Building Castles

कुणी घर देता का घर ? घर ?

एका तुफानाला कुणी घर देता का ?

एक तुफान भिंती वाचून,छपरा वाचून,

माणसाच्या माये वाचून,देवाच्या दये वाचून

डोंगरा डोंगरात हिंडत आहे,

जिथून कुणी उठवणार नाही अशी जागा शोधत आहे

तर कुणी घर देता का घर ?

(Translation: A dynamic superstar who is past his prime time due to old age is thrown out of his house by his children and deprived of shelter and love and affection. Even God does not have mercy on him. He is therefore appealing to everyone to provide him with a house from which no one would dislodge him.)

This meaningful dialogue from the famous Marathi play “Natasamrat” was written by equally famous writer Shri. V. V. Shirwadkar more popularly known as “Kusumagraj” aptly describes the dilemma before the present-day youth residing in most of the metro cities in India. The skyrocketing prices of real estate have made it impossible for any aspiring young man to buy the house of his dreams. It is often said that it is easier to find a suitable bride in the city of Mumbai than buying suitable accommodation.

It is more like building castles in the sky perfectly described in the song ‘Castles In The Sky’ written by a Belgian poet Ian Van Dahl.

Oh, tell me why do we build castles in the sky?

Do you ever question your life and do you ever wonder why?

Oh, tell me why are the castles way up high?

Do you see in your dreams all the castles in the sky?

This is the story of Rohit who came to Mumbai from Pune after securing a job in one of the reputed companies in the city. He had heard about Mumbai is a city of dreamers and achievers, as also of lost opportunities and failed fortunes. However, he never imagined the difficulties and torture he would have to undergo just to find a roof over his head.

As soon as he got his appointment letter, he telephoned his maternal uncle in Dombivili, a suburb in Mumbai.

“Mamaji, I have got a job in Mumbai but I do not have any accommodation to stay there”.

“Congratulations Rohit! You have contacted me just in time. The flat on the ground floor of my building is vacant as its owner Satish has moved out of Mumbai and a few days back only, he had asked me whether it can be given to a known person on leave and license basis. I will speak to him and let you know very soon” Mamaji answered.

The next day Mamaji phoned Rohit and informed him that Satish has agreed to give the flat to Rohit on a leave & licence basis. Thereafter, Rohit along with his wife Anagha and daughter Shivani shifted to Mumbai and started staying in that Dombivili flat. The neighbours were very friendly as he was a relative of Mamaji and helped them to settle down. Rohit started to commute to Ballard Estate to his new office.

However, Rohit soon realized that if he wanted to progress in any organization, he must acquire a professional qualification. Being a law graduate he decided to study for getting the Associate membership of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. Anagha who had worked in a few colleges as a lecturer before too realized that if she wants to pursue her career in the education field she must have a B.Ed (Bachelor of Education) degree.

She said to Rohit, “I would like to take up a job as a teacher in a reputed educational institution for which a Bachelor’s degree in education is necessary and hence I would like to join a B.Ed college in Parel.”

Rohit agreed, and said, “Yes, Anagha it is a very good idea. But what shall we do about Shivani? We cannot leave her alone in the house for the whole day.”

Fortunately, Rohit’s parents agreed to live with them and were very happy to look after their granddaughter. Their hectic life began. Anagha had to get up early in the morning and prepare food for everyone. Then they were away for the whole day from Anagha in her college and Rohit on his job. In the evening both of them devoted time to their respective studies. This hard work paid rich dividends and soon Anagha acquired her B.Ed degree and Rohit too passed all the exams and was awarded the Associate Membership of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. 

After a few days, Rohit’s Mama came to him and said, “Rohit, the owner of this flat is returning to Mumbai and would like to stay in his flat. You have to vacate this flat within a month”.

This came as a shock to Rohit as he had to search for another flat. He approached many of his friends and as luck would have it one of his friends informed him about a vacant flat in a society in Santa Cruz which belonged to his friend. He then contacted the friend and requested flat rent. The friend readily agreed and in due course, Rohit shifted his residence to Santa Cruz.

This flat proved to be lucky for Rohit as he got a job in a multinational company as Secretarial Officer. The office had an arrangement for picking up its officers in pool cars and hence commuting to work became very easy.

But then life has its ups and downs and soon the owner of the flat telephoned him and said, “Rohit, I am changing my job and I have to vacate the accommodation provided by the company. Hence I would appreciate it if you could vacate my flat soon.”

Once again Rohit had to start searching for residential accommodation. Fortunately, a friend of his boss had gone abroad for a few years and wanted to give his flat in Khar on rent. Rohit immediately approached him and finalized the deal and shifted to Khar. But to his misfortune, this building did not have a Completion Certificate and no permanent water connection. The water was supplied to the flats only for a few hours in the morning and all flat owners had to make provision for storage of water. There was no drinking water in the flat and Rohit and Anagha had to bring water in pots from the ground floor to the third floor by staircase. It was a tough time for both of them as after storing water they had to leave for their respective jobs.

By this time Rohit realized that he cannot continue to be at the mercy of his friends and should look for a flat on ownership basis. He started approaching the builders and estate agents to buy one flat. He then finalized an under-construction flat in Andheri as the payment terms were suitable to him.

But to his bad luck, the owner of the company constructing the building was killed in the terrorist attack on Hotel Oberoi on 26th November 2008, and the construction activity came to a standstill. The situation continued for the next few years and Rohit had no alternative but to wait for the construction to restart as he had paid a substantial amount to the builders.

These years were the most difficult in the life of Rohit. Every two to three years he had to shift his residence from one rented flat to another. This was causing quite a nuisance to Rohit and Anagha as every time they shifted to a new flat they had to change the school of Shivani and also apply for transfer of Ration Card as during those times Ration card was the only authentic proof of existence in Mumbai.

However, one good thing was that Rohit had developed strong goodwill among his friends and they never hesitated to give their flats to him on a rental basis.

Around 2012, the company involved in the construction of the building at Andheri was taken over by a reputed builder and the building was completed, and Rohit and his family were able to shift in their flat.

Rohit stayed in the Andheri flat for some time but soon realized that commuting from Andheri to Nariman Point where his office was situated was becoming a very time consuming due to heavy traffic. Sometimes it used to take him more than two hours to reach home in the evening and being in a senior position had to work late in the office.

Many times he reached home after midnight. Since he became entitled to company accommodation due to his senior position, he approached his Managing Director and requested for allotment of Company flat. Luckily a good sea-facing flat belonging to the company in Dadar was vacant and the same was allotted to him by the company. Rohit and his family shifted to Dadar flat which was convenient to both of them as Anagha had taken up a job as a teacher in a reputed school in Dadar.

However, Rohit’s luck once again gave him a jolt when he was informed that due to financial problems the company was selling some of its flats including the Dadar flat occupied by him. He was told to vacate the flat as soon as possible. Once again Rohit had to start searching for a flat. But this time having stayed in a well-maintained suburb like Dadar his family was reluctant to go to Andheri but wanted to stay in Dadar or near about.

By this time the Real Estate (Development and Regulation) Act had come into force in Maharashtra from 1st May 2017. This Act was a boon to the intending purchasers as they were able to ascertain the credentials of a Developer from the documents filed by them with MAHA RERA. After going through the details of the various developers who had registered their schemes with MAHA RERA Rohit finalized a deal for the purchase of a flat in Mahim. Again bad luck kept dogging Rohit and due to Covid 19 crisis, the construction activity had come to a standstill.  Rohit managed to contact other purchasers of the building and made a joint application to MAHA RERA for compensation due to the delay in completing the building. The matter was referred to the Conciliation forum and after a few hearings, a settlement was signed between the Developer and the purchasers. Finally, the building was completed and Rohit and the other purchasers were able to shift in their flat.

Thus finally Rohit was able to settle down in a flat of his liking in one of the central suburbs of Mumbai. His whole experience will show how difficult it is to find suitable accommodation in Mumbai.

In the past, all intending flat purchasers were always at the mercy of the builders and had no avenue to ventilate their grievances. But with the advent of MAHARERA there is a light at the end of the tunnel and so long as the intending flat purchasers make the right choice by going through the details of projects provided by MAHARERA on its website they can be rest assured that they will get their flat within a reasonable time. And even if there are some problems there is an Alternate Dispute Resolution Mechanism introduced in RERA in the form of Conciliation proceedings where the disputes are settled amicably by mutual discussion between the builder and the flat purchaser duly facilitated by Conciliators appointed under the Act.

Thus in the present times, the poor Appasaheb Belwankar from the drama “Natasamrat” will not be required to say,

कुणी घर देता का घर? घर?

Uday Karnik