Bengaluru’s soaring rents, particularly in areas close to major tech parks and office hubs, have been a recurring topic of discussion on social media, particularly among tech workers who often face a trade-off between expensive rents and long daily commutes. Now, a Bengaluru-based Google techie has sparked a discussion after revealing that she abandoned her plans to move closer to her workplace after seeing the rental prices.
In an X post, Divya Porwal, a software engineer at Google, said that she lives just 10 km from her office and had been considering renting a flat nearby to cut down on commuting time. “I live just 10 km away from my office, so this weekend I thought of finding a flat nearby. I was hoping for a 1 BHK in a gated society since it’s safer and has all the amenities,” she wrote.
However, Porwal said that after checking the rental market, she decided against the move. “I saw the rents. ₹30k-40k for a 1 BHK. I literally dropped the plan of shifting. I’ll continue spending 2 hours daily in traffic,” she added.
Further, taking a swipe at the situation, Porwal remarked, “ After all, I’m already paying lakhs in taxes to government, I should spend some time on road.”
How did social media react?
The post quickly caught the attention of social media users, with many sharing similar experiences.
“Same here. Last month we checked a 2 BHK near the office. ₹52k + maintenance for a smaller flat than our current one. We stayed put. I still don’t understand what justifies these rents apart from location,” one user wrote.
“30k for one bhk is high amount, are they providing high class facilities. Are we earning for paying rents?” commented another.
“My friends were giving 3 bhk 1 lakh +maintainence, split 40k among 3 guys,” shared a third user.
However, not everyone agreed with Porwal. One user argued that renters often limit themselves to a few popular localities. “People are paying high rent for their comfort zone. There are many places with reasonable rents at bangalore. But people dont want to move from few places. That is why supply and demand starts. Just explore near by internal areas you will get houses at reasonable prices,” the user wrote.
Another user highlighted the hidden cost of choosing a longer commute over a more expensive home. “The interesting part is that people calculate the cost of rent down to the rupee. But rarely calculate the cost of 2 hours a day. 10 hours a week. 40+ hours a month. Hundreds of hours a year. Modern life is full of situations where we’re forced to spend time because money became too expensive,” the user said.
