LIFE CYCLE

I grew up in Chembur, a north eastern suburb of Bombay, now Mumbai. We lived in a colony called Subhash Nagar, comprised of 30 apartments each apartment of two floors had 36 flats, consisting of around 300 square feet. It had one room and one kitchen with a washing area known as morie, for washing utensils and bathing. Each floor had two Toilets and two bathrooms which was common for six families of each floor.

There were other colonies too like the Tilak Nagar and Shell Colony with clusters of apartments, similar to Subhash Nagar.

These flats were allotted only to factory workers by the Bombay Muncipal corporation. We lived here for nearly 13 years.

When my father lost his job, due to the factory he worked, winded up, we have to vacate the place.

We lived there on an extended period of more than two years, paying double the rent, while my father struggled to find a decent job.

My father worked temporarily for very short periods getting in and out of nearly 300 companies, till he got a job with steady income.

Once he landed in a permanent employment, we shifted to an apartment which comprised of three floors containing twenty flats and it was very close to my school.

Chembur was almost the last suburb of Bombay after Sion. It is also known as the garden city of Bombay, as there were lots of greeneries and parks in and around Chembur. The famous film artist Mr. Raj Kapoor, lived in Chembur. He had his R K studio in Chembur, in which many films were shot.

There were two villages in Chembur, one was Gouwtan village which was very close to our new apartment. Once you enter that area you get the village atmosphere, with ladies drawing water from wells and single row houses lined on both sides of the road. It would appear as if you have totally entered into a new place, far away from your dwellings. The other village was near my school known as the Ghatla village which also had the 'out of city' experience.

I studied in a convent school close to my place and after matriculation l entered into college to do my commerce. It was around forty-five minutes walk from my home.

The people in the apartment were very cooperative and we all lived like one big family.

There were no difference between us and our neighbors. We were like one family and once the main door of our flat is opened in the morning, it will close only at night before going to bed. We used to share whatever is made at each other’s place and on festival days all savories were prepared together and shared equally.

On Sundays and holidays we and our neighbors used to go to some good movies together. Sometimes we used to visit picnic spots or famous temples together.

In our apartment we used celebrate the Independence and Republic Days by hoisting national flag and singing the national anthem. After that an elderly person will give a speech on the national unity and integrity of our nation and how we youngsters should conduct ourselves.

On Republic Day's the entire apartment used to have a get together party with community lunch in the afternoon and sports events in the evening ending with some play act on self made stage on the terrace.

After I finished my college, I did some odd jobs, like being an apprentice for a year, doing billing work and after that a couple of field work, marketing various products, to industries which was spread around Thane.

Finally I landed in a pharmaceutical firm situated at Dalal street, as a computer operator managing payrolls and accounts.

I used to travel by local train, which used to be crowded to its seams from Chembur to Victoria Terminus, V.T. in short. The name was changed to Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus - CSMT twenty four year ago.

Since my work place was close to the Bombay stock exchange, I got into trading shares, and also doing part time job of a financial consultant in my spare time, helping clients in various investment schemes like insurance, fixed deposits, Post office Savings, mutual funds, bonds etc. etc.

The pharmaceutical company in which I was employed closed 23 years ago and except for a couple of colleagues I lost contact with all others.

Life in Bombay was really good the people are very receptive and has the tendency to help others in hours of need and I enjoyed the period I lived there up to the age of forty two.

As the days passed in years and years into decades all of us, children in our apartment became grownups, completed their education and got into jobs.

Slowly one by one got married and all set up their own families. While some of the older people left for their heavenly abode, many youngsters including me migrated to better pastures with our families.

Whenever I visit Mumbai, and go around to places I am acquainted with, all the past memories flashes in front of me and get bewildered by the change the place has acquired. In a short period of 23 years the whole place has changed completely. That’s the pace of development going on steadily in these years, except for the drainage systems which gets clogged and cause severe floods during monsoon, whenever there is a heavy downpour.

Now all the elders have become very old and most of their lot has left the world. Except for some few people of our age group, all have migrated to distant lands or to other states.

This phenomenon is not only in our apartment but all over Chembur, that when we are there, we see only few familiar faces, all others are unknown to us. There are only new faces on the roads and all over the place. Few old people are there, who are known to us with whom we can have the oneness and chat for long hours about each other families.

The good old days of togetherness has vanished totally. The youngsters of the present days are very much self-centered. Many of them are in good profession or have their own business doing well and totally engrossed in it, that they find no time to spare much for their elders.

Now, as such, when you are out on the road, shopping centers, temples, markets or in the park you see only new, unknown faces and feel completely left out, of our past good old days.