Former editor, millionaire, found living on Mumbai street

If you are walking on the footpath on JP Road in Versova then you might come across an elderly woman sitting just outside the gurudwara Sachkhand Darbar Mumbaiites used to seeing thousands of penniless men women and children on the streets could well mistake her for just another beggar Sunita Naik has spent the last two months on the pavement outside a gurudwara at Versova Pic Shailesh Bhatiau00a0 But then she doesnrsquot beg And penniless she maybe but illiterate she is certainly not In fact 65year old Sunita Naik speaks fluently in not one but five languages What then is she doing sitting on the footpath in dirty unwashed clothes with a packet of stale food and a broken cell phone for company Naik has made the footpath outside the gurudwara her home for the last two months along with her pet a 12yearold Pomeranian named Sashi ldquoI lost both my parents at a very early age but with encouragement from friends I managed to graduate from Pune University on merit and worked my way up to become an editor with a Marathi magazine called Grihalakshmi which had its office in Girgaum It shut down a few years backrdquo she told SUNDAY MiD DAY Sunita Naik lives on the footpath outside the Gurduwara in Versova along with her 12yearold Pomeranian Pic Shailesh Bhatia In her heydays Naik was far from being a pauper In fact on current valuation she would have been a millionaire many times over During the early 1980s in the prime of her career she bought two apartments in the plush Jayant apartments near Century Bazaar in Worli In fact she used to live in apartments 2223 till as recently as 2007 She also inherited a family bungalow in Pune She never travelled in public transport and society neighbours at Jayant Apartments remember her chauffer driving her around in either one of her two cars ldquoIn 1984 I sold my bungalow on Bhandar Road in Pune for Rs 6 lakhs In 2007 I sold both my flats in Worli along with my two cars a Hyundai Ascent and an Indica I received Rs 80 lakh in the deal and moved in to a leased bungalow in Thane Naik owned two flats at Jayant Apartments in Worli which she u00a0sold in 2007 Pic Suresh KK But soon I realised that my funds were drying up mysteriously So I came to Versova looking for a cheaper flat on rent but finally ended up on the footpath living off the charity of the gurudwara They are nice people and have allowed me to stay under a makeshift pandal on the road They also give me foodrdquo Naik said The senior citizen says she has no idea how her bank balance shrunk or if anyone is behind the crime ldquoI have no clue about it Maybe my exemployee Kamal Raikar who lives in a small room in Bai Mahalin Tardeo knows as she used to operate my bank accounts maybe she can throw some light on the matter She also looked after me for the past 15 years But I have no way of contacting her as I have lost all my contacts after my mobile phone got drenched in the rainrdquo she said pointing to her cell phone which has water floating in the screen Not all gloom and doom Thankfully for Naik she has friends and well wishers She admitted that she had received offers from friends and strangers to accommodate her but most of them had asked her to get rid of the dog who is unwell and flea ridden But Naik is unwilling to dump someone who has been loyal to her for 12 years ldquoI am educated and speak five languages so I donrsquot mind getting a job and starting my life afreshrdquo she said refusing any kind of financial help offered to her by this correspondent Mahinder Singh a senior member of the gurudwara said he was aware of Naikrsquos plight and had organised two square meals for her every day ldquoWe hope there is someone out there who can help her lead a normal liferdquo he said SMD tracked down Vinod Parker an old neighbour of Naik at Jayant Apartments who confirmed that the senior citizen indeed owned flats in the same building ldquoShe was an introvert and would not mix too much with othersrdquo he recalled Another senior member of the same building recalled Naik having a chauffeurdriven car ldquoShe led quite an affluent life but would invariably stay aloof We completely lost touch with her after she sold off her second floor flats It is shocking and sad to know that she now lives on a footpathrdquo he said Naik also spoke of actor Brij Bhatnagar a regular at the Gurudwara he said ldquoI would see Naik and her dog near the gurudwara I take care of all her medical bills and try to meet her as often as possiblerdquo Perhaps there are more good human beings somewhere who will give Naik another crack at lifeu00a0