First time, when I landed in Mumbai, then it was Bombay, my first address was in a building in Housing Board Colony situated in one of the Mumbai’s buzzing suburb. There were hundreds of such buildings in that area and most of them looked same. Each building had a ground plus three other floors, with a staircase in the middle, in each floor there are four self-contained flat either side of the staircase and each flat contained one room, a kitchen and toilet, that way each building is having thirty-two such flats. Those so-called flats share a common balcony, it is known as chawl, of-course a colony full of row houses is also called by the same name, in Marathi it is chal.
My building was having it all, Jews, Christians, Muslims and Hindus. The Hindu families also belonged from different parts of India. Marathi’s, South Indians, Gujarati's and a couple from North India too. My next-door neighbour was an old man from Karnataka. He was a great human being and very helpful, unfortunately he is no more.
The community centre, I mean the balcony, which supposed to be a passage, served for all activities. Playing cards, housie and on Holi day it was painted with a few buckets of paints. Celebrations were unlimited, be it Christmas or Eid or some Hindu festivals, were always celebrated together. I remember how we poured buckets of water on human pyramid on Govinda (Janmashtami day, Lord Krishna's Birthday). Specially on Deepavali and Christmas, there were helping hand from all families to the family in need for making various delicacies.
I left after a couple of years but thereafter whenever I had time, I visited the building. Most of the Jews went back to Israel and some other got into the big money subsequently left the place and moved to a better place. Even Life got better with monetary inflows yet they never forgot those days that they considered being the golden times of their life. A big family living under one roof yet inside different doors but stayed like one family.
It has happened everywhere in Mumbai till today, I remember once visited a friend in Kanjur who was staying in a row-house, found a locked door but the neighbours never allowed us to leave, the man went on his cycle to the nearby place to look after my friend and her husband, while the wife served us cup of tea with some homemade snacks.
With emergence of high-rise and multi-facility complexes, the chwal culture in Mumbai is dying thick and fast, but neighbourhood helping hand remains better than other part of India. Often every one from each walk of life carried it to the office while moving via Mumbai local. You will find some of its taste even today while travelling in Mumbai local, especially in office hours and of-course in Central Railway between Karjat or Kasara to C.S.T. Feeling is not the same while travelling by Western Railway, I mean Virar to Churchgate, if you ask me the cause, frankly I have no idea, better I leave to the travellers who travel by W.Rly.
!!!Sharing gives so much joy yet it is our misery that we end up only sharing our pains not our gains.!!!
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