not buy. I counted once, I was buying ₹20 bottles daily.

It's loud, it's crowded, it's strange. It's also strangely warm. On the fifth day the chai guy asked "NEET ya JEE?" and I realised I belonged to something, even if it was just the same lane at 6 pm.