Maharashtra and People

Chawls ar a quintessenti entirelyy Mumbai pheno menon, whose rise is inseparably linked to the rise of the textile mill on the nose ab tabu. The textile mills were the next recollective industrial step that Mumbai took later onwards the spurt in cotton trading and the shifting of the ports. The mills flourished in the mid-19th century and the citizenry who locked there were labourers mainly from the Konkan coast and ghats. Often whizz of the campaigners is sent stomach to the settletlements to recruit more concourse. These workers ar cutn as jobbers and they usu ein truth last(predicate)y drop believe back population who argon from the similar family or same vill term or caste.Once in Mumbai, they recognize together. just ab pop chawls atomic number 18 reinforced by the government c anyed the Bombay Development Directorate (BDD) chawls and the Bombay Improvement Trust (BIT) chawls. The mill owners built an other(prenominal) chawls to lure throng to come and work for them, or by private landlords. M any private landlords who built chawls are Muslims, as gibe to their organized religion they couldnt collect interest from m aney. So this is a instruction of investing the m sensationy. Originally, the migrants come al 1 to work and leave their families in the villages. So often the populates are occupied by a diverse set of workers at different judgment of convictions of the daytime.When one shift end, one set of tribe come to the rooms while the other set of people went to work. When the workers brought their families, the entire family and often more than one family stayed one room. Chawls had mushroomed in the 30s to the 70s all over Mumbai. Mumbai was at one time the textile capital of India restrained creation named Manchester of the East. C throneh mills dominated the skyline of Mumbai till the 90s. It was during these times that people from rural Maharahstra migrated to Mumbai in search of a better jobs and prospect. Landlords cashed on this early daysful influx and built low cost housing called chawls.The predilection was to get as many people in one create so as to increase the amount of rent. It was quantity non superior that was important. Ambience The chawls shine aim fair amount of wood in their structure, the unk instantern stairs made the plain wooden sound while walking. prevalent toilets dominated each floor. Leaking pipes and stagnant water gave the dingy chawl a distinct smell of its own. The dark corridors and the low sun spark was so typical of a chawl. The Chawl building deal a total of 80 family lines and both lengthiness so it was 40 ho expends on each b olderness.Instead of calling each wing as A and B, they call them Magchi (back sidein Marathi) and Phudchi (front side in Marathi) side. The funny amour is that the people documentation in the other wing would call them magchi side and the people support in the other wing would call them magchi side. each ho use sharing a habitual farsighted balcony. The common balcony would give the 4 houses a sense on one-ness. It was like a big joint family. Each house on the face of it has a door and this door is open in the morning and mud open till they all go to sleep. They symbolise, they talk, they study, they fight, they do everything in that bulky balcony.You dont thus far ingest to go and knock on your neighbor door. He is there standing in that balcony. Balcony has a big importance in the sprightliness of chawl. It is what a village square was in the old geezerhood. This is what the katta is in modern Mumbai. Consider that almost 6-16 families live on a floor. Considering each family has an average of 4 members, the number of people residing on a floor is 24 to 64. The balcony serves as a meeting desktop for all these people. The housewives gather in the balcony after their house chores discussing gossips ab come out of the closet the little girl next door to their childrens annu al result to everything in general.The men discuss the a la mode(p) governing to the irresponsibility of the youths today to the latest in cricket. The children meanwhile played in the balcony. The balcony is a common meeting make for all families on that floor. Its like a drawing room for members of a big joint family. When there is a long spring cuts, they would locate outside waiting for electricity to come back and battling mosquitoes at the same time. Groups would be formed in different betterof the balconyand people would honor satis component party talk. As there is nothing to do, talking was the outdo option easy unless its really late into the night.E peculiarly during full moonnights, the soft moon light would shine in the balcony throwing a dim light on the occupants. It is at this time, ghost stories are discussed with relish and age is not a factor. The children and the women would incessantly discuss more ghost then the men. Imagine when everything is dark ap proximately you that you cannot even see the face of the person sitting next to you, its unstained fun to listen to the true scary incident that happened to the friends friends uncles bosss sons friend.When your hair stands up after listening to the story, nobody even notices it in the darkness. The balcony is to a fault utilize for drying all mixed bag of pulses, clothes, spices and every other thing that can be dried. During the afternoon, it becomes a task to dodge your way by dint of drying clothes, spices and pulses. The size of an average balcony is 4 7 feet wide and very long in the range of 50-100 feet. On this long stretch of land they play everything from cricket to playing cards to even playing hockey with cricket bats. The balcony was multipurpose serving as a play motive to meeting send off to katta.After finishing food, they would come out and look in all burster trying to find out friends who seduce finished their dinner and lunch. thence they would start talk ing and the consequences could range from everything under the sun right from politics to cricket to non-existent girlfriend to sex. in that location are never any boundaries about the topic of discussion The balcony is a mini-katta in a chawl. It serves as a playing ground, a discussion room, a drying regularise, a community student residence and sometimes even as a provideroom. The balcony is the first common ground for the big family they call a chawl. Not getting what to name this topic as. plz ben name it. Mumbais chawls get under ones skin not only portrayed the outpouring of human emotions, simply constitute in addition laid the readyation for Samaritans in this cross cultural city. These dense dwellings have seen bonhomie at its best like residents sharing meals and neighbours becoming ex hightail ited families. This is the only place of abode, where they not only share spaces, that too as veritablets. From Worli to Girgaum, and from Nana Chowk to Cuffe Para de, these dwellings of human bind and mayhem have dotted the city for age.Chawls have indeed been an essential part of South Mumbai and have added character to its very being, and some of them have even been varianceified as heritage structures. A day in a chawl Enter any chawl and the scene would more or less be the same a handful of children indulging in a wager of hide-and-seek, running in and out of each others homes with braw abandon groups of women clustering together exc break juicy bits of gossip about the latest chawl scandal a few people standing listlessly just watching the goings-on. All so typically chawlish. Perfection in imperfection, in a way.In the city where the cases of anomie and depression are rising, chawl culture is a immense relief for senior citizens and children. For instance, 63-year-old Sucheta Kelekar, a resident of Dadar, has stayed in her legitimate room all her life and cannot imagine herself living anywhere else. Our family go here in the 1 950s, after partition. Weve always lived in harmony with our neighbours, who are like a family to us. said she. The flipside With the increase of several high rises in the city, many of these chawls have been demolished and consequently all its residents have locomote out into the suburbs to live in soulfulness apartments.Obviously this has led to the dying out of much of the culture and bonding that chawls ordinarily facilitated. Yes, living in an individual apartment becomes beauteous lonely after you have lived in a chawl your whole life, says Salil Shirodkar, who travel from a clustered chawl in Worli to a 1-BHK in Dadar. Times have limitingd though. Earlier it was all about living in one big community where everyone knows whats happening in their adjacent homes. Wed share everything, from recipes, to toys, to our problems. The present generation doesnt accusation about old ties.As in short as they can afford it, they favor to jaunt into our own nows where they can li ve in comfort, Bachelors spoil the company Within the chawls, the genre of inflowing residents is changing from family of four to mavin bed space for bachelors. It is really quite annoying exclaims Varsha Patel of Dadar. Most residents have locomote into the suburbs and rented out their rooms to bachelors who come at odd hours and cause in and smoke. They have no interest in mingling with anyone and play loud unison till late hours.Chawls utilise to be all about family bonding plainly sadly that has now been taken over by individuals who plough their homes like guest houses. Further echoing this thought is Naveen Mehta of Dadar her neighbour, who summarises the situation aptly Chawls used to be a blend of many communities. Families of Marwaris, Maharashtrians, and Gujaratis would all co-exist in satisfaction. Everyone was Santusht. Now the focus is on the individual. . Chawl Vs. Flat Five-year-old Neeraj is bored. He pretends to watch TV, jumps on the bed and talks to his pillow.His mother, Edna Nair, understands, but time lags the door closed on purpose. It is a rehearsal. She is preparing her son for their spick-and-span neighbours. What if they complain about him making a noise, she says. For the chivalric one year, ever since the Nairs shifted from their 100-square-foot chawl room into a 225-square-foot flat, little Neeraj has learnt to entertain himself at home. His tutelage began from their years in the transit camp two years ago, when the Nairs watched their two-floor decrepit chawl in south Mumbai transform into a nine-storey giant.It was a exhausting novelty, but it was also called the groovy life. Their new apartment has assured them all the things they lacked wedded bathroom, separate kitchen, privacy and respect. And a loft that is now fill up with utensils instead of people. They have even bought a refrigerator. tho Edna is already spirit suffocated. She misses change surface chats with other women in the common balcony and w orries about expenses. Before they moved in, her sister, who lives in a lower-ranking flat in Andheri, had warned her about huge maintenance bills and other costs that come with the flat system.Edna knew that once the building was fully ready and they moved in, her 72-rupee monthly chawl rent would concisely be history. Why should we show that we are rich when we arent? asks Edna wondering if it was a veracious decision to move into a flat. But her mother, Teresa, is happy. For someone who worn out(p) 38 years in the chawls delivering milk packets, Teresa didnt want the same life for her grandson. I want him to study English in a good school, she says and the apartment, she believes, takes him a step closer to the kind of life he should survive in the future.Its the case with almost all the families who are giving up their old dwellings in chawls and slums to builders who assure them fantastic lifestyle leaps. While the change from their routine to something that they have on ly seen on TV seems daunting, there is a strong urge among these people to improve their lives. They yield to the builders and watch their old homes being demolished because they dont want their children to suffer. Housewife Suguna Shetty, who would earlier divert all guests to her brother-in-laws flat in Parel to save herself from the embarrassment of exposing her chawl, is now proud of her new residence.The lift in her building doesnt work most of the time, but Shetty who waistcloth on the ninth floor takes heart in the fact that her TV, which used to be on a trunk earlier, now rests in a showcase. Her daughter Deeksha too, likes it here. I can ask friends to come over. Deeksha knows of kids who, while reversive from school would actually walk a few steps ahead of their chawls so that their friends would not know where they lived, wave goodbye and then mother to the real homes. BMC employee Ravikant Baokar was one of them. Nobody likes to say they live in a chawl.If you say yo u stay in a building, you are automatically reckon no matter how small your flat is, he says. This respect comes in handy while finding alliances. Recently, when an engineering student from Baokars chawl told his prospects family that he would soon be shifting into a flat, the girl, it seems, immediately agreed for marriage. For slum-dwellers, the shift inspires a desire to look after themselves. LIC agent Raju Gaddam, a resident of Indira Nagar slum, who shifted to a flat two years ago says his language and attire have undergone major changes. I even painted my scooter, when I came here. His apartment, which he proudly describes as east-west facing, gave him the confidence to buy a refrigerator. I wouldnt have bought it in my slum, because I didnt know when my house would be broken down. Not everybody is happy though. Some find the flat culture very impersonal. They miss the joys of hanging out with their shirtless friends in the compound or borrowing chairs without permission f rom neighbours anymore. Pandal architect Rakesh Gautam, whose assistants used to sleep in his house, now has to find a new room for them, due to society rules.Earlier, during fiestas or weddings, he would volunteer to aggrandize mandaps for free. Though he would like to continue the charity, Gautam says, I wont be able to use the compound for my decorations anymore. On his assignments, Gautam has come across other chawl members who shifted a few years earlier. They would live in the building in pretty much the same way as in the chawl, until new tenants came in, he says, laughing. Some would put their cupboards in the stair landing. Kids would brush their teeth in the elevator.The liftman wouldnt complain. But when the society was formed, and new tenants came in, things changed, says Gautam. By now, builders know they are luring people who like to carry their world along, wherever they go. Sudhir Das, secretary of a building full of rehabilitated slum-dwellers, recalls his inten sive cleanliness drive. Initially, people would spit on the staircase or hang their clothes in the passage, he says. They would even keep their doors open. But that changed when there was a robbery. Now, almost all doors are shut.The transition from chawls to flats, unexpectedly, has caused ailments too. Lakshmi Sonar says, I have severe back pains and have even grown fat here, as I am intent to these walls. Also, she doesnt know how to react to sweepers or postmen who ring her doorbell asking for Diwali bonus. I hardly get any letters, why should I pay him. blithesome Wadhawan, director of HDIL (Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd. ) which profits from slum rehabilitation, has built his glassed office building on what used to be the Indira Nagar slum in Bandra.Every day, dexterous who has a guard following him everywhere, faces many complaints from irate slum-dwellers, who are like his adopted children. They sometimes come with complaints of water supply and Sunny cal mly passes the task to civic bodies. Yet, its not surprising why pitiable people want to trust a builder and allow a lucky draw to decide their new notional homes. Though they love the natural rustic warmth of their chawls and slums, they know that Mumbai and the times have changed. They know that the warmth of the chawls is the warmth of failure.And they also feel, in the present day boom, their children have the opportunity to escape from the poverty that each of their forefathers suffered. If moving into a flat can make an LIC agent paint his scooter, it can also make children believe they have a brighter future. Raju Gaddam, who studied in night school, now sends his three kids to New English school in Bandra. The products of the school, he believes, are now earning Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh a month. He has just one complaint with the flat culture. The passage is too narrow. But then as an afterthought, he adds, Its definitely better than a gutter. Festivals Festivals are the lif e of the people in chawls. They cannot imagine their life without celebrating anything in their special chawl ways. They regardless of caste, region, religions, sex, creed, age participate in some or the other way. Everyone works single mindedly for the celebrations from preparing the feast to decorations. Everyone contributes in every possible way. Festivals were the most enjoyable period. scratch festival of the year is Makarsankranti Makarsankranti i. e.Kite flying on 14 Jan. They gather on terraces and it is fun filled day, they give Tilgud going to eachothers house wishing everyone Tilgud Ghya divinity fudge God Bola( eat sweet and talk sweet). Holi Holi the favourite festival of many is celebrated with a great enthusiasm and zeel. Even after facing scarcity of water through and throughout the year but in Holi they use water without any hesitation for playing Holi. Even the presidential term supports them by supplying extra liters of water for them to take bath in the after noon. Gopal Kala (Dahi Handi) Monsoon session would start with Govinda.They have Handi which is broken with 3-4 Thars (human floors) This is usually local anaesthetic inter-group communication but Govindas from various Mandals also go places to parcipate in the competition for falling out the Handis at different places. Ganesh Utsav Ganpati festival the most lovable and appreciable festival of all is Pride of Place. It is not only a festival but also a source of fulfillment and worshipping where people of different religion come together. This festival is not only celebrated in the maharashtrian homes but by people of every religion with the same intensity and doctrine in Lord Ganesha.These Chawls have Sarvajanik Ganesh Utsav Festival and most Marathi homes have Ganpati for 1-7 days and majority of them have Gauri as well. It is 10 days of fun, music, orchestra, competitions,3 act drama etc culminating in the Grand Visarjan which starts with the grand visarjan pooja and end wi th immersion of the Ganesh Idols at Chawpathy or beaches till next day morning, the most difficult part to move and immerse the huge idol requires a great effort and to take it for immersion in deep sea, in darkness with full lunar time period was scary as well.This is difficult also because the emotional trauma they go through while returning home empty handed. In concomitant years focus has moved to huge idols of Ganesh and for them there is nothing to do as cultural weapons platformme degenerated to 16 mm movie shows and an evening of orchestra. Navratri Navratri is celebrated by Gujarati residents with Garba and Dandia which is also accompanied by the other members of their Chawl family. They have Dholi and Shehnai and Dandia Ras is more like Dholi Tharo n Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam than what we see these days at Falguni Pathaks show. Diwali Diwali was less noisy-most couldnt afford bursting crackers-and emphasis was on making Kandils usually similar Kandils for entire chawl which gave beautiful look to entire lane and one big Kandil at the enterance of the Chawl. Making sweets, diyas, beautiful Rangolis is a special suffer of Diwali. In fact they have Rangoli competition. Entire night is spent in creating Rangoli, some with nationalist or Shivaji themes, others with intricate designs and few with nature as theme.Christmas Christmas and New year were not celebrated as they didnt have Christian families living in the chawls but even then there is a changing trend now a days. YOUTH CULTURE correspond to a youngster, who we spoke to, there are many get-togethers taking place in a chawl, as people tend to celebrate their festivals together and also are a part of each others sorrows. When we asked him about the places where they usually meet, he told us about what is called the Saarvajanik Vruttpatra Vachanalaya, which also could be called a Public Newspaper Centre.It was rather surprising for us to hear that youngsters choose a place like a newspaper fondness to hang out, but what he added on was that, as the place was at the pith o the colony, and also there was no cost factor involved, it was convenient for the youngsters to meet up in the evenings. We also visited the newspaper centre and sat there for sometime. We saw that there were many newspapers there, but they were any Marathi or Hindi newspapers. This clearly showed that the people staying in the chawls were educated, but in Hindi or Marathi medium schools.And also, what we gathered out of all that is that the majority of the people staying in the chawls are Maharashtrians, and obviously there are people from other castes, but not in huge numbers. We also found out about the small-scale tuition markes, which mainly have students from kindergarten to SSC. These classes have a big market in these chawls, as the parents there are usually working, and they cant manage the studies of their children. We also spoke to certain friends who stay in chawls. We asked them a few questio ns regarding the social evils like drugs, harlotry and also incidents where several crimes are committed on women.They gave us a general idea on things, saying that drugs was not an issue in the chawl as the people there dont have the kind of time, and more importantly the money to get addicted to drugs. But, it seems that heavy-weight laborers usually drink liquor after they come back from work, and its very public for them to consume alcohol as it lightens their mood, and also relieves them from the stress. Tenement were small so there was no space for residents. You use home to bath,eat food and sleep. symmetry of the time you have to be out of the house. So groups were formed jibe to age and each group had its meeting place.During holidays and spend half the day was spent in company of friends. With plenty of time on manpower you indulge in games-cricket being favorite,but we played Kabbadi,lagori and Marbles. Carrom was very popular,and Table lawn tennis on small wooden bench. There was no TV, so communicate Ceylon with Binaca Geetmala was hot favorite. We had timeon hand, so could take part in Election campaigns. I remember election meetings of George Fernandes for Lok Sabha. He defeated S. K. Patil of Congress and virtually put an end to Patils political career in Mumbai. For decades Fernandes was called George the Giant Killer.In seventy Marathi youth was attracted to Shiv Sena with its Son of soil ideology. There was constant conflict between socialists and Shiv Sena. Most of us couldnt pursue studies after SSC due to financial constrains. Even passing SSC was poser as at home there was no space to study. We used to go to GMC Gymkhana bldg. on Marine Drive to study. Terrace was another good place. Most got job as clerk in BMC or in Govt. offices. Gujrati boys completed their college education and took jobs in Banks or offices. With hard work and diligence they progressed but couldnt reach very high posts.Very few could break through the Midd le class bracket. Caste Systems Residents of the chawls are predominantly Gujarati and Marwadi,rest are inhabit by Maharastrians. Few of the floor rooms are dorms for those who had come to Mumbai for work leaving their families in village. They work as Mathadi workers and others from Konkan res publica work as plumbers,painters,peons in small offices. Chawls have Chambhar(Mochi),Bhandari,Khatri,Kasar,Sonar,Brahmins, Desais and Low caste Patels from South Gujarat. There is no caste discrimination. Everyone takes part in Festivals. Even the person who has habilitate shop, is in charge of Sarvajanic Ganesh festival .Any Child is not being asked not to play or not to mix with low caste people. Chawl people are aware of the caste but it has no place in their day to day life. This has given Mumbai its unique character. Standard of living populate living in the chawls are mainly from the lower-middle class. They are the ones who actually live lives on meager standards. Normally we do fi nd people living in the societies which consist of the upper middle class and high class having a high standard of living. They enjoy all the luxuries in life. But this is not the case of the people living in the chawls.Most of the times, they are strip of the luxuries and rather live life the common mans way. They rarely go to restaurants to have their meals. According to the survey conducted by us we got to know that the residents of the chawls go to the restaurant just once in two months which is very obvious for them because they cannot afford such kind of expenses. According to the survey, what we found out was that they are people who lead a simple life without any fuss and make the most of whatever they have. Every expense they rule is well planned and thought about. They represent the working class of India.The room is mainly a one room kitchen with a toilet attached as provided by MHADA. We spoke to a youngster who resided in the Nehru Nagar Chawl area which is located n ear Kurla station. Age Group Wise Activities When we visited the chawls we decided to categorise the residents living there according to their age group and their activities. 1 rearing Class As the name suggests this class mainly consists of the ones who are still in academics. They are the ones who go to schools and colleges to complete their studies. We may be in an impression that people residing in chawls do not study. But its a misconception that we have got.They do work hard and put their police van out to become prosperous being in the future. But they do have setbacks. Once they sight failure they get distracted from their studies and conceive money as their only motive. and so they take up small tasks which yield them money. Thus when studies take a set back they tend to do jobs and that then become a part of their life. 2 on the job(p) Class This class mainly consists of the ones between the age group 30-40. They are the working members of the family. They are the on es who strive hard and earn a living. slew living in the chawls do not consider any work small or big.May it be any job they take it up whole-heartedly and do their work with sincerity. It is their daily bread and butter and hence they do it with dedication. People in the chawls mainly work in small posts. Some of them are agents, private officers, clerks and some of them take up financing and also work in small marketing agencies. Many of them are local garage mechanics who toil the whole day for eating 3 times in a day. They also learn driving and take up driving as their job. The chawl areas do have a lot of drivers. Drivers earn around 4000-5000 every month and carry on their house hold expenses.Many of them get government jobs through influence. For e. g. If a person is already working as a government official, he may use his influence and get a job for his friend. This itself proves the unity within the chawl community. They also do take up small jobs like A/c Mechanic, small electronic goods mechanic etc 3 Retired and the elderly class This class consists of the elderly people who have retired from their jobs and have taken a long leave from work. But it is not relief from work for these elderly people. They do get small responsibilities in the house.They do go out to institute their grand children from schools and kinder gardens. They take care of the small ones if their parents are busy out at work. They look after them the whole day and sometimes also get sleepless nights. But they do enjoy it sometimes but at the same time tends to get very tedious at this very old age. There are some people in this class who have sold their houses and gone to their respective villages to look after their farms. They look after their farms and also sometimes work on it. Thus the elderly and retired people do get to enjoy their long vacation from work but at the same time also work.Thus even at this very old age they have the will power to work and earn a decent su m for the family. Even at this age they prove to be responsible and also help the family in any possible manner. Media and chawls Still to b addedmore Katha Centre for use up Studies is back at the Alliance Francaise, Churchgate with a week long program of celluloid Screenings from Friday, 12th of January to Thursday, 18th of January 2007. After a very made Inaugural Festival in June 2006, they again bring an eclectic extract of films from the world of cinema specially curate by individuals for whom cinema is a way of lifeThis festival is in collaboration with the National Film Archives of India, Pane and NFDC. On the 12th and 13th of January, 2007, the Festival began with two days of Indian films dedicated to the theme of Mumbais Chawls. Amrit Gangar(a film scholar, writer, curator) had specially put together a package of five feature films, a short film and a compilation on representation of Bombay in films tilted CHALCHITRA CHAWLCHITRA-Popular Hindi Cinema and Mumbais Chawl. He led an intensive session of discussions and debates on the polemics and politics of space in urban context.They terminate the Festival with film enthusiast and cinema buff, Kiran Davids exciting filling which is packed with films from Japanese cinema. Unity In Diversity A Nana Chowk-resident Ranjana Sherlekar said, They are so used to being with each other all the time that its become a habit. Just the other day, he slipped on awet floor while cleaning my kitchen and no one was at home. All he had to scream was help and at least ten people came running to his rescue. Theyre really like a one big extended family she quips.The atmosphere, though filled with camaraderie, may protrude a tad stifling to one who has lived in an individual apartment, but it is part of life for chawl residents. For them, living together is their strength Conclusion transform is inevitable Change is inevitable, and even the most stable structure cannot lift that. Chawls have been a victim of changi ng times though the occasional(a) bond still remains, its bedrock which comprised the people who lived there have all left. They have been replaced by individuals, who have no interest in retentivity the community alive,