Yeh hai Mumbai meri Jaan

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Folks, both my topics below will probably invite howls of rage from the bleeding hearts. The last time I wrote an article like this on pavement dwellers, I was abused on the legitimacy of my parentage, so, God knows what this will bring out, but obviously I feel that my point of view deserves an expression.

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Before I start on the more serious topic, let me discuss the promos of latest sob story being promoted on the idiot box. Its something called "Babul Ka Aangan Chutey naa " ----- {perhaps what they mean is that the famlial links of the father's house cling on after marriage}

The promos of this show are really sickening. They talk about presumably a newly wed bahu (what else), illustrated with all the fresh ‘sindoor’ in her ‘maang’, having to choose between situations like her sister in law’s baby shower and her sister’s engagement.

Another situation of difficult choices that the bahu has to make is between having to look after a sick father and complying with the tradition of “karwa chauth”

How unlucky can this woman be, to always find herself at the horns of a dilemma – and that too a dilemma that seems like the end of the world !

I really don't understand the premise of this show but my wife goes "sooo sad" in the background in complete sympathy with the situation portrayed on the billboards, as if the daughter’s in laws are only ones who difficult choices in this big wide world,

On the one hand we pride ourselves of being a culture which teaches a prospective bride about absolute devotion to her husband & his family, once she is married – ‘Ab woh tera ghar hai beti’ --- ( now that house is your house in future), compounded with --- ‘ab tera pati pehle ataa hai’... (now your husband comes first) is what I hear many a parent parrot during the parting but do they really mean it?

And on the other hand, we sympathise with this newly married woman for being thrust into this situation of difficult choices.

They say that the “jasi sang vasia rang “ (colour of company rubs off on an individual). Now imagine what happens to any mind that is continuously exposed to “saas-bahu” serials, in the name of entertainment.

All the same, while the pseudo intellectuals continue to argue about whether art imitates real life, Its my belief that this has come a full circle now and perhaps there are a large number of viewers of saas-bahu serials who have started feeling that the melodrama potrayed in these serials can indeed be an acceptable way of life. (God help us!)

Assume a woman does listen to her parents and accepts these utterances for a fact and the situation above comes in....POOF!!!!---- her father / mother blow a fuse as to how she can choose her sister in laws baby shower over their important occasion.

Isnt life fun!!!!!

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I have already mentioned in many an earlier article that almost any story can be twisted to suit any circumstances.

A typical example is the story in today mornings paper titled "Aged Bandra Couple accuses landlord of harassment"

Awww.....so sad.......lets look at the real picture shall we.

The newspaper says	What it means
Alex Mendes (90) and Eufregina (85) are being evicted by their landlord from a flat in which they have resided 65 years.	In plain English 65 years ago they took a flat on rent and simply refused to ever vacate.
Last two years living in the room has become unbearable since their landlord is putting pressure on them to vacate	The newspaper does not mention how much rent they are paying the landlord per month but how much do we want to bet its a pittance
Attempts by them to file BMC and police complaints have proved futile	I don't understand on what basis are they filing BMC complaints unless its to harass the landlord since the BMC plays in role in the tenancy arrangement. Police I can understand, but BMC ????
Last year he got the common toilet which is outside our house broken--says their daughter Marie Bonamis	This means that not only have they refused to vacate the space for 65 years they have also added a toilet in the space outside the room
Then he broke our small shop, which is outside the house saying it was illegal	Lets see they rented a residential house didn't vacate for 65 years and then built a shop outside ( a commercial establishment) the story gets better and better
If it was illegal how was it possible for the shop to have a licence for the last 35 years	Its obvious from the article that shes talking about a trade licence and not a licence to convert a residential premise into a commercial one. Let me enlighten the readers. As per the BMC just because you have a trade licence doesn't mean that the shop in a residential area is regularised or converted to commercial, you can still be prosecuted under MRTP. The joker is they even assess the portion as commercial for municipal taxes but even that doesn't mean its regularised / converted. It just means that you're using the premises for commercial purposes and the BMC wants its share of the cake without taking any responsibility.
Theres a loft in the house , now were told that its not in the original structure and that its illegal.	Oh goodie, they've added a loft to the rented premises without informing the owner over a period of time
We also have a water tank at our door and again they say its illegal	Ahah now there's a water tank added too. Unless I am very wrong all this cannot be done in the single room they have rented, so obviously we need to add encroachment to the list.
He has offered my parents 17 lakhs in return for the room, the price does not match the rates in the area at all	AHHHHH---here it comes, show me the money. Now we get the the crux of the matter. They occupy a rented (not owned mind you) flat for 65 years, build all kinds of extensions and convert a part of it to commercial, and now they want hush money to vacate which is EQUAL TO AN OWNERSHIP flat in the area. Problem is in their own minds they think just because they have been in the flat so long they are the owners. Forget the fact that they never paid a penny towards buying it.

I do feel sorry for the Mendes family who should not have to go through this at the age of 80s and 90s. But lets face facts, they were too short term thinking not to put up the money to buy a flat over a period of years whereas the landlord scrimped and saved and paid his EMIs and taxes etc and today hes the one being held to fault.

The problem is very simple my friends. Our judiciary is clogged. Therefore people like the Mendes know that it will take the landlords 20 years or more to get any kind of real justice and even then they or their children are most probably going to get some kind of sympathy compensation since no judge wants to look like he threw an old couple out on the street.

This gives them and other "old couples" a chance to hold landlords to blackmail and landlords are forced to concede to their demands like RATES IN THE AREA which the landlords pay just to avoid the bother.

All those who think that if the price in this case was more, we wouldn't have heard a peep out of Ms. Bonamis et al , please raise your hands.

Who says crime does not pay. In India we reward crime like squatting, and tax dodging. Time and again we come up with amnesty scheme for tax dodgers thereby penalising the honest tax payer who does pay on time.

The tax dodger thereby gets the break and in a lot of cases the penalty is almost completely waived off during these schemes.

It seems that since the govt cannot enforce its own laws so the honest tax payer gets shafted for the shortcomings of the government.

The situation is similar with squatting. The judiciary cannot cope, the politicians need the sympathy votes and news papers need the sob stories to sell so the squatters get away with sheer blackmail, be it a flat at Bandra or the 1.5 Crore tenements in Bandra (E).

Show me a true justice story which says "Landlord pays taxes for 65 years but blackmailed by tenants to pay for vacating his own premises" instead of a rising sensex and I'll know India is finally shining.