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Tale of a bachelors1 kingdom

2,500 single men live at Sardar Colony, the largest mess at South Kamalapur

Shahnaz Parveen
Jumbled up personal belongings, tangled mosquito net and untidy bed. Curtains hang loosely on the window of the small, dark room. Books and kitchen utensils are piled up right beside the bed. Clothes are in complete disarray on the veranda.
This is the general picture of the living arrangement at Sarder Colony, the largest bachelors' mess in the country. Located in the city's South Kamalapur area, the colony provides accommodations for around 2,500 men.
Residents of the colony however are not unhappy with the messy life. They said it is like having a picnic ever)' day -- no strings attached, no one to give sermons, assert decrees on living arrangements or certain habits. And most importantly, household tasks are all taken care of. They all live like kings at the
colony.
For a single man, finding a suitable accommodation in this city is extremely difficult. Rejection and negative attitude is a common phenomenon. Most house-owners are reluctant to rent house to bachelors. Sardar Colony is an exception.
Back in 1984 a few good men thought of the misery that single men go through. The eight sons of late Afiluddin Sarder created the biggest bachelors mess facility in South Kamlapur on a three-bigha land. There are nine buildings, including one eight-storey, two six-storey and two five-storey, for accommodation of bachelors.
Most of the residents at Sardar Colony work in government and private offices in Matijheel area. There are some students and unemployed people living there as well.
"Most landlords in the city do not want single males as tenants
and consider them unwanted. Every single male without a place in the city go through this problem," said Sanaul Haque Sarder, one of the owners of the colony.
"If anyone rents out a room to a single person, he imposes a certain set of rules. The only place available for them is the rooftop dwelling or the ground floor," he added.
Sanaul said, "When we first started we just wanted to lend a h;md to the singles. At first a few tin-shed buildings were established in 1979. It became quite popular in the area. The demand was high, so we decided to expand the facility in 1984."
Sirajul Islam, working as manager of the huge colony for 22 years, gives details.
Every building has a caretaker and several security guards. There are 20 managers tn the entire facility. The eight brothers sit at least once a month to discuss the
requirements of Lite colony people, Sirajul told Star City.
The rent ranges from I k 1,400 to I k 2,500 a month. The tenants pay electricity bill of their own, but water and gas bills arc included in the rent.
The rooms have accommodation for four, six or eight persons. A room is usually rented out to one person who invites more roommates to live along. He is responsible for collecting the rent of the roommates.
There are five domestic help in every lloor responsible for cooking, cleaning and often shopping for groceries. Monthly charge for domestic help is I k 150. Every floor has kitchens and common toilets. There are letterboxes in each building.
Unlike other bachelor's mess in the city, files are maintained with all the necessary information about the tenants.
"Morning is a very busy hour
here with every tenant getting ready for the day. By 9:00am the buildings become empty and stays that way the whole day. By late evening it becomes lively again," Serajul describes.
He said collecting rent is never a problem and there are hardly any unwanted incidents.
Special sanctions about some particular issues are imposed. Female friends are barred from visiting the dwellers. Family members, however, are allowed to visit or even stay overnight in case of emergency. Also barred from the mess are alcohol, gambling and elements associated with too much revelry.
1 he colony is the source of livelihood for many people.
Around 300 domestic helps work at the colony. Hawkers sell around 400 newspapers. Cobblers, laundrymen and grocers in the area remain always busy. Vegetable vendors gather in front of the colony every afternoon waiting for their favourite customers to come back from office.
In time the colony produced many big names including ministers and secretaries. There are a few who simply never moved on and living there for more than 20 years.
One of the residents Mayeen Uddin Ahmed said, "There are many predicaments for single male in the city. Most landlords don't want single male in the first place. There are too many dos and don'ts. Sudden evacuation notice is a regular practice."
Mayeen, who studies at ICMA, said: "We don't have to worry about this anymore. The all male surroundings in a very orgainsed environment are a wonderful opportunity for us. Being here is like being in heaven."
Nazrul Islam, another resident, said, "We may not enjoy the family ambience and the food may not be as good as at home but given the attitude of the landlords of the city we consider ourselves lucky. There should be more facilities like this.”