Redevelopment woes!

2

She was waiting in the lobby outside the MHADA chief's office. And like most people who wait outside offices of elusive bureaucrats, we struck up a conversation. Savita was here to tell the MHADA that her old parents had been coerced to consent for redevelopment. And it was not just her family alone, the developer, Shreepati Builders had managed to convince many other senior citizens living in the Juni Chikalwadi chawl in a prime locality in Central Mumbai to give up their property for redevelopment. She said that the developer had convinced most of the parents that their children were driven by greed and if they listened to them, their chawl would never get redeveloped. The developer had successfully managed to divide the two generations in many families. This struck me as a possible story. So there I was next day, at the chawl of 230 rundown houses,....

Feel the pinch!

4

Visiting the chana wala once a week is a ritual. So there I was last week to have the spicy chana. "Bhaiya paanch rupaye ka banana," I said. He got busy preparing it and said, "Madam, paanch nahin abhi saat rupaye ka hai." "Kyun pichle hafte to aapne paanch ka diya tha?" "Kya karein madam, sab cheez ka daam badh gaya hai. Toh hamko bhi 2 rupaya badhana pada. Mehangai ka zamaana hai madam." Those chanas left a bitter taste in my mouth. Now many of you reading this may argue that one can't be complaining about two rupees. But its not just the chana. My milkman has increased the rates by 3 rupees a litre. The Udupi hotel down the lane has increased prices of dishes anywhere from 3 to 10 rupees. The corporates have found another method of conning people. They have not increased the prices;....