Chawl: A Home To All

CHAWL: A Home To All 1

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What’s Inside? 6 11 Introduction 15 What is a Chawl 24 How was it established in Mumbai 33 Why we chose Chawl as a community for 39 our research Ruia Park Chawl Why we chose Ruia park Chawl History Demographs Education and Employment More Insights Activities of the residents Miscellaneous facts about the Chawl Why the residents dont move out of the Chawl Pushpa’s Story Her family How she has seen the Chawl grow How the whole Chawl has become her family Kavita’s Story Her experience living in the Chawl Reasons why the Chawl is so close to her heart Conclusion Evolution of the Chawl Chawls in future 5

Introduction The module was about “Culture, History and Imagination”. It helped us learn the roots of our cultures and understand more about the changes around us, being in a dynamic world. Chawl, if defined according to a dictionary is “A large building divided into many separate tenements, offering cheap, basic accommodation to labourers”1. In today’s world it is certainly not just accommodation, it has become a “home” to a lot of people. Chawls came into the picture during the mid 90s when people from villages came to Mumbai looking for an opportunity. That’s when landlords provided the migrants rooms not more two hundred square feet with a shared toilet on each corridor.2 1 Oxford dictionary, 31.01.2019, 11:27am 2 2010 Chawls: Analysis of a middle class housing type in Mumbai, India Priyanka N. Karandikar Iowa State University, 31.01.19,01:00 pm 6

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We chose to do our project on “Chawls” out of all communities of Mumbai because Chawls are something we have all seen in Bollywood movies but none of us do really know about the insights of any Chawl. Every Chawl has its own story. It was really interesting to get to know about one of the tales. If another such opportunity knocks on my door, I wouldn’t hesitate to take it. Our aim was to study the chawl culture and focus on the fact about how they refuse to leave the chawl and move to a better place. 9

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Ruia Park Chawl One of the reasons why we chose ruia park chawl to conduct our research on was because it has not been documented till date. Ruia park chawl does not fall under a typical chawl category which made it more intriguing for us to know more about it. Ruia park chawl is located near the Juhu beach. Decades ago, it was just an extension of the Juhu beach. The chawl started to build when people from Gujarat and nearby states started to pour in. The Chawl built through the temporary houses made of mud first, and then it got upgraded to concrete as the years passed by. 11

According to the research conducted, the demographs of the entire chawl is approximately 50% men, 35% women and 15% children. 60% of the people there are Marathas, 20% are Kholis and the rest were miscellaneous. Out of all the people living in the Chawl, around 70% are educated, including the children. 75% are employed in various occupations. Half of them are fishermen, the other half are either government staff or housekeeping staff or labourers. The financial distribution of the community is vague. Some families live from paycheck to paycheck while some others can afford certain luxuries in life such as flat screen televisions and refrigerators. 12

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More Insights A typical man in this community lives a day of hard work to earn a living for the family. The majority of the men and women who belong to the kholi community are fishermen. Therefore their day starts at 4am in order to get their fish purchase and they sell them the rest of the day. The women who go out to work are back by 3 in the afternoon to fill water for the day as there is water supply just for two hours from 3 to 5. On some evenings the ladies and children have community gatherings and prayers. The men at this time usually meet up either at the paan shop or at the common ground to discuss their work. 15

The area of the chawl is made up of various lanes. Where one lane has old houses the other has tiled houses. Many homes also have open space to cook and sit around. Although the lanes which lead the way are very narrow. The chawl has two halls where they conduct various festivities. One of them is called the “Samaj Mandir”. All the religious affairs take place here, like the prayer meets. The other hall is used for weddings and Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. The community also includes “Dhobis” and “Tailors”. Every nook and corner has a grocery store which makes it very convenient for the people living in such a large area. It also has service providers like barbers, mechanics, and medical help. They also have playschools for kids not going to schools. These are normally conducted by government officials. It is called the “Aanganwadi”. 16

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Studies show that the upgraded slums are now a better place to live than these chawls. The chawls have been declared unfit to live in, by the government and the MHADA (Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority). People have been refusing to vacate it despite of the structural problems. They were adamant on not leaving the chawl even when the municipality blocked their electricity and water supply. 19

On talking to the residents of the Ruia park chawl, we got to know the multiple firm reasons why they don’t wish to move out of the chawl. They have become so comfortable in the chawl because of facilities it provides that they won’t find anywhere else, like, playschool for children and all other services available there. They fear leaving their home land will break the family which is now living together. The whole chawl has become one whole family. The married women conduct “Mahila mandal” to gossip and discuss their daily religious affairs. Even if they want some upgrades in their lifestyle, they get it in the chawl itself, like getting air conditioners or flat screen LED televisions, and so on. 20

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Pushpa’s Story Pushpa is the eldest female in her family. Both Pushpa and her husband were born and brought up in the Chawl itself. She has one daughter, two sons and six grandchildren, who study in renowned schools. They are Gujaratis who belong to the Kholi community. When she was younger, her husband used to catch fishes and she used to sell them in Dadar. Now her sons and daughters in law have taken over. Her husband has had 5 operations in the past 10 years. 14 lakhs have been spent on the operations. Pushpa says they preferred to get him operated in a private hospital rather than a government one which would have cost them less. Pushpa’s sons run a fish business. No wonder they own IPhones. Their wives help Pushpa with the daily chores of the house and help their husbands too, at times. They are one big family who have become so comfortable in the Chawl, that they are afraid to even think about leaving it 24

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Because Pushpa has been in the Chawl since the very beginning, she has seen the Chawl grow through leaps and bounds. When she was a kid, the place was one empty land with just couple of huts there, now it would be very difficult to spot any empty space anywhere near that place. She said that the chawl used to flood with seawater back then, thankfully now the government has built concrete walls to prevent that from happening. She looked extremely glad when she spoke about how much the chawl has upgraded with all the provisions, be it the grocery stores, or the samaj mandir or anything. 29

When she was asked if she would ever want to leave the chawl, with no surprise she said no. But she also added the chawl won’t remain a “chawl” in the upcoming days, it might become a colony of some sort. She says there has never been a need of moving out of the Chawl, she says they get everything there and above all, no other place will feel more homely than this place to them. 30

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Kavita’s Story Kavita lives in a family of 5, her in- laws, her husband and her daughter. She came into this chawl when she got married and she is extremely happy it. She finds the chawl more comfortable than her previous house. Her husband is a government staff and she is a home maker. 33

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They have got a well furnished tiled house. They got a fall ceiling, which signifies that they can afford luxury. They got a washing machine as well. Kavita says that even though they have got better equipments to work with, she would still prefer to cook on a “Choolha” than a stove. She says that no matter how costly a washing machine is, it cannot match what bare hands can do. When she was asked if she would ever think of leaving the chawl, she had a very vague expression on her face. She asked why she would leave a better equipped place for something uncomfortable for me. She gave us example like how every lane has a grocery store which makes it very convenient for the residents to get the daily needs. She says she is carefree in the chawl, as she leaves her daughter in the Aanganwaadi without any hesitation whenever she has some work to do or anything. She also said that the chawl people always have each other’s back no matter what which makes everyone live in peace and stress-free. 36

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Conclusion Over the past years the Chawls have developed a lot and I think calling it a “chawl” would be an understatement now, it has become a colony or a society. When the children were asked if they would like to move out of the Chawl, there were miscellaneous answers. Some of them didn’t want to move out because they too are completely adjusted to the surroundings and don’t like to step out of their comfort zone. Those who want to move out just want to do so to build their careers. The parents of the children haven’t forced anyone to stay in or move out. There might be a possibility in the future that the stability of place decreases and the Chawl grows even more hazardous, and then the people will have no option but leave for good. 39

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