BAMBAI MAIN KA BA
“Dhobi ka kutta na ghar ka, na ghaat ka.” Old proverb W hen my dad, his brothers and sisters wanted to migrate to a big city for a ‘better life’, their obvious choice was Bombay. Back in the village, life was confined to the little paddy fields, one-or-two cows, dogs, cats, chicken… for some, a couple of buffalos… Schooling was mostly limited to primary or higher primary. Rarely someone managed to complete high school (up to 11 th grade in those days.). So, invariably, one of my uncles or aunts, who first migrated to Bombay – and lived in some crowded chawls or bastie s – began to take others to the city, one by one… till all siblings – nine of them - were uprooted from the village. My dad, somehow, made it back to the village before he got married to my mom. There on, he made our village as his permanent dwelling and working place. For those uncles and aunts, who had chosen to stay back in this big city, slowly and steadily, the progress in Bombay meant upgrading their...