Column

The dream of working in South Mumbai is slowly fading, as suburbs flex their muscles

Growing up in Mumbai in the 90s afflicts you with many dreams - dreams of falling in love; romancing by the sea at Bandstand; owning a sea-facing flat; driving to work and working out of a corner office in South Mumbai or what is casually called 'town'. But in the 15 years it took me to get a decent education and land a job, Mumbai changed and so did its office para.

A Bengali phrase for commercial neighbourhood, office para, in erstwhile Mumbai meant 'town', simply put, all areas between the two stations of VT and Churchgate. People went to work at Ballard Pier, behind the Mint, RBI ke opposite, Fort, Nariman Point, Flora Fountain, Bombay Store ke galli mein, near Sachivalaya etc, etc.

They took the World Trade Centre special to work and visited Britannia during office lunch hour. Now, you no longer hear - "My office is behind the Mint"; "I work at Ballard Pier" or "I walk down Marine Lines every evening after work".

There has been a deliberate systematic shift in the office para. It now lies between Elphinstone and Lower Parel and people work in mills with names like Kamala, Empire, Everest or Todi. Some work in what used to be picnic spots in the 90s -
Malad, Chakala, Goregaon, Vakola and some in the outskirts - Navi Mumbai.

And of course, there is the dumping ground, which some how has been converted into a swanky commercial destination - the Bandra Kurla Complex.

I remember the area. It used to be a place, where no self-respecting Mumbaikar ever went. But these days, a BKC office is equivalent to erstwhile Nariman Point office. The fact that your office window overlooks a dumping ground is hardly a matter of concern.

In my eight years of working never have I ventured beyond Dadar. I have got off the same station for the last five years and dining at Britannia or Status is for weekends. No one has survived this shift - banking, media, MNC have all traded in their 'town' office space for high-ceilinged offices mills, where white collared professionals work out of parking-lot-facing cubicles.

The only way, I figure, I can work in 'town' would be if I landed a government job. But here, too, there is no guarantee. A job with MMRDA, the body responsible for the debacle called BKC will place me back at BKC. So, the BMC is my only choice. A law degree too could give me the 'town' address, but I would have to be a High Court lawyer dealing in criminal or civic cases. Family lawyers, I understand, are stuck at Bandra (E) and sessions courts, I hear, is coming up in every suburb.

My disappointment with Mumbai's changing office para isn't just about my broken dreams. It is also about the cool quotient. Imagine telling people you work at Malad or Bandra. It is decidedly the most dreaded thing for us, who grew up in the 90s Mumbai, as we in the 90s - went to school close to home, went shopping to Bandra, picnicked in Malad and went to work in 'town'.

b_sanghamitra@dnaindia.net