Life & Leisure

Page 1 of 2

Saturday,Feb 10,2007

Section Home News Features

Ground beneath his feet

MYSTERY GUEST
Ravi Teja Sharma / New Delhi January 28, 2007

Advanced Search

People Travel Enterprise Books Leisure & Sports How To Spend It Gadgets & Gizmos Columnists

I was looking at a model of a Rs 1.8 crore apartment at The Hibicus, promoted by Silverglades, when Prabhakar introduced himself. The Hibiscus, no matter how nice it sounds (smells?) is just another apartment complex coming up in Gurgoan, which must be the apartment capital of this country, but I digress. After being offered tea and coffee which I declined (I was there to buy an apartment, wasnt I), we got down to business. Prabahkar turned out to be articulate, unlike so many other agents you meet across Delhi (refer to the movie Khosla ka Ghosla for the latter variety) at different booking offices. I found we could converse easily. When the interrogation started I could see the guy wondering about the kind of questions that were coming his way. The details I demanded from him ranged from how much green space there would be; what kind of facilities were on offer; power backup; swimming pool(s); how many types of apartments there were in the entire complex; the specifications of a three-bedroom apartment; the cost per sq ft cost; total area of the apartment; as well as why the apartments were so expensive given the fact that they were at least 35 km from Delhi. Prabhakar was well-prepared and had answers to most of queries. Can I get the house without any fixtures at all? I want to put stuff that I like, not what the builder likes, I asked, trying to needle him just a wee bit more. Prabhakar, this time, threw back at me his considerable experience in the industry (all of two years) to explain that no builder would give me that option. On being asked about the earthquake resistance of the buildings that cost, literally the earth, he was silent. Since a chat that I had had only last week on earthquake resistant structures was still fresh in my mind, I stood my ground on this one. Poor Prabhakar had to call up the head office to get me off his back. SCORE: The apartments were beautiful though earthquake safety was a glaring weak point, 8/10

Sensex Nifty Rs-$ Nikkei Nasdaq

14539 (-113) 4187 (-36) 44.05 17504 (232) 2460 (-29)

Updated:10-02-07 20:45 hrs IST

Share Your Comments

Print this page

Mail to friend

Inflation has touched a two year high of 6.58%, will it get worse? Yes No

Recent Poll Questions >>

Take Control of your Money

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/lifeleisure/storypage.php?leftnm=5&subLeft=8&c... 10/02/2007

Life & Leisure

Page 2 of 2

Columnists

Main Section
BS Online | Companies & Industry | Banking & Finance | Economy & Policy | Opinion & Analysis | Life & Leisure ABOUT US PARTNER WITH US JOBS@BS Forum | SME TERMS & CONDITIONS SITE MAP CONTACT US

ADVERTISE WITH US

Business Standard Ltd. Copyright & Disclaimer feedback@business-standard.com Site best viewed in IE4 & above resolution is 600 x 800 pixels

| Designed and Developed by E Dot Solutions I Pvt Ltd

http://www.business-standard.com/lifeleisure/storypage.php?leftnm=5&subLeft=8&c... 10/02/2007