Home Buyers Speak: What Owning A Home In Mumbai's 'Wild West' Means

Our relationship with cities is very similar to that of with our own children. People love their cities. They tend to cherish features that outsiders rarely find inspiring. This is even truer of large, unique cities. Priya Suhas loves everything about Mumbai, including the potholes on roads and eunuchs who ask for money at traffic signals. In the city everybody considers a congested concrete jungle, she has found open green spaces. Floor space in Mumbai is more regulated than most places in the world. But unlike many other architects in this city, she does not feel any compulsion to knock off superfluous walls or to turn her balcony into a window ledge seating. She loves everything the city has to offer. Priya Suhas is a talented production designer and architect who has worked in movies like Dirty Picture, Saathiya and Bhoot.

A decade ago, she bought her apartment in Vile Parle (West), a suburb nearly 45 minutes away from the East, West, North or South of Mumbai. Vile Parle-Bandra-Kurla stretch is known as Mumbai's Wild West, because the number of crimes reported there is much greater than other parts of Mumbai. But, American West was not so wild as many historians claim. Property rights were reasonably secure and civil order prevailed. Priya Suhas thinks that this is true of Vile Parle too.

Vile Parle is one of the safest suburbs in Mumbai, she says. She is almost certainly right. There is no better way to understand a neighbourhood than to look at real estate prices. If real estate prices are extremely high in Vile Parle, it is a wonderful place to live in regardless of what media reports say. People would not pay so much to live in Mumbai's most unsafe region.

Vile Parle, Priya Suhas says, is indeed a pleasant place to live in. The name 'Vile Parle' was derived from the names of two ancient temples: Virleshwar and Parleshwar. Vile Parle has a sizeable Gujarati and Marathi population. Earlier, Vile Parle used to be a cultural hub. Many plays and music recitals are performed in Deenanath Mangeshkar Hall and Bhaidas Hall in this suburb. Vile Parle has many good schools, colleges and restaurants in its vicinity, and the popular Juhu beach just a couple of kilometres away. Juhu is also popular as the home of Bollywood superstars. “The beach is five minutes far from my apartment,” Priya says. But as real estate prices were unusually low in 2005, purchasing an apartment in Vile Parle (West) was a cakewalk for her.

She does not relate to conflicts with real estate developers and brokers and other difficulties people face while buying apartments in Mumbai.

Even though she is an experienced architect who designs sets for films, she points out that designing homes is entirely different. “Film sets are character driven and homes are homes. In the film Ek Villain, for instance, Shraddha Kapoor's character made pinwheels, and worked with origami. I decided that this should be the predominant design element in the house. In the film, the wall was filled with pinwheels. Homes too are shaped by the people who inhabit them. My self-sufficient, two-bedroom apartment is very bohemian and eclectic, which defines me and my husband. But while designing my home, functionality was my overriding motive,” she explains. Her husband, Suhas Gujarathi, is a cinematographer.

Explaining what 'bohemian' means to her, Priya says it means order in the chaos in her design philosophy. “I have tried to cluster my collections. Angels are kept in one corner with south Indian diyas on the other. The walls have gold inscriptions that meets the Vaastu requirements. I have tried to coordinate upholstery with tapestry, carpets and painting. The chest of drawers that seat Buddha is my collection of Diyas used during religious functions at home. It is chaotic and orderly at the same time,” she explains.

When asked whether the walls are light coloured to make the rooms appear more spacious, she said, “I like white coloured clothes. My husband has many white-coloured t-shirts too. So, we could not think of any other colour. I have used vibrant colours in my apartment. Shades of orange complement the dull grey. Fuchsia pink in the painting hangs on the wall above a dull, green sofa. I tried to spice it up by throwing some bright cushions on it. The high back sofa could have been converted into a classic leather padded one, but I chose to have a bright orange to complement the grey.” 

Much of the artifacts and furniture in Priya Suhas' apartment were collected over a long period of time. Her most prized possession is a patch work Chesterfield high back sofa and the chest she bought from Chor Bazaar. “I enjoy my trips to Chor Bazaar and love buying curios from there. To me, Chor Bazaar is paradise. From old chests to vibrant posters, you find everything that you need,” she said.

Though Priya Suhas thinks that her apartment does not resemble anything else she has ever seen, she thinks that interior design in Mumbai has evolved with time and is very contemporary today. “I cannot forget the bulky Art Deco sofas of the late '70s and the heavy false ceiling, which is passé now. I love the way the promenades are designed along the waterfront and how it's been utilised today, as a platform to showcase talent. But, the colonial architecture of South Bombay and the Art Deco buildings adjacent to the Queen's Necklace are my personal favourites. They deserve a place in the history of architecture,” she says.

People love their cities, but they love them more when cities make themselves more liveable. Priya thinks that Vile Parle has changed for good too, since she bought her apartment a decade ago. The garbage collection system was disappointing then, but this is less true today. People used to squabble over car parking space, but they are far more cooperative today. People are more environment-conscious as well. She plans to buy a larger apartment in or around Vile Parle in the near future.

But, like most people, she does not welcome every change.

“I am not a fan on urbanisation or shopping malls. I love my walks to the local baniya for groceries. Organic vegetables, fruits and fresh fish are delivered at my door. I love my 'nukad ka chai wala' where I would catch up with my old friends. I love the quaint little cafe that pops up once in a while, to soon become a hub for the college students that love free Wi-Fi,'' she says. “But, what I miss the most is Mumbai's only drive-in theatre, which used be there in the Bandra-Kurla Complex once upon a time.”