A walk down memory lane - Malad then and now

I have been residing in Malad for the past 32 years. Before moving to the suburbs, I was based in Parel. A few of my friends were shocked that I was moving to Malad, as they thought of it as an under-developed place.

Back then, Malad was a beautiful area—there were plenty of open spaces, trees—parts of it were still a jungle. I chose this place for three reasons—the church, the schools and lastly, the bazaar, all of which were located close to home. The station too was not far off from Orlem. This gave me an opportunity to walk home hand-in-hand with my spouse, enjoying both the gentle breeze and each other's company.

In time, some of my friends also moved to Malad. So we would visit each other, party together, go for a dance, picnic, and more. I was actively involved in church activities, especially youth-based ones. This motivated me to take youngsters to interesting places such as Talasari and Roha in Maharashtra and Chota Udaipur, Narukot and Kavant in Gujarat. We would visit the lesser privileged people, to make young adults realise how they could contribute to their betterment, either by donating clothes, grains or money.

Back in the days, the roads were better and the traffic was manageable—at least we could walk to the other side of the road without worrying of being knocked down. Today, the situation has changed drastically. Firstly, the roads are in a pathetic state. Crossing the road is a nightmare. Visiting someone out of the blue is a no-no; reason being that people reach their homes late, so where would they find the time to entertain guests?

Earlier, whenever I used to travel to Churchgate, I would board the 8:08 a.m. Malad local. Entering the train was manageable, however, as the years progressed, it has become more difficult. Today, as a senior citizen, I dread travelling during the peak hours. I'm still a very active man as I do a lot of social work but I feel sad that people, in general, have little or no time for others.