Because the world is flat

My most defining image of Mumbai soon as I moved to this city I recall rather vividly wasnt of Marine Drive or the Gateway of India Those are clicheacutes anyway It was of a man I noticed once standing in utter solitude right under a relatively rundown building in Lower ParelProud look on his face hands on his hips unaware of my prying eyes he simply kept staring up from low angle quietly absorbing the dirty concrete structure before him on a quiet Sunday afternoon almost like a king admiring the vastness of an empire he believed he held together Like a deluded walllizard might assume hes actually holding the wall from fallingHe was the same pesky fellow my friend who lived in that building I realised had been cursing through that afternoon while I was over He was the Building Secretary a powerful Mumbai designation I hadnt figured the import of until then whose writ along with the management committees singularly ran over the multiple floors of a vertical neighbourhoodAnd he loved cracking the whip on my buddy a poor tenant right out of college Like most others who had to meet all kinds of odd living requirements in order to fit into the Secretarys and the committees idea of acceptable claustrophobic community livingWhich is really what many are forced into since humans evidently prefer clusterliving over a spacious city beautiful explaining the fact that while Mumbai is one of the worlds most packed cities India itself doesnt even figure in the worlds topten most densely populated countries Theres enough space But nobody wants it Ease of biz through technology at some stage might change that Not yetAnyhow its obviously a pointless question whether humans are naturally designed to cohabit in urban clusterscages where even soothing light music from one room turns into nuisance for the oldie insomniac living right behind that wallDoes such extreme proximity also breed instant contempt Weve all heard horror stories of discrimination based on religion gender profession eating habits even marital status actively practised by housing societies on who theyll allow into a building Not that the bickering among residents regardless of their economic class ever stops Jolly Maker 1 Indias richest housing society just appointed an independent administrator to get rid of the fighting bigwigs in their building Bigotry begins at home Otherisation is completeAs is the case with Habib Faisals webseries Home that looks at one such middleclass Mumbai family thats been banished from their buildings WhatsApp group Its a joint family rather common among natives of Mumbai whose children as they grow up have to continue sharing space with parents grandparents because they cant afford an equivalent crib in a similar neighbourhood anywayThe patriarch of this PunjabiMarathi household had lodged a complaint with the municipal corporation over an inflated water bill The corporation in turn had slapped a notice on the building questioning its legal status Rest of the folk cant stand this selfrighteous old lawyer who went to court raking up another case altogetherPariskhit Sahni the underused heavily typecast son of Indian cinemas most genteel sophisticated leadactor Balraj Sahni plays this family patriarch revealing a story of bloodsucking that starts from even before you mortgage your life to buy a few squarefeet of sky in MumbaiHome is based on the infamous Campa Cola compound case currently being fought in court wherein a good 25 years since people had been living in buildings in the Worli residential complex it turns out every floor above five was illegal and therefore they must all vacate Ive only seen six of the 12 episodes 25 minutes each of Home that premieres on the Alt Balaji app over the weekend It might be unfair to judge the entire show therefore The final judgment on the Campa Cola case is however yet to come although the Supreme Court had asked residents to vacate the building in 2014 with the municipal corporation cutting off electricity water and gas suppliesFaisal who started out as a cameraman for NDTV covering among other important events the Kargil War made his debut with the thoroughly endearing middleclass drama Do Dooni Chaar 2010 that pretty much revived Rishi Kapoors acting career The film was about a familys quest for their first car Home in fact deals with far too many aspirations of a similar natureAmerican education good husband immediate healthcare better life basically No cant compare it to Do Dooni Chaar which is a classic in its own right But yeah it does make you realise that wherever you look the world is flat Which isnt to say that you cant see that anywayMayank Shekhar attempts to make sense of mass culture He tweets mayankw14 Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates