My PG room over-looked the busy Ambedkar Road. From my balcony I could see Parsi Gymkhana and the beautiful "Five Gardens". From the window I could see bits of Ruia college. Dadar TT was a 5 minute walk, and Matunga with its host of South Indian Restaurants and second hand book stalls was a 10 minute walk. I could not - and still cannot - think of any place more centrally located than this in Mumbai.
My land-lord, Mr Abhyankar, was a kindly old gentleman. The entire Janki Nivas - comprising of 8 apartments originally belonged to his father - but because of the tenancy act had passed on to various tenants. Mr. Abhyankar therefore constructed a pent-house atop the building for himself. None of his 3 sons lived in Mumbai - and hence it was more for the sake of companionship that they decided to rent out the spare bedroom as a PG accommodation.
On the ground-floor of the building was Savur's X-Ray clinic. There was always a queue of people with broken arms and legs waiting patiently for the doctor's appointment. One other notable tenant of this building was the very famous musician and music guru Pandit KG Ginde. Whenever I passed by his door on my way to the 4th floor, I could hear his sonorous voice carrying out riaz.
My land-lord and his wife treated me with love and affection - something rare in Mumbai where people barely have time to speak to others. There were times when I had fallen ill, and it is my land-lord and his wife who had taken care of me.
However, despite the over-whelming advantages of my new PG, it had one strong disadvantage - and that was the noise of the traffic on Ambedkar road. It is one of the broadest roads in Mumbai - and one of the busiest. Throughout night and day, the snarl of traffic will reverberate in my room. My land-lord and his wife were both hard of hearing - and I suspected this was because of constant exposure to the traffic sound.
The first couple of nights I could not sleep - but then I got used to the sound and started sleeping soundly (forgive the pun). Or perhaps, I thought, I was going deaf already.
My land-lord, Mr Abhyankar, was a kindly old gentleman. The entire Janki Nivas - comprising of 8 apartments originally belonged to his father - but because of the tenancy act had passed on to various tenants. Mr. Abhyankar therefore constructed a pent-house atop the building for himself. None of his 3 sons lived in Mumbai - and hence it was more for the sake of companionship that they decided to rent out the spare bedroom as a PG accommodation.
On the ground-floor of the building was Savur's X-Ray clinic. There was always a queue of people with broken arms and legs waiting patiently for the doctor's appointment. One other notable tenant of this building was the very famous musician and music guru Pandit KG Ginde. Whenever I passed by his door on my way to the 4th floor, I could hear his sonorous voice carrying out riaz.
My land-lord and his wife treated me with love and affection - something rare in Mumbai where people barely have time to speak to others. There were times when I had fallen ill, and it is my land-lord and his wife who had taken care of me.
However, despite the over-whelming advantages of my new PG, it had one strong disadvantage - and that was the noise of the traffic on Ambedkar road. It is one of the broadest roads in Mumbai - and one of the busiest. Throughout night and day, the snarl of traffic will reverberate in my room. My land-lord and his wife were both hard of hearing - and I suspected this was because of constant exposure to the traffic sound.
The first couple of nights I could not sleep - but then I got used to the sound and started sleeping soundly (forgive the pun). Or perhaps, I thought, I was going deaf already.
1 comment:
Good one. I have fond memories of them.
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