Cityscape and Food Politics: Kapasia Family
Director: Madhusree Dutta
Duration: 00:43:08; Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1; Hue: 22.868; Saturation: 0.268; Lightness: 0.351; Volume: 0.357; Cuts per Minute: 1.460; Words per Minute: 107.544
Summary: Kapasia family is a Jain trader family. The large joint family live in a few falts in the same apartment building in Borivali. Though basically a trader family, the younger generation have also acquired professional degree and work in professional set ups in addition to the business. Though the flat is inadequate for the large family and the building too is old fashioned for the economic status of the Kapasias they prefer to stay put in the area that they are comfortable in. Jains are strictly vegetarian as they believe in non-violence. But in order to maintain the purity of their non-violence practice some Jains resort to all sort of violence in order to push away the people who eat non-vegetarian food. In recent years there have been serious incidences of discrimination against the meat and fish eating communities in Mumbai – such as denying tenancy in housing societies, forcibly shutting down restaurants and evicting old fish markets and fishermen’s settlements. Jains are rich traders and majority of them are supporters of the right wing party BJP (Bhartiya Janta Party). They have been using their political clout and class position to ‘cleanse’ the city. There is a definite attempt to divide the modern Indian cities between vegetarian gentry side and non-vegetarian pedestrian city. Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat has been the first test case for this design. Mumbai is second in the list. The pogrom over food politics got nurtured specially during the BJP rule at the centre in 1999-2004. This interview was organized in order to understand the depth of this food politics and related intolerance.
The entire Gujarati family sitting in the living room
Madhu (M): Kapasi Bhai, please introduce your family to us.
Pratapbhai Himatlal Kapasi (PBK): This is my eldest brother Dr.Bhogi Bhai Himmath Bhai Kapasi, this is his wife Divya Behen Bhogi Lal Kapasi, this is my elder brother Lalit Bhai Himmat Lal Kapasi, his wife Rupa Behen Lalit Lal Kapasi. I am the youngest of all and my name is Pratap Bhai Himmat Lal Kapasi. This is my wife Bharthi Pratap Lal Kapasi, this is my second son Paresh Pratap Lal Kapasi, my daughter Dhara Pratap Lal Kapasi and this is my daughter-in-law Krupali Romil Kapasi. This is my elder brother's daughter in law Sonal Piyush Kapasi. She is my other brother's daughter in law Deval Jignesh Kapasi. These are my niece and nephew Riddhi and Ayush.
M: Whats your name?
PBK: Pratap Bhai Himmat Lal Kapasi.
Madhu (M): Could you introduce your family to us?
This is my eldest brother Dr. Bhogi Bhai Himmat Lal Kapasi. His wife Divya Behen Bhogi Lal Kapasi. Eldest Son Romit Pratap Lal Kapasi. This is my second son Paresh Pratap Lal Kapasi, My one and only daughter Dhara Pratap Lal Kapasi, my wife Bharthi Pratap Kumar Kapasi, my grandson Chinku Romil Kapasi, my second brother Lalit Bhai Himmat Lal Kapasi. My bhabhi Rupa Behen Lalit Lal Kapasi, my niece Riddhi Piyush Kapasi, this is Sonal Piyush Kapasi, Krupali Romil Kapasi, Deval Jignesh Kapasi and last Ayush Piyush Kapasi
The large joint family of the Kapasias assemble in the crammed living room of the family. The head of the family introduces each member to the camera with a precise patriarchal context. He painstakingly mentions every person's (including the infants) name with an emphasis on the middle name which actually bears the name of the father and in case of married women name of the husband. Everybody's lineage and territory is crystal clear. On request he gives a retake of the performance. In first take it is a wide shot and in second the camera follows the person being introduced. The large joint families are maintained not only for cultural reasons. If a family is registered under Hindu Undivided Family (HUF – which this family is likely to be as Jain as a separate community from the Hindus is not well recognized in Indian law) they enjoy greater tax benefit.
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Borivali
M: Since how long is your family settled in Bombay?
PBK: We are born and brought up in Bombay.
M: Where are you originally from?
PBK: Surendranagar, Chuda. My native place is Chuda.
Himmat Lal Kapasi (HMK): In Gujarat there is a region named Saurashtra. In Saurashtra there is a town called Chuda. We all hail from there. That is our father and forefathers. But now we are all from Bombay and Maharashtra
PBK: Born and brought up in Bombay
M : Since how many generations you are here?
PBK: 5-6 generations.
HMK: Even my grandfather was in Bombay.
Lalit Bhai Kapasi (LBK): So from this I am telling 6 generations.
So is your family the traders family or are you in services?
PBK: Traders family
Paresh Pratap (PP): We are Baniyas (traders community) from Gujarat so we know how to do business. So that is our speciality you can say and that is why we are required in Mumbai.
PBK (Pratapbhai Himmatlal Kapasia) is a proud father of two highly educated and professional sons. The elder son is an architect. His younger son, Paresh Prataplal Kapasia (PP) is a chartered accountant (CA) and one of his clients is a reputed art gallery. That is how we met him and got access to his family. He must have had an idea of our political lineage. Still he did not hesitate to invite us to interview his family. Was it naiveté or a kind of self assured arrogance? In fact he talked most of the time during the interview and mouthed opinions which are far more dangerous than that of his father. It could also be the temptation for the 3-minutes immortality on screen, made so popular by the television reality shows.
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The senior Kapasia talks about neighbourhood structure in Mumbai. 'C' Ward is actually the bazaar area of the old city. The bazaars were related to the ports and thus always accommodated people form various communities and nationalities. The parts of the city which got developed later during the industrialisation and in the present era of post-industrial service sectors are much more monochromatic in character. Yet Mr. PBK could not or did not hide the pride in presently being part of a ghetto. In the politics of cityscape localities of middle class majority are neighbourhoods and the settlement of lower-class minorities are ghettos!
(M: Were you residing in Kandivli area right from the begining Kapasi Bhai?
PBK : No. Earlier I used to reside in Pyduni Gullal Wadi. Since last 30 years we are staying at Kandivli.
M: Were you carrying out some business at Pydhuni?
PBK: No. At that time I was studying and since 30 years am doing business.
M: Earlier Kapasi Bhai, people from all cultures, languages stayed everywhere but with the passage of time there is more segregation. These days people say that here Gujarati people reside, here Marathi people reside, here Muslims reside, here Christians do. So in Bombay now… the earlier way of people of all cultures residing together is reducing. What is your opinion about it?
PBK: In 'c' ward there was always mixed community. Now if we go to suburbs and watch out for 'who is the neighbour'. This kind of a problem did not exist in 'C' ward earlier but it persists in suburbs. The people now wish to see that his neighbour is a Gujarati as now we are in a Gujarati dominated area. Somebody may like Mohammedan, somebody may like Christian dominated area. It depends from person to person view.
M: So aren't there any benefits in this system?
PBK: To tell you honestly in our Shankar galli there nearly 2000 Jain community houses. If we want 10000 persons to be accommodated or collected they can be collected within 5 minutes notice. In this lane itself 2000 houses are of Jains.
Gulal Wadi
Kandivali, Mumbai
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M: Since my movie is about Mumbai, the city, people residing , their thoughts etc., let me ask you a question…What do you feel when you go to some locality in Mumbai? Do you understand what kind of people reside there? Is it easy to understand?
PBK: Yes. By the language they speak, clothes they wear, nature of house they select…we can understand by all these phenomena which community they belong to.
M: These days most of them reside in flats and don't all of them look similar?
PBK: No, lets say if it's a Jain house they will have a particular god's idol, Hindu will have another idol, if it's a Christian he will have Jesus idol in his home, if it's a Mohammedan the interior design will also be changed. All flats constructed by builder may be the same but its clear that their interior design will suggest to which community they belong to.
PBK opines that the religious and cultural affinity of a person would be reflected in the interior design of a house, even in contemporary flats. It could have been a fine logic for cultural specificity and simultaneous social plurality, if it was not coming in the context of intolerance. While Pratapbhai gives his opinion on camera his wife sits through with a proud smile.
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Paresh Pratap (PP): Should I say something?
M: yes…
PP: I would like to make a point that whenever you go to an area, and you see the market place or shops surrounding there, they sell things that are consumed by the local residents. So based on the community the sales are on and you can identify the place.
For ex: if it's a Christian area, one can see wine shops. More flourished. In our area you can see the gajras (flower garland), you can see the garlands and everything like that. So the idea is that locality makes a huge difference for a person… because he feels more safe, he feels more relaxed that I can find my brothers, my kind of mentality. That is what is the idea. I myself have seen that when I go to a Pydhuni area then all businessmen reside there. Beside one utensil seller there may be 50 more utensil sellers and in one CA's complex there may be 50 more of them residing. So this is the idea. I think one can easily make out. The person who is here in India or lets say Mumbai, one can easily make out.
Pydhuni, Mumbai, India
The CA, Paresh Pratap joins in. Like a true trader he zeros down on popular commodities on sale as a sign for the religious /cultural identity of a neighbourhood. Though his examples are laden with heavy dose of stereotypes – wine shops in Christian area etc.
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Bandra, C ward
M: I need more suggestions from you. There are some old areas like the ones you were mentioning - the 'c' ward where the mix community still prevails. Their way of living is different…
PBK: There was just the chawl system there then and no flat system was existing. Next door neighbour may be a Mohammedan Let me tell you in the past, the place where I was staying my neighbour was a Mohammedan. There was no problem .
PP: At that time may be there was no problem. Because of the riots in 1992, people have become more conscious. That is where the question comes. Also with the multinationals coming, I don't want a dance bar in my locality you know, then more the people to support more easier to stop it. That's the basic idea. That is why I will not go to Bandra and stay even if I can afford it This is the idea.
M: Why won't you stay?
PP: I wont stay. Despite liking lot of things in Bandra I prefer to be here. It keeps me grounded. I am a realistic person. I don't want to go to that part where things are not looking so clear in comparison to what I can see from here. Altogether it's a different culture, as you say it's culture centred. It's a cultural centre that represents a different culture which I am not so far ready to accept wholeheartedly. So it may stop my progress.
M: You said things in a very abstract way and my audience would find it difficult to understand. If you could explain all these through examples it would be nice.
PP: Ok. I would like to see a girl wear a short skirt. But my family would not prefer that people from my family wearing a short skirt.
Ok now if I go to Bandra, they (girls from his family) may wear a short skirt because we try to match our environment. Don't you think so?
The senior Kapasia atleast shows some sign of tolerance. He accepts that living in a cosmopolitan area and next to a Muslim family was peaceful. Though he also emphasises that it was a chawl (lower middle class common housing) structure and not a flat, the middle class housing that they live in presently. Could it be understood as a statement that the poorer areas have more secular enviorment than that of the affluent areas? But his younger son is much more rabid. He believes that it is not possible to live next to a Muslim any more as the social climate has changed since 1992. In 1992-93, after the demolition of Babri masjid, Hindu right wing parties BJP and Shivsena orchestrated communal riots against Muslims in Bombay. But Mr. PP has made his own history in which the non-Muslim communities in the city had suffered during the 1992 riots and since have become more 'conscious' to stay away from the Muslims. Camera closes on his righteous face. With that encouragement we got more wild. His next logic is that living among Christians will affect the moral of the women in his family. In order to save the women from moral corruption and exposure to other cultures, the young patriarch dictates them to stay put within the familiarity of the ghetto.
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A mid shot of the father-son duo. The interviewer strategically try to navigate the discussion towards food politics. In their own admission the special cuisine of the Jain is available in all restaurants and elite hotels. Yet they pull strings to control the food habit of the non-vegetarian people who are much larger in number. The bright CA fellow immediately catches the twist and announces with a sly smile, 'they represent a lot of wealth'! That is the politics of food and cityscape!
M: Since I am into this field of documentary film making we come across lot of questions like these….since you are a Jain let me ask you this. They have a style of living, they are vegetarians, if there is no Jain restaurants near by…do you think we need to work on this as a group or take an initiative?
PBK: To tell you honestly, 30 years back I was engaged and I had been to Sion circle. Went to watch a movie in Rupam talkies and closeby there was a restaurant. We ordered food there and I just said get chutney with Dosa and not Sambar. Then the waiter said… just after a minute. Well, Jain Sambar is available. Do you prefer that? So in Bombay now in 50% of area we do get Jain items. We do get food. Even in 5-star hotels, they served full Jain items.
M: Ok so you mean to say its available now. Can you say approximately how many Jain families are there in Bombay?
PBK: Approximately 25,00,000 Jains in Mumbai. (Mumbai's population is approximately 150,00,000)
PP: They represent a lot of wealth.
PBK: 40% of revenue as taxes is given by Jains to the government in Bombay. That is the estimate that is accepted by the government.
Sion, Mumbai
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Again the same pattern. The father tries to humanize the story by talking about old days, transformation of the city etc. But the son goes back to the muscle display of wealth. Interestingly the wealth and the clout that he flaunts is not even directly accessible to him. It is more of a reflected glory, a form of race pride .
M: Lot of buildings like Malabar Hills…..could you say about that?
PBK: ya… Jain community are there.
PP: There are basically two areas where the Jains are very strong they are Stock Market---by Jains I mean basically the Gujratis and the other is the diamond market. These two are commodities which yield/ earn super profit. So that's why they earn that much money. So they can afford to stay at the best places, get best facilities and also influence the best people. In turn they get their share also definitely.
PBK: There was a time in Bombay when I was in school, it used to get flooded, roads were very bad, there were horse carriages, there were trams. We had traveled from Colaba to Dadar in tram. We have seen all the things.
Wife: There were no donations for school admission.
PP: Life was not that costly.
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Kandivali
Malad
Nariman point
PBK: Sunday evenings were spent just by a walk to and fro from Nariman point to home. We used to feel happy.
PP: There was not much of traffic on the road. People walking on the road felt that I also belong to the road but now people feel that they belong only at the house. A person who is 80 years old now may say, hey God time has come for me to die.
PBK: If you see Malad and Kandivali stations now….people need not go to SV road they are thrown at SV road. Its just become too crowded now. This is how the population has risen now.
S V Road
Talk on increasing crowd and traffic.
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M: If given a choice which area or building will you choose to stay?
PP: We would like to stay here only. But we want little bit of more space and facilities. I feel comfortable here. Our life is quite satisfactory. Infact we would like to develop the place that I am in. There are places like the NCPA buildings where sometimes I feel I would like to stay but then again it depends….
M: But there are a lot of buildings like the Jain building… do you prefer to be in such places? Is this a Jain building?
PBK: No. this building is vegetarian. Hindu and Jains.
PP: There is not a single family that has (eats) non-veg. that's what we like. It's a completely vegetarian (PBK: Vegetarian…vegetarian…) building of 135 flats.
PP once again asserts his parochialism. (NCPA building: a fancy sea facing skyscraper at Nariman point. Believed to be one of the most expensive residential buildings in India). The father –son duo render the word 'vegetarian' as the value of their property with extreme pride and some kind of hidden threat. Being the fanatic worshippers of non-violence their threat would likely to be economic and not physical.
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Elphinston
Lower Parel
M: I stay in Thakur complex…I know about such things…Elphinstone also had this kind of building….could you say about this.
Wife: We would like to stay here itself. With the maximum facilities that we can, we are happy here. Because if we go away from here then we will have to recreate and develop everything all over again.
PBK: Even in Shanker galli there are plots available. There are bungalows. Only 400sq.feet of plots are available for 2 crore rupees.
Wife: Our building is also in for re-development.
PBK: Its likely to be demolished soon.
M: I have heard that there is fish market near a building in Elphinstone and people find it very difficult to pass through it. Do you have any idea about this?
Romil Pratap (RP): The area smells that's the major problem. After doing so much and spending so much when people return they have to take this foul smell. A vegetarian will not be able to take such things. So if you see the Elphinstone and Lower Parel areas, this is the problem, there are big buildings surrounded by Marathi people who eat nonveg regularly. So this foul smell of the market will affect a vegetarian even mentally. Even after paying so much money there is no satisfaction that's the reason why they prefer to stay here.
Shanker Galli
Thakur complex
Thakur complex is a middle class colony in North Bombay with a large Gujarati population. Recently the Jains have built a temple inside the colony and then have evicted all the fish vendors and the non-vegetarian restaurants from the vicinity on the ground of rights to religious practices. This kind of eviction never happens legally, but through coercion and whisper campaigns. Elphinstone and Lower Parel are parts of the textile mill area. The mills have closed down and the industrial land is being released for real estate development. Of late, fancy skyscrapers have come up in that area. Next to the skyscrapers stand modest workers' quarters. The workers (who worked for the textile mills and now are retrenched) are mostly fish-eating Marathis. There is also a 100 years old fish market in the vicinity. The rich Gujaratis who have purchased flats in the skyscrapers are building up pressure to demolish the fish market and the workers' quarters.
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M: So there is this development happening in Parel and other old areas, this problem will persist, but as we can see a lot of money is invested in this. So what do you have to say about this?
PBK: There is a money flow. Unless and until govt. comes out with a regular policy. You must have read the newspapers recently about the judgement of court - mill lands, MHADA (govt. housing body), etc.,
Now if you stay in a flat of 2000sq.feet and your neighbour is a MHADA resident occupying 200sq.feet. How will it suit you? Then to sell this flat of 2000sq. feet is a problem.
PP: We need to solve this problem. It's a fact that the new generation likes cosmopolitanism. Whatever there place is they are not worried about. But there are still some values lying inside the heart of the vegetarian person. There are somethings that he is bound to keep distance. If its possible he would like to avoid. If Mohammadean is my next door neighbour then it becomes difficult to deal in a regular situation because what I want to inculcate as a value or habit in my family I will not be able to do it Maybe people can buy a flat because of the location, or it may look very nice, but at the same time one should see what kind of neighbour one has because ultimately it is the mind….the mind which is very important and if mind has some other vibes then it cannot do what it is supposed to do and that's where the problem lies. So a solution has to be found for this.
The conceived issue of urban development for this family is the right and convenience of the person who purchases a 2000 square feet flat in a working class area. The working class person who has been living in the modest 200 square feet housing must bow out to make space for the nouveau riche. Besides the people who belong to any other affiliation than the hegemonic community must also be contained in a segregated place. So a rich Gujarati does not only buy an apartment but buys the right to decide the structure of an entire neighbourhood. Wondering whether it never struck them that the shooting crew that they were talking to consisted of a Malayali sound recordist, UP cameraman, Bengali director and Muslim production assistant and that they could get offended by such remarks. Or may be they don't care.
Parel, Mumbai
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M: What I am worried about is the investment that goes into it…goes in the flats like these where MHADA people stay, you stay, there is so much investment. What is your opinion about this?
PBK: These buildings will be made and will be sold. 50% is the investment part and 50% is the occupancy part.
PP: I don't think it will be a feasible option for the govt. to declare that certain part is for Jain, some for Hindu's. Its not right for the overall growth of Mumbai because we certainly learn somethings from the other side of people. Because we all are Indians and that is not an issue. Issues or problems are created when a non-veg restaurant comes in a 100% Hindu or vegetarian area. This is because a businessman should not hurt the social part of the life. You can do business but should not hurt the mentality of people. So this much of understanding is required on the person who frames rules. There can be an intelligent man who can come up with a solution. City will definitely grow based on business, ability and opportunities. No one can stop a mass. But with a policy definitely there can be some change which will help in the development of overall Mumbai. I would certainly like not to have a nonveg restaurant or a dance bar in my locality.
The interviewer tries to shift the conversation to the issue of real estate mafia. The dance bar is an unique phenomena of Mumbai / Maharashtra. For more information on this please visit events under 'Bar dancers' in this site. Dancing in bars is a industrial version of commercial dancing of courtesans and market place folk dancing. The dancers perform to the tune of Bollywood songs in the bars. In 2005 the Govt. of Maharashtra banned dancing in bars rendering 75,000 women jobless, under the pretext of public morality. The incident sparked huge public debate – in favour of the dancers' rights to livelihood, performance and sexuality and against degradation of women's body and indecent act. Mr. Paresh Pratap obviously belongs to the second category.
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M: As you can see all these changes happen quite fast. Do you think all these changes are done rapidly, without much of a thought?
PBK: Yes. Govt as you know… nexus between two sides of the coin. 2001 they amend it, 2005 court challenges, it will create problems for both. Builders have to go to the Supreme court to get the High court judgement amended. It is a problem.
RP: It is properly planned by the builders and the govt. Builder's paid initially…Like you know corruption is our mean and gradually the rates were increased steadily. This is properly planned by big builders, like Raheja or….others who have built big things. These rates have been hiked to attract foreign investors.
PBK: In today's Hindustan Times there is an article that carries interview given by Hafeez contractor, the biggest architect. Cost of construction of MHADA 225sq.feet, it will cost 21/2 lakhs but the value of the land will be 24 lakhs. How can a lower middle class man afford so much, plus stamp duty, plus all other expenses? It is impossible. If you are staying in a flat of 2000sq.ft and if your neighbour is staying in a flat of 225sq.feet, if you are living on a 10 storey building and the view that you see from there is a hutment area, what will be your reaction? That is the problem.
The builder lobby and the real estate mafia in Bombay has been creating mayhem since its inception. Bombay is a narrow strip of land made by stringing together a few islands. So the city can only grow vertically. On the other hand it is posed as a trade capital of India. Hence the land crunch has always been there due to the constant flow of migrants and influx of market capital. Thus the city of Bombay is constantly being 're-developed' and 're-constructed; and in the process creating a viciously powerful builders' lobby. Middle class people like Kapasias understand the game. But yet their verdict is against the working class settlements. For them all problems of urban development would get resolved if the working class is evicted.
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problem
property
raheja builder
re-development
real estate
regulation
square feet
stamp duty
trade capital
value
verdict
vicious
PP: When ever some planning is done there is a saying in Gujarati – jino aja vyapari, praja bhikari. So that is what is happening with us. The business mentality is cropping up in the rulers head , the ones who are actually incharge of thinking about the prosperity of the people, of the Nation….but instead all that they aim is to make money 'cos they know after 5 years they will not be elected.
M: what you are saying is a different thing. You are talking about govt. As a businessman he is saying that these buildings are made without much thought?
PBK: Govt has sold Centaur hotel and after 6 months they sold it to another party. So all the profit is bound to go to the govt. itself. They created a hype through media and got the work done. This should not have happened.
Talk on the nexus between the builders lobby and the politicians in power.
builder
business
centaur hotel
corruption
election
electoral politics
greed
hype
lobby
mafia
media
money
nation
nexus
people
politician
power
profit
property
public sector
real estate
sell
value
M: Another thing is that getting back to the Elphinstone buildings, there were discussions held with BMC (Bombay Municipal Corporation)….what are the kind of problems that you face?
PBK: There was an article recently in English newspaper, in Charkop area, one Gujarati builder, has constructed 4-6 buildings of seven storeys…. totally unauthorised. Assuming the plans are approved some people bought flats from them. Now the municipality has put fractures and broken certain RCC beam and columns and now buildings cannot be occupied and has to be demolished. Now what will happen to this?
M: But here the case was reverse. Because at the time of sale it was said that this fish market will not be here.
PBK: That's always like this. They say something during the planning and something else happens at the time of sale.
PP: Builder is a lion for whom just super-profit counts. It is not like manufacturing a product which evolves over 15 years. Where as a ten-storey building is made within 6-8 months and they try to sell and get out of that project after that. Builder does things based on the time frame and that is where the whole manipulation comes. In order to sell my product I can give a lot of promises but what I fulfill is very less and govt. is also part and parcel of it….'cos (sic) sometimes it gives licenses (without scrutiny) ... but ultimately it is the people who face all the severities.
Talk on real estate crimes and unscrupulous behavior of the builders. They are naturally sympathetic to the buyers who purchase flats from these builders and then suffer. But they still refuse to understand what is wrong in selling or buying a flat based on the assurance of evicting the lawful neighbours. As usual the CA provides a financial analysis of the situation. This young man cannot even make a casual conversation without counting profit and interests.
Charkop
Elphinston
analysis
bmc
bombay municipal corporation
builder
building
business
cheating
cut-throat
demolition
discussion
elphinston
eviction
financial
fish market
gujarati
illegal
interest
lawful
license
neighbour
people
profit
promise
scrutiny
unauthorised
unscrupulous
RP: Same thing happens with 'c' ward opera house towers (tall buildings). In opera house area I am doing interiors. There are 2-3 big towers that have come up there and a 3 BHK (bedroom-hall-kitchen) would cost Rs.100,00,000/-. If you see below from the top you will see total chawl system areas around. Builders will say we will do this, we will do that and the BMC people agree to it at that time. They get some money….So it happens that at the planning stage builders give promises supported by the BMC and on completion both of them do not fulfill them. With this huge population in Mumbai its extremely difficult to clear or change the locality. Lower middle class is very high and upper middle class is low….so to manage all these things its very difficult for the government also.
PP: I believe he has a point. When I was thinking what Vilasrao Deshmukh said that he will change Mumbai to Shanghai….What I told was…no…he can only change the name of Mumbai to Shanghai. He cannot bring in these changes with corrupt administration, lousy builders and people who are more business opportunistic you cannot bring changes.
PBK: No. Govt. must come out with a true policy. If you come to finance minister or planning commission chairman or Prime Minister, all three are economist they know what they are doing and what needs to be done. Accordingly if the govt. knows what should be the planning, and if they are strict about it and adhere to it then its fine. But it is not possible here.
The elder brother is an architect and working as interior designer. So his sympathy is directly towards his clients who buy posh flats in non-posh areas. He prefers to keep quiet on any other topic. If the city can get rid of its ugly settlements he would be satisfied. He says this with a certain sincerity and innocence. As if the slums and the settlements could be erased magically without destroying the people.
Opera House
Sanghai
administration
bhk
bmc
bombay municipal corporation
builder
chawl
cleansing
construction
destruction
economist
finance minister
flat
government
locality
lower middle class
neighbourhood
opinion
people
planning
planning commission
poor
population
prime minister
promise
regulation
settlements
sky scrapers
slums
statement
towers
upper middle class
usp
working class
M: yeah, a place changed in mere 10 days… Once I was speaking to a person from Matunga and he said 'I live far from the sea as it has a foul stink…. '
PBK: There is no problem to stay near the sea. If there is a beach, then there is a problem. If you see Walkeshwar area, there is a wall and if you are living in 4th, 5th, 6th floor then there is no smell absolutely.
M: some said sea-facing means…..
PP: There are quite a few preferences in selecting an area. Traveling is the biggest hazard in Mumbai. If a client asks you come here there, you charge for traveling also. Now schooling is also very important. The kind of ground (meant play ground) that I've, I will not have even if I've a multi-storey building. So different people have different preferences. Thus lot of factors like traveling, how close or far station is, schooling are all deciding factors. There are some business areas where you can do business but cannot stay there. Like Nariman point, is a very good area. No one will try to stay there because it is a totally isolated area. We get life only once and when I live I would definitely prefer to stay in a place which would give me more happiness, satisfaction. Where I can get a lot of good contacts, where I'll have a peaceful and a better life.
The young Paresh Pratap is all for good life and trying to make it even better. Only what he considers good is a bit confusing for us.
Matunga, Mumbai
Nariman Point, Mumbai
Walkeswar, Mumbai
area
building
business
city life
commuting
convenience
culture
ethos
facility
family
fish
hazard
infrastructure
life style
locality
metropolis
multi-storied building
mumbai
neighbourhood
play ground
preference
quality
residence
schools
sea
smell
station
stink
traveling
Behrambaug, Mumbai
For a long time the senior Kapasia has been meekly trying to make a point in favour of tolerance. But on the face of aggressive communal remarks by his sons he had to give in. Finally he speaks up and narrates a human interest story in favour of the Muslims. He tries to say that it is not a matter of intolerance but only a choice to opt for familiarity.
PBK: Certain people like to live in an area where lot of people are there, certain people feel, that they need to live in peace, not worry of who the neighbour is. Ask the people residing in multi-storied building who their neighbour is and he would say I don't know. He may or may not be aware. So some want peace, some want crowd. So it varies from person to person.
PP: and space is also one concern, with younger people also earning more money, they prefer better places and better living. That is one thing that counts. Plus the temples, the religion, etc., When people are getting old they would prefer that the worship places are also near.
PBK: If you see the Chawl system, if some mishap has happened, every other person would go and enquire about their well-being, even if its in our building people will definitely enquire but lets say this happens in flats where every floor has one flat….nobody bothers if a person has come or not. Nobody bothers…
The floods that happened on 26th july this year, I was stuck at Jogeshwari. I took auto, came to Patel estate, was not allowed to enter, then I went to Behrambaug, same thing there also, finally we decided to sit at Jogeshwari station. Mumbai has humanity… why… me and wife were sitting holding one another, 5-6 people came and said that we have tied tents separate for gents and ladies and are distributing tea and biscuits. If you want you can stay there. So all communities are helpful. But it's just that if the neighbour is of our community it would be better. That's all.
Jogeshwari
26/7
aggression
area
building
chawl
communal
community
exchange
flats
flood
help
humanity
insular
living condition
money
multi-storied
muslims
neighbour
neighbourhood
preference
refuge
religion
shelter
space
temple
tolerance
value
worship
M: So do you think we should have vegetarian community on one side and nonveg on the other like Ahmedabad?
PBK: No. Well that is also one kind of solution. Good one.
PP: But wherever there are cross-business interests, that would not happen, because how would you move the schools, how would you move the hospitals or churches from one place to another? Idea is depending on the community that is in majority they try to create an environment feasible to them. I honestly believe that its not possible to separate people based on the veg or non veg criteria. There are other criterias which can be marked out. This city has been evolved over a period of 100-140 years and the policy cannot change the 'rules' of a city. It may transfer some people from here and there. But I don't think that a policy cannot change something that is built over years in a day's statement. People may also not be willing to change.
PBK: After demolition (meant demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya by BJP and Shivsena) what has happened? Bombay was divided into 2 zones. Even after Indira Gandhi's assassination you can see what had happened to Sikh community was also not a good thing. Rani Palkiwala took a delegation of some independent members to the governor to bring law and order - if the govt fails… it is the duty of the governor to see that law & order prevails in Bombay… otherwise many persons will be killed. Shops are looted, everything is looted where they will go?
Senior Kapasia again impresses us. He voluntarily connects the issue of segregation on the basis of food habit to communal violence of '92-'93. He also mentions that communal violence is entirely a law and order issue. The CA ofcourse is willing to consider tolerance only for the sake of business and economic consideration.
1992
Ahmedabad
babri masjid
burn
business
city
communal
community
criteria
demolition
destruction
development
divide
food habit
government
governor
growth
hegemony
homogenization
indira gandhi
law and order
loot
majority
minority
non-vegetarian
opportunity
peace
policy
riots
segregation
shop
sikh
tolerance
vegetarian
violence
Mukul: Do you know about Shreepathi Rao building?
PBK: No.
RP: I think it is the building that is going to be the tallest building and I think it is designed by Hafeez contractor and there was a newspaper article saying that this is going to be the tallest building and is built in an area which is not that stronger an area to build such a high-rise building, plus the cost of the flats would be the highest in the overall context of things and only thing is it is only meant for the rich to stay.
Mukul: There were some Jains…
PP:No its not a Jain building but this is a building which can be identified as one of the prestigious places to stay in. So its meant for people concerned about status and those who can afford. How many people can afford these kind of flats? So it's a place which belongs to the richest…
M: Jains are the richest…so
PP: No…maybe one or 2 Jains will go but most will not unless there is some upasya near them. Even a crorepati Jain, who believes in religion will not go there unless he finds that there are people like me cos they don't like to stay in a cosmopolitan environment 'cos it will effect the coming generation.
Shreepati Rao building is one of the vegetarian fanatic housing society. In such places people who belong to communities who are known to eat non-vegetarian food are not allowed to purchase a flat. But our fanatic CA suggests that even that is not an adequate incentive for a Jain to live in such a building. Jains should live only in a Jain ghetto and not even with other vegetarians.
address
affordable
builder
community
cosmopolitan
culture
generation
hafeez contractor
jain
like minded
location
prestigious
purity
religion
rich
shreepathi rao building
status
upbringing
vegetarian
Either a temple near the house or a house near a temple. Comes to think of it, Avatar Mahaveer started Jainism against the idol worshopping of the Hindus!
Jain
Marwadi
PBK: The Jain Marwadi people even if they stay in Dharavi, they will take a murthy and will build a Jain temple beause they want it. The building close to my home is also a Jain temple. There were talks of demolishing it and then we had thought that we would shift our residence cos temple should be so near that we can go there every morning.
M: So you would like to stay in a place where there is a temple close by.
PBK: 90% of Jains will prefer that and 10% otherwise.
M: What else do you want? Temple, school…?
PBK: That's all. Basic requirement like school, college, and minimum means required for entertainment, one should be satisfied.
amenities
college
demolition
entertainment
facility
house
infrastructure
life style
requirement
residence
school
temple
vicinity
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