Bengaluru entrepreneur Vertika Shukla traces her move to a 5BHK rental

“₹15K rent → ₹1.81L rent. But the rent isn’t the part I’m proudest of,” Bengaluru entrepreneur Vertika Shukla wrote while reflecting on her housing journey.

Shukla listed a one-room kitchen at ₹50,000 a month in 2020, followed by a 2BHK at ₹1 lakh in 2021 and a 3BHK at ₹2 lakh in 2023. She said she now pays ₹1.81 lakh in rent for a 5BHK.

In the post, Shukla said she left home at 22 earning ₹50,000 a month and built her career by changing companies, beginning an MBA and investing in herself. She said she did not have inherited wealth or a family business to fall back on.

The larger home, she wrote, is not her definition of success. “I remember the girl who once wondered whether she’d be able to build a life completely on her own terms.”

For Bengaluru residents navigating high rents and early-career budgets, her account adds a personal data point to the city’s wider conversation about housing costs.